The puck won’t stop here.

Gov. Chris Christie said today he’d like to see the NHL and its players agree on a collective bargaining agreement but believes the lockout won’t end until the owners and players are both hurting.

“As a fan, I’d like to see them settle. I realize the economic impact, positive, it has in Newark to have the Devils there playing their games and filling that arena. That’s certainly important, but I don’t think I add anything to the mix. I really don’t,” Christie said.

“I think the parties have to decide within their economic interests. When they get to a point where they both hurt a little bit, that’s probably about the place they should settle.”

U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg (both D-N.J.) sent a letter Monday to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA director Donald Fehr warning that the lockout could have serious financial consequences for Newark. They pointed out that Congress has jurisdiction over interstate commerce, including pro sports.

“I hope they get it done, but I think politicians who get in the middle of that stuff are grandstanding for their constituents,” Christie commented. “I think my constituents are smarter than that. I don’t think they want to hear that stuff. They want to hear stuff I can actually control. Not stuff like the NHL, which I obviously have no control over.

“I think it’s always dicey when politicians get involved in the middle of these negotiations. It seems to me the only reason they do it is to grandstand. Does the NHL really care, or the Players’ Association run by Donald Fehr? You think he cares: ‘Oh, damn, we’d better settle. Christie says we’ve got to settle.’ I don’t think it works that way.”

Christie said he has a personal reason to hope for a settlement in the NHL.

“I’m a hockey fan. I want the lockout to end,” he noted. “I have a 12-year-old son who’s a huge hockey fan and he’s asking every day when it’s going to end. Just to stop hearing the questions I’d like it to end.”

Star-Ledger sttaff writer Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.

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Related coverage:

• N.J. senators Menendez and Lautenberg urge NHL to settle

• NHL lockout: Player agents feel the pinch of work stoppage

• NHL and players' association make progress but remain apart on core issues