Despite all the doom and gloom served up Wednesday in Manhattan, following another round of dashed collective bargaining agreements talks, I’m not giving up on a 2012-13 NHL season. I may be forced to surrender my Pollyanna Platinum card because of my ever-cheery disposition, but I don’t see 30 dead rinks, not yet, even though league owners last week flashed the working help what could be best described as the late-1960s Derek Sanderson one-armed salute (if you’re too young to remember, trigger “fertile imagination’’ app here).

The players, slightly more than five weeks after the owners finally served them a real offer, finally returned Wednesday with a valid offer of their own. Why that took 36 days is anyone’s guess, but overall I think it took that long for the harsh reality to sink in among the rank-and-file: the owners are going to get what they want, and it’s getting time for everyone to bend a little and get back to stoking the furnace of a $3 billion-plus business.