Now that everybody is certain that the 2004-2005 NHL season is canceled, the players and owners will each hold separate meetings today and tomorrow to determine what to do next.

The board of governors will meet in New York today to discuss strategy and what their plans are to preserve the upcoming entry draft and next season.

All 30 owners and many general managers and league executives are expected to attend the meeting. In it, league officials will attempt to show unity behind commissioner Gary Bettman and decide whether or not to attempt to declare an impasse in negotiations, continue to meet with the players or try some other idea like opening up the doors to training camps next September and using replacement players for those that don't come to camp.

The league also needs to line up sponsors and television deals for next season if intends to play. ESPN has to notify the league if it will exercise its option for next season and league corporate partners need to know soon if there will be more games canceled by the present lockout before they can commit to next season.

A group of approximately 150 players are scheduled to meet today in Toronto. Wednesday, the players are scheduled to meet with some agents. There is less pressure on the players now since they will not get paid again until next October at the earliest anyway.

The league has indicated it wants to resume negotiations with the players as soon as possible. However, the league has also indicated that future offers will be less generous due to what will almost certainly be a shrinking source of revenues after the damage done because of the cancellation of the season.

The key issues remain 'cost certainty,' a salary cap and linkage between salaries and revenues. Regrettably, there remains no end in sight to the ongoing lockout and hockey fans will just have to wait and hope things are fixed before the scheduled start of next season as they endure a spring without the Stanley Cup playoffs.