For the first time since this excruciating process began, there seems to be unanimous optimism on the NHL’s labour front.

The much talked about Players and Owners session went extremely well last night, with Penguins owner Ron Burkle and Captain Sidney Crosby apparently bridging what at times seemed like an insurmountable gap between the two sides.  The same group is expected to continue discussions today.

Last night a news report from a somewhat obscure source, allowed fans of the NHL a moment of hope and optimism.

The hope that lingered in the air last night has been quickly extinguished this morning with a who’s who of the hockey world stepping forward to deny the reports that originated out of Boston on Monday evening.  At this point, fans of the NHL are used to that kind of disappointment.

After another undefeated weekend, the Binghamton Senators are beginning to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the American Hockey League.

Stephane Da Costa scored three times and added an assist and Ben Bishop picked up another win as the BSens scored a convincing 5-2 victory over the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Syracuse Crunch.  The win is Binghamton's eighth straight.

The red hot Binghamton Senators continued to cruise along last night with a convincing win over the Adirondack Phantoms in American Hockey League action.

The 7-4 decision was the seventh straight win for the BSens and comes ahead of a big showdown with against the Syracuse Crunch, the only team ahead of them in the East Division, set for Sunday at 5:00 PM.

With the NHL season rapidly being destroyed by CBA madness, Bryan Murray’s decision to keep Mika Zibanejad from joining Sweden at the World Juniors counts as significant news.

Yesterday, the Senators GM announced that the club would not be releasing Zibanejad from the Binghamton Senators of the AHL and will instead, allow Zibanejad to continue his adjust to the North American game under Luke Richardson and the rest of the staff in Bingo.

Luke Richardson has the Binghamton Senators on a heck of a run lately.  Winners of six straight, the BSens have caught the attention of fans around the AHL and in hockey-starved Ottawa.

While the team continues to rely on lights out goaltending from Robin Lehner, and the occasional gem from his back up Ben Bishop, the offence has shown signs of improvement of late, as the team has been able to roll four lines that can all contribute in the attacking end.

While Bill Daly suggested earlier today that he expects the league and the players to resume negotiations at some point this week, there are currently no formal talks scheduled.

As reported first by Pierre LeBrun, both the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to allow a Federal mediator to oversee CBA negotiations.  Where things go from here is still obviously unpredictable but it can’t hurt to have a mediator involved at this stage in the process.

All may be quiet in the National Hockey League these days but the Binghamton Senators are making plenty of noise in the American Hockey League.

Luke Richardson's team went three for three over the weekend and have now won six straight games. With last night's 6-1 win over the Bridgeport Soun Tigers, the BSens are just two points back of Syracuse for top spot in the AHL's East Division.
 

As the National Hockey League continues to spiral out of control, the Binghamton Senators remain the only game in town.

With that in mind, we welcome back Don Rieber from the Examiner in Binghamton to update us on last night's win over the Toronto Marlies at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York.