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MANHATTAN – Another day of CBA bargaining concluded with a careful undercurrent of traction, cautious as it may be 109 days into the lockout. Clad in jeans and a pale blue sweater, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman emerged from league headquarters shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, following the second consecutive day of face-to-face bargaining with Donald Fehr and the players association. The two parties met for upwards of 30 minutes, the owners extending a counter-proposal to the most recent offer set forth from the players.  “The fact that were involved in a continuous process is something Im glad to see, but were clearly not done yet,” said Bettman, parked on an emptying sidewalk on Sixth Avenue during a chilly New York night. Few details have emerged from the recent talks which could be construed as a good sign. Also constructive is a delicate sense that the sparring partners are moving closer together. But considering the unpredictability and absurd nature of the process thus far, nothing is certain and another season remains in doubt. Following a dark period in negotiations that covered the final few weeks of December, the league concluded 2012 by offering a new and “comprehensive” proposal to the players on Thursday evening, an offer that was countered on Monday afternoon. After studying the contents of that proposal on New Years Eve and all throughout New Years Day, the league responded with a counter of its own.  “In our response there were certain things that the players association asked for that we agreed to,” Bettman stated coolly and calmly. “There were some things that we moved in their directions and there were other things that we said no, but thats part of the process.” The parties are seemingly close on revenue sharing and the sticky issue of the players pension fund, but obstacles still remain. Will the league remain insistent on a $60 million cap for next season? Can the players proceed without a cap on escrow payments? Have the two sides bridged pending gaps on the length of player contracts and CBA term? Also lingering is a potential disclaimer of interest from the players – dissolving the union – set to expire on January 2nd. Bettman said the league wasnt focused on such a matter, but it remains a possible impediment to negotiations. The first day of 2013 bargaining began around noon with smaller group meetings and conference calls between the parties, more explanations of what each side was looking for than actual negotiating. Face-to-face talks were then expected to begin shortly before 7 p.m. but were delayed until after 9 p.m. as the league put the final touches on its latest counter-proposal.  “Now what we have to do is go through the document, try and make some sense out of it, compare it and see what the appropriate thing is to do next,” said Fehr, again refusing to characterize details of the session. Asked if he sensed traction, Bettman responded carefully with a sliver of optimism.  “Theres a process thats ongoing so Im thankful for that.&rdquo Cheap NFL Jerseys From China . The game, played in withering 30C heat, saw Canada go ahead 1-0 at the 40-minute mark on a penalty kick by captain Russell Teibert of Niagara Falls, Ont. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale . LOUIS -- Carlos Beltran appears to be getting his stroke back. http://www.bwjerseys.com/ .C. -- J.R. Smith is normally the guy watching Carmelo Anthony hit the game-winning shot, not the one knocking it down.Leading up to SportsCentres Year In Review on Christmas Eve, TSN and TSN.ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2012. And TSNs reporters and analysts who covered the events as they happened offer their personal reflections on the stories. Today, TSNs Dave Naylor recaps the Denver Broncos winning the much-anticipated Peyton Manning derby. It was really the NFLs perfect storm, a combination of circumstances that led to a scenario no one could have imagined even six months ahead of time. Peyton Manning released? Never. The Colts as bottom-feeders? No way. Bill Polian fired? Preposterous.  And yet by Super Bowl week of 2012, the forces were well in motion to produce one of the most dramatic upheavals in recent professional sports history. Peyton Manning wasnt just a franchise quarterback for Indianapolis. He was the franchise.  Drafted first overall in 1998, he turned the Colts into perennial contenders, enjoyed remarkably good health through the first 14 years of his career and showed few signs of decline by the age of 35. Any doubt that he would spend his entire career with one franchise seemed to be erased the day he signed a five-year, $90 million dollar extension during August of 2011. Neither the Colts nor Manning knew at the time that a neck injury would force him to miss the entire 2011 season and cast doubt about the very future of his career. Or that without him, the Colts wouldnt just become a worse team, they would become the NFLs worst team. Which just happened to put them in line to select one of two college quarterbacks - Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III - each pro-ready and the kind of players that comes along once in a generation. The only question was whether the Colts would really pull the trigger on Manning while he still reasonably had good years remaining - and if he was healthy.  By the time the Super Bowl circus touched down (in Indianapolis of all places), that possibility not only existed but seemed all but assured, if still somehow unthinkable. Like so much of what fuels change in the sports world, the matter came down to dollars. Mannings contract with Indy required the Colts to pay a $28 million dollar bonus on Mar. 8 - an amount that was risk because of Mannings uncertain future. And with Luck or Griffin there for the taking, Indianapolis had the unique opportunity to pass the baton directly from one franchise quarterback to another.  All of which set the stage for a Super Bowl week where, while Peyton Manning may not have stolen the show, he was certainly its best supporting character. Mannings image is ubiquitous in Indianapolis and all week locals paraded around in Colts No. 18 jerseys while speculation about his future buzzed everywhere. A one-on-one interview with Manning aired on Tuesday of Super Bowl week - media day, no less - set the uneasy tone for the week.  During his career, no player in football had garnered more respected than Peyton Manning. And yett it was clear from the things he was saying that, despite his best efforts at taking the high road, the whole situation wasnt sitting well with him.dddddddddddd Once little brother Eli had taken care of the Patriots with late-game heroics to win the second Super Bowl title of his career, there was just one story that mattered above all others headed into the off-season. And so predictably on Mar. 7, Manning, classy as ever, said goodbye to Indianapolis and opened the door on a new chapter of his football life as one of the most-prized - perhaps the most-prized - free agents in pro sports history. The invitations came quickly. His visits to Tennessee, Miami, Arizona and Denver were covered like those of the Queen or the Pope touching down. Not that the Peyton Manning narrative of 2012 needed anything to spice it up, but the possibility of him landing in Denver carried with it a very rich twist. Tim Tebow was not only one of the most popular players in the NFL but one of the most hotly debated athletes of our time. For all the players in team sports whove been chastised for being great as individuals but poor at producing victories, Tebow was the exact opposite. A player of marginal passing ability in a league increasingly dependant on throwing the football, Tebow had rescued the Broncos season with a series of late-game comebacks capped off by an overtime win of over the Pittsburgh Steelers in January.  And the Broncos - and team president John Elway - apparently couldnt get rid of him fast enough.  Landing Manning not only would secure the services of an all-time great quarterback, it would free Denver from the grasp of Tebowmania. Elway beamed when he stood beside the Broncos new quarterback at the news conference announcing his signing. It was clear that the two all-time great quarterbacks had a bond, perhaps the kind that can only occur between two men who have stood in similar shoes.  Elway was one of the NFLs all-time greats - a Super Bowl winner who played his entire career with one franchise. And Manning was the same.  Elway had won two Super Bowl titles in his late 30s, just the way Manning intends to. When they stood together, those in the room could feel the degree of respect between them. Less than 24 hours after Manning was formally introduced at a new conference in Denver, Tebow - and the inevitable attention he attracts - were shipped off to New York.  Tebowmania, it turned, wasnt so much a wave as a blip on the NFLs radar.  All these months later, its hard to say which has been a more seamless transition: Peyton Manning solving the Broncos quarterback issues or Andrew Luck following in Mannings footsteps and somehow making that look easy. For a series of circumstances that caused so much debate and consternation, theres no loser in this tale. Except for Tebow. And while Lucks story may be just beginning, what Peyton Manning showed us in 2012 is that his own is far from over. ' ' '