The NHL and the NHL Players Association will meet with federal mediators this week.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George H. Cohen issued the following statement Monday on the ongoing labor negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA:

“I have had separate, informal discussions with the key representatives of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association during the course of their negotiations for a successor collective bargaining agreement. At the invitation of the FMCS, and with the agreement of both parties, the ongoing negotiations will now be conducted under our auspices. I have assigned Deputy Director Scot L. Beckenbaugh, Director of Mediation Services John Sweeney, and Commissioner Guy Serota to serve as the mediators.

“Due to the extreme sensitivity of these negotiations and consistent with the FMCS’s long-standing practice, the Agency will refrain from any public comment concerning the future schedule and/or the status of the negotiations until further notice.”

Update: Cohen has issued a follow-up statement:

“Within one hour after I issued a press release announcing that further negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA would be conducted under the auspices of the FMCS, it has been called to my attention that there are issues involving an allegedly hacked Twitter account associated with Commissioner Guy Serota, one of the mediators I assigned. Accordingly, in order to immediately dispel any cloud on the mediation process, and without regard to the merits of the allegations, I have determined to take immediate action, namely to remove Commissioner Serota from this assignment.

“There will be no further comment from the FMCS on this matter.”

There were some bizarre tweets reportedly posted on the account belonging to Serota (@GuySerota). The tweets were removed and Serota claimed his account had been hacked.

In any event, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, in an email, said the recommendations of the mediators are not binding.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr issued the following statement:

“The NHLPA has agreed to the addition of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to our ongoing negotiations. We look forward to their involvement as we continue working to reach an equitable agreement for both the players and the owners.”

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