Cancelled hockey games ended up leaving the Air Canada Centre empty.

Lost hockey led to devastating ratings for NBC Sports.

With the NHL bleeding $20 million (all figures U.S.) a day, it is the collapsing business backdrop that may well have led to the urgency behind talks in New York aimed at ending the lockout.

Both sides remained tight-lipped about what was exchanged — both were mulling over ideas presented by the other — as the optimism of Tuesday turned into a hard slog on Wednesday.

And the hockey world waited for the season to be saved.

“I’m trying to stay even-keeled until the deal is signed, sealed and delivered,” Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk told the Star.

If Tuesday was about ideas and hope, Wednesday was about trying to put ideas onto paper and hope into action.

Players met directly with owners for the second straight day and frequently recessed as both sides met with their leaders — Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman — who were not allowed inside the negotiating room.

None would say much.

“We are pleased with the process that is ongoing,” Bettman said at a brief news conference. “Out of respect for that process, I don’t have anything else to say.”

MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, one of the six owners talking directly to players, said, “We’re going to continue to talk until we get a deal. That’s all I’m going to say.”

The silence, to some was golden — a chance for the two sides to deal without the need to trash each other’s positions in media scrums and try to win the public relations war.

More than 400 games have been cancelled and more than $1 billion in revenue has been lost and about half of that total would have been paid to the players in salary.

The Maple Leafs earn about $2.1 million a game. They have had 17 home games cancelled. Some may come back if the season is saved, but some are gone for sure. About $1.2 million comes from ticket sales, but the rest of the revenue is generated from what fans spend at games.

And outside of one night when about 5,000 fans showed up for a women’s hockey game and a couple of charity public skates, the ACC has not been able to replace hockey games with anything else.

The arena has, instead, been dark.

“Most of the (concert) tours are booked way in advance,” said Rajani Kamath, director of corporate communications for MLSE. “Quite a bit in advance and most promoters typically don’t add shows in a short period of time. Most shows are back to back. Here in Toronto one night. Then Montreal or New York the next.”

NBC Sports Group chair Mark Lazarus told the Sports Business Daily that the lockout is hurting ratings.

“We’ve been filling our primetime with some good college basketball and some good college hockey, but the NHL is a staple of our primetime lineup from October until May, and not having it is definitely harmful to us,” said Lazarus.

Club officials leaving the governors’ meeting sounded a note of optimism in similarly brief remarks.

“We feel good about the information we got,” said John Davidson, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations, as he left the meeting at the Manhattan offices of the law firm Proskauer Rose.

“I’m encouraged,” said Lou Lamoriello, the New Jersey Devils’ president and GM. “I’ve always been hopeful of having a season … but right now, we have to leave it in the hands of the people who are talking.”

With an NHL fine of as much as $1 million still in place for unauthorized remarks made by team officials, most leaving the governors’ meeting refused to speak to reporters beyond exchanging quick greetings.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

More than one-third of the season has already been nixed. If an agreement is reached out of Wednesday’s session, details would have to be hammered out — and training camps hastily arranged — if there’s any hope of dropping the puck by mid-December. Guesses on how long a regular season would be range from 55 to 65 games.

Read more about: