Just typed the date. Does this mean it’s time to Christmas shop? Uh-oh. I have just returned from Canada where the NHL lockout mess is around- the-clock news. What a difference between the coverage there and here. The negotiations of last week went down the tube. One never knows when a corner can be turned for the positive, but this does not look good.

The NHL insists, as it has from the beginning, that it wants cost certainty; a read, hard salary cap. The players will never approve one.

What is interesting is the growing sense that the league never intended to come to an agreement.

If actions speak louder than words, the inaction by the league at the bargaining table says it intended for some years to shut down this season, get a court to agree next spring that they have bargained to an impasse, end their lockout with anyone who will cross the line next fall and restructure the league entirely as they see fit.

Keep this in mind: There is a tightrope dance the league must perform to reach that result.

First, they must bargain in such a way as to convince a court (or labor board) they did so in good faith. That means they really wanted to, and tried to reach an agreement. The law has long held that a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach to bargaining is not good faith.

Is refusal to bargain over the salary cap issue bad faith? We may find out.

Second, even if they are allowed to end their lockout and open the doors, who will come to play? The league is banking on players caving in now, or at least in the fall if an impasse situation exists.

The star players will not cross the lines. The younger players and those earning the least amounts might, but right now the league has shot itself in the foot by the manner in which it just dumped the union proposal.

That has angered every player and they believe this is pure union busting.

Third, the league will have to live with the last best offer it has on the table if an impasse occurs. That requires some dancing if that is the intended result.

They must show they are bargaining in good faith, but at the same time not put any more on the table then necessary.

Ah, a lawyers delight, but for the many being financially ruined by the lockout, this is a disaster.

The new Met

This note on Pedro Martinez, the new Met. The Mets’ press is saying this is a disaster in the making. Pedro has a four-year, $53 million deal.

Those are numbers for the Pedro Martinez of years gone by. Is he more than a .500 pitcher now?

Last year says the Mets will be lucky to get one year out of a bad right arm. Boston made a wise decision in letting him go, and then saying all the right things about his part in THE YEAR. Thanks and see ya, in effect, is what the Sox ownership said.

If Martinez fails in New York, and nobody wants that, the curse will really be over.

And, hey, David Wells will be a non-stop party to watch anyway. He is also a battler with a capital B.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.