NHLPA will respond to league's proposal with a counter offer on Thursday

The NHLPA confirmed it will submit a counter proposal when it meets with the NHL on Thursday, reports Dan Rosen via Twitter. Eighteen players will be at the meeting; Devils' beat writer Tom Gulitti tweeted out some of the attendees:

https://twitter.com/TGfireandice/status/258963414741831680

https://twitter.com/TGfireandice/status/258963720913436673

https://twitter.com/TGfireandice/status/258963739502600192

The NHL made a proposal on Tuesday that included a 50-50 revenue split and an 82-game schedule that would begin on Nov. 2. The full proposal was released on Wednesday. The reduction in the players' share from 57% in the old CBA to 50% in the recent proposal was met with some resistance by NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr, the LA Times reported:

"Simply put, the owners' new proposal, while not quite as Draconian as their previous proposals, still represents enormous reductions in player salaries and individual contracting rights," Fehr told players in a letter obtained by Canada's TSN.

Games through Oct. 24 have already been cancelled, and if a new agreement is not reached soon, additional games and other events are in jeopardy.

The NHL pinpointed a deadline of Oct. 25 for a new agreement and said a delay "would necessarily leave us with an abbreviated season and will require the cancellation of signature NHL events." The economic damage of losing events such as the Jan. 1 Winter Classic "will obviously necessitate changes to this offer in the event we are unsuccessful in saving a full season."