NHL lockout Mediation continues cautious optimism seems to be bac

Remember on Friday when we talked about the vicious cycle of the NHL lockout over and over again?Well, Saturday appears to have us back to the cautious optimism stage.Of course, with the "deadline" to get the season started about a week away we still have time for things to derail at least once more and for the doom and gloom to make its inevitable return.So stay tuned, and for your own personal sanity try not to get too high or low ( ).Still, while there has been no deal yet, Bill Laimbeer Jersey mediator Scot Beckenbaugh has been doing everything he can to help bridge the gap, and even brought the two sides back together . (For his sake that sure beats having to keep going back and forth from office to office and building to building to meet with each side individually, as he did for 12 hours Friday.)According to multiple reports, there seems to have been at least some movement on some of the biggest remaining i sues, including player pensions and the 2013-14 salary cap.Sportsnet's John Shannon reports the pension i sue that came up again this past week and will be a "defined benefits pension, funded by the players." Meanwhile, Larry Brooks of the reports the league has shown some willingne s to come off its $60-million figure for the 2013-14 season .Those two i sues -- pensions and next season's salary cap -- remain the biggest hurdles to getting a new CBA deal completed, along with the fight over .The NHLPA is also close to wrapping up its latest vote on whether or not it will give its leadership the authority to file a disclaimer of interest. That vote will no doubt pa s. The disclaimer of interest threat has helped push things along, just as it did late last week. That vote wraps up at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. Blake Griffin Jersey