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"The deal is right there in front of them," Crombeen said. "It's pretty simple for them if they want to make a deal, but they made it very clear to us that they don't. They're trying to squeeze five more cents out of a deal that can be done, and we can be back playing hockey sooner. It's very frustrating, but I wouldn't say I'm overly surprised because of the way they acted throughout the whole process." The NHL stated that they excepted the union to give them a yes or no response to whether or not the players would agree to a few key demands and when the union offered a counterproposal instead, the NHL promptly rejected it.