The NHL won't start next season unless a collective bargaining agreement is reached, commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday, seemingly removing the threat of using replacement players.

"If we don't have a new CBA so that our players can start the season with us in October, we will not open on time," Bettman said following a four-hour meeting with owners and GMs.

That message was in contrast to the one 51 days ago. The owners left the last board-of-governors meeting saying there would be hockey in October regardless, which hinted at the possibility of replacement players.

"I think that we can move forward and plan to play a season however it happens this coming year," Edmonton Oilers chair Cal Nichols said March 1.

Now that has changed.

"We are focusing on a getting a collective bargaining agreement with NHL players," said Richard Peddie, president and CEO and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. "What they were doing was looking at alternatives a month an a half ago . . . we're trying to get back to playing NHL hockey with NHL calibre players. In the end, everyone agreed `let's keep focusing on getting a deal."'

Bettman said the use of replacement players was only one of several ideas examined by owners and was never a chosen course of action.

"The fact of the matter is, and we made this clear over the last month or so, we were going to explore all of our options," Bettman said. "That doesn't mean you're doing it or not doing it, it doesn't mean it's a good idea or a bad idea.

"Obviously if we can't open on time, the options become an issue again. But it was never that it was in, and rejected, or out and accepted."

Either way, it means legal impasse and all the ugly legal wrangling that would have ensued have now been temporarily shelved.

But that doesn't mean it's the last we've heard of replacement players. If the season doesn't start on time, the NHL may have to look at it again.

"Among the options (if the season is delayed) are continuing to stay shut down - indefinitely or for some period of time - another is playing with new players," Bettman said. "But we're not going to speculate about that because we want it to be clear our focus is on making a deal with the Players' Association."

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