According to Elliotte Friedman, who doesn't report on BS, the league sent some memos out to NHL teams saying there would be a 48 game season starting on Saturday, January 19th.

NHL sends memo to clubs indicating no camps before Saturday (and may not open until Monday), 48-game season to begin Jan. 19 — Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 7, 2013

Friedman expanded on his thoughts today, explaining how the shortened season could work.

Highlights included:

There may be no inter-conference play this year

There might be one preseason game for each team

The trade deadline may be moved to April, meaning the season ends in late April or early May.

The NHL and NHLPA still need to ratify the CBA that's currently being put to paper, and that seems to be happening on Wednesday.

Rumours are swirling that game 1 for your Montreal Canadiens will be against the hated, knuckle dragging, Boston Bruins. We don't know if it will be a home or away game as of yet.

One thing to look forward to in facing the Bruins is that apparently Milan Lucic didn't take his training too seriously over the summer. Boston sports anchor Darren M Haynes reported today that Lucic was in terrible shape at practice, and looked to be overweight.

#Bruins Milan Lucic clearly not in hockey shape. Extended water breaks & took a knee to catch breath many times @7news twitter.com/DarrenMHaynes/… — Darren M. Haynes (@DarrenMHaynes) January 7, 2013

Other news and notes:

Apparently the Canadiens can talk to P.K. Subban's agent Don Meehan now, but they can't sign a deal until the CBA is ratified. That could lead to a deal being signed right after ratification, but we could still be in for a bit of a wait there. Subban's contract is tricky with the Canadiens' cap situation this year, and the Canadiens tend to like a 2 year bridge contract like what Carey Price, Max Pacioretty, and Lars Eller all received. Subban's importance to the team may force a longer term deal, which is likely why it took so long in the first place.