Cover your ears, and open your eyes. Don't listen to the hope or the gloom or the he-said, she-said sniping. Look at what is on the table – or at least was on the table, before the NHL pulled its latest offer in a fit of anger and theater last week. Ignore the spin, and look at the facts.

The NHL needs to put its last CBA proposal back on the table. (AP)What do you see?

I see a deal, or at least a path to one. I see a negotiation that should be in its final stages when the NHL and the NHL Players' Association resume talks Wednesday, with federal mediators rejoining the process. I see no excuse – none, nada, zero, zilch – for the season to be canceled. I see no hills on which to die here, not anymore, only the point of diminishing returns.

Is there any battle left to be won that is worth the sacrifice of the season? Of course not.

Which is why some teams are quietly telling staffers to get ready. Which is why more players are popping up at practice rinks. They say it means nothing, and technically that's true: Only the tight inner circles on

NEW YORK – It was theater, a tragicomedy, at a Times Square hotel a block off Broadway. First on stage was Don Fehr, with the players behind him like a chorus line. As the executive director of the NHL Players' Association told the audience how the union had given the NHL a "clear outline" to end the lockout – knowing full well the proposal had not met the owners' explicit conditions – his brother's iPhone rang.

NHLPA boss Don Fehr's first press conference was quickly followed by a second one. (Reuters)Steve Fehr, the NHLPA's special counsel, tried to answer but had to let it go to voicemail. He checked it after the uplifting press conference, as the players gave hopeful interviews to reporters, and heard the news: the owners not only had rejected the players' proposal, but had pulled key lements of their own proposal off the table.Surprised?"No comment," Steve Fehr said.

Disappointed?

"Obviously, you'd like to make a deal," he said with a laugh. "But this is a very up-and-down process."

Very.

The players were hushed and herded back on stage in silence. Steve Fehr

NEW YORK – There is hope for the hockey season.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)Because even though negotiations almost blew up Wednesday night, the moderates still held them together. Because even though the clock struck midnight and the lockout reached its 82nd day, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association still kept talking in the city that never sleeps. Because even though they didn't get there and the situation remains fragile, they still crept closer.

A deal is in sight.

A month ago, a week ago, talks might have broken off had Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller lost his temper, had Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs threatened to leave, the way they reportedly did here. But now there are people pushing for a deal on both sides, headlined by Pittsburgh Penguins owner Ron Burkle and captain Sidney Crosby, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Don Fehr not directly involved. There has been significant movement – just not enough yet.

The NHL proposed more make-whole/transition money, to

This reminds me of that scene in "Braveheart" when William Wallace is summoned to a meeting. He doesn't trust 'em. It doesn't matter.

Gary Bettman suggested a meeting between owners and players without NHL execs or union leadership. (Reuters)"It's a trap," he is told. "Are you blind?"

"We've got to try," he says. "We can't do this alone. Joining the nobles is the only hope for our people. You know what happens if we don't take that chance?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

This smells like a trap. After two sessions with U.S. federal mediators went nowhere, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made a suggestion Thursday – a meeting between owners and players only.

It seems like a PR move. It seems like another negotiating tactic designed to go around NHL Players' Association leadership, like when the league gave executives a secret window to explain a proposal to players. It seems like a mismatch – seasoned businessmen vs. hockey players.

But they've got to try, at least under certain conditions. Joining the nobles is the only hope for the season. You know what happens if they don't take this

Good day, gentlemen. I am your mediator.

Don Fehr and Gary Bettman have a chance to find a CBA compromise and save the 2012-13 NHL season. (Getty)First things first. If you accepted this invitation only hoping I'll take your side, this won't work. You can leave at any time. This isn't binding, and we all know it. All I can do is facilitate discussions, try to identify your true priorities and make suggestions.

But my first suggestion is this: Don’t leave. Don't let pessimism become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don't keep a closed mind and waste an opportunity. Because if you walk out of here without at least finding some sort of compromise, without making some sort of progress, you won't be right back where you started. You'll be in even worse shape.

You could drift farther apart, when you're close enough to come together and end this lockout. You could increase your risks – via decertification of the union, cancellation of the season, further alienation of your customers – when you could start rebuilding what you've damaged already.

I am not here to rehash history, though I will

"Let me back up," Don Fehr began, sitting in a conference room at the NHL Players' Association headquarters in Toronto. "Marvin Miller …"

Marvin Miller, Major League Baseball's first players' union boss, died Tuesday at age 95. (AP) This was back in January, long before the lockout. I sat down with Fehr to discuss his preparations for collective bargaining, to see if there were parallels to his approach in baseball.

Fehr had spent a quarter century leading the Major League Baseball Players Association before becoming the executive director of the NHLPA. He had amassed his own experience and credentials. He was his own man with his own mind.

But the fifth and sixth words he used were Miller's first and last names, and he kept coming back to Miller, his predecessor and mentor at the MLBPA. He had worked under Miller as the MLBPA general counsel from 1977-82 and remained close to him afterward. He spoke of him with not only respect, but reverence.

Miller died Tuesday. He was 95. In a statement released by the MLBPA, Fehr said: "Without question, Marvin had more positive

Round and round we go. The NHL Players' Association made more concessions Wednesday, and there was optimism. But then came the fine print, and pessimism. Finally, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr complained there was "no reciprocity," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insisted the sides were "still far apart," and there was even more frustration.

NHLPA boss Don Fehr. (AP)They're closer. That should be the real takeaway. They're close enough to make a deal. That should be the focus going forward – the only focus. There is no reason to go to the brink of losing an entire season.

Yet the lockout drags on, and more games will be canceled soon, including the All-Star Game. Feelings continue to harden. If you're the players, it's because the owners are going for the kill. If you're owners, it's because the players don't know they're already dead.

From the beginning, the players have acknowledged that they are going to give back, that the only question is how much. They knew they were not going to keep

Typically, you start with a university, and then you add sports to bring people together, create that old college spirit and learn lessons that would otherwise go untaught.

GM Darcy Regier teaches a class to team employees at "Sabres University." (Photo courtesy of Buffalo Sabres)In Buffalo, they did it the other way around. They started with a team and added a university – "Sabres University," an internal educational program complete with classes, requirements, binders, T-shirts and even a student mixer.

"I was reluctant to call it a 'frat party' because of liability," laughed Ted Black, the team president. "We'll call it 'student rush' or something like that."

Amid the NHL lockout, the Sabres built fraternity within their organization – call it "Beta Sigma," maybe – but not a fraternity. This was not "Animal House." This was not a really futile and stupid gesture. (Watch this clip to the 2:26 mark – and beware strong language.)

Give 'em an "A" for the effort. Sabres employees shared their expertise with other Sabres employees – from general manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff,