MOSCOW, December 23 (R-Sport) - The impasse in talks to resolve the NHL lockout is testament to the "egotistical" ambitions of the league's management, the head of the rival KHL hockey league said Sunday.
The labor dispute between the players and the NHL has brought about the cancellation of the first half of the season.
The lockout reached its 99th day Wednesday with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and players’ association special counsel Steve Fehr in contact but unable to reach a compromise.
"No-one knows how the league will behave in his situation," Alexander Medvedev said in comments to the website of the KHL's Kazakh team Barys Astana.
"But it's all generally showing how egotistical the NHL is. Financial issues trump the development of the game for them. But at the same time, this will all hit their pockets anyway."
He ruled out any kind of analogous situation for the KHL, the Russian-based league in its fifth season.
"No, we're not that kind of league, because while we might have arguments with the players unions, we always think about the hockey first of all, and about everything else later."
More than 620 NHL games through January 14 been cancelled to date. Many NHL figures hope to salvage the remainder of the season.
The NHL's Players' Association pressed a step closer this week to disbanding, a move that could open up anti-trust lawsuits against the league.
