Until Friday morning, the key operatives of both the NHL and the Players Association had remained away from the bargaining table all of last week, each side feeling there was little sense in continuing to discuss a new CBA given that the sides were so far apart on core money issues after a few weeks of off-and-on talks.

“We’ve been through a couple of lockouts, right?’’ noted a key member of a team’s front office Friday. “So after a while, you realize it’s kind of hard, or maybe even useless, to get too emotionally wrapped up in all of it. Because at the end of the day, the guys at the table are the ones who do or don’t get it done.’’