The NHL and its players’ union met for a second straight day in Manhattan on Saturday and had a “frank exchange of views” on the definition and interpretations of the league’s revenue pie, according to NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr, agreeing in large part to maintain the language of the expired collective bargaining agreement in the next deal.
 
League deputy commissioner Bill Daly reiterated that the league would prefer to discuss the elephant in the room – how to split the revenue pie between the owners and players – while players’ union executive director Don Fehr again met one-on-one with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and said the two big-wigs talked about “the overall situation” as the clock ticks toward the Oct. 11 scheduled opening of the regular season.
 
“In general, we’re trying to discuss (questions such as): how do we find a way to make an agreement?” Fehr told reporters. “How do we bridge the gaps on the major issues that are between us? The kind of things you would hope we’d be talking about.”
 
The group’s nearly four-hour discussion of Hockey Related Revenue technically means they have moved on to core economic issues, since the definition of HRR sets the boundaries of what money owners and players are collecting.
 
“It’s an important meeting because the HRR definition will determine how much money’s in the pot,” Don Fehr said.
 
The league and union also plan to meet Sunday, when Daly expected issues to include a follow-up on Friday’s discussion on player health and safety, plus more of what the NHL calls “miscellaneous CBA legal matters” such as the grievance process and player game tickets.
 

Rangers forward Rick Nash removed himself from his HC Davos game in Switzerland on Friday due to precautionary reasons after having his shoulder hit into the boards, sources told the Daily News, but he did not sustain a concussion or head injury.

Internet rumors spread on Friday afternoon that Nash had injured his head on the hit, but Nash's concern was over his shoulder. He will be reevaluated on Saturday.

The Blueshirts acquired him in a blockbuster trade this summer from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Have a question about the Blueshirts or a comment? Find Pat on Twitter at @NYDNRangers.

The Rangers are still professional hockey players during an NHL lockout, and they’re still New Yorkers, too. Many Blueshirts live in Manhattan, so while they have little control over what transpires in the boardroom, they can make a difference at home.
 
Take Brad Richards.
 
The 32-year-old Tribeca resident, a skilled centerman born on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, is one of the veterans coordinating team workouts during the lockout, but he’s also becoming more active in the community, his new home after spending the first 10 seasons of his career in Tampa Bay and Dallas.
 
In 2007 while in Tampa, he started the Brad Richards Foundation, dedicated to providing exceptional experiences and treatment for children and families enduring chronic and life-threatening illness. On Oct. 2, Richards officially will introduce his foundation to the Big Apple, hosting his inaugural Wines of the World fundraiser at the stylish downtown Hotel Chantelle to raise money and awareness for a cause close to his heart.
 
“I lost my first cousin – who was a good friend, grew up across the road from me – to brain cancer at an early age, so that’s always been something that’s close to home,” Richards said on the phone this week.
 
Richards’ foundation grew out of a program called Richie’s Rascals, which he started in his early years while guiding the Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup, when he would open up his suite at games to pediatric cancer patients. He plans to bring back the program in New York.
 
“We’d watch games, hang out with the kids, and it kind of grew from there into the foundation, and we’ve branched out into hockey and into the military – now we’re bringing it to New York,” Richards said.
 

The NHL announced the cancellation of the remainder of its preseason schedule Thursday afternoon, with no new collective bargaining agreement in place on Day 12 of the league’s lockout.
 
The News learned Thursday that the league and its players’ union have meetings scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday in New York – their first negotiations since the lockout began Sept. 16 – but the sessions only will cover non-core economic issues, such as player health and safety. That means they will not address the greatest hurdle of how the owners and players split a $3.3 billion-and-growing revenue pie.
 
On Sept. 19, the NHL cancelled its preseason games through the end of September. Now, eight days later, the league has cancelled the rest of its preseason schedule, including the Devils-Islanders showdown at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Oct. 2.

By this timeline, the league is expected to begin cancelling regular season games next week. The regular season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 11.
 
For the Rangers, Thursday’s news wipes out the final three of their six originally-scheduled preseason games – Oct. 4 at the Islanders, Oct. 6 vs. the Avalanche in Kansas City, Mo., and Oct. 8 at the Kings. The Blueshirts then were scheduled to stay on the West Coast and open the regular season Oct. 12 at the Stanley Cup champions in L.A. before visiting the Sharks in San Jose on Oct. 15. Those regular season games have not been cancelled … yet.