The NHL and NHLPA met for the second straight day Thursday but gained no traction in brokering a new CBA through the use of a federal mediator.

"After spending several hours with both sides over two days, the presiding mediators concluded that the parties remained far apart, and that no progress toward a resolution could be made through further mediation at this point in time. We are disappointed that the mediation process was not successful," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

The NHL and the NHLPA met with a mediator Wednesday in an attempt to resolve the labor dispute that has jeopardized the season.

The two sides met at an undisclosed location for approximately six hours and were scheduled to meet again with mediators Thursday beginning at 11 a.m.

It is believed both sides spent large amounts of time in separate sessions with a mediator to discuss their bargaining position.

Wild goalie Josh Harding has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, according to a Star Tribune report. 

The Wild confirmed Thursday that Harding is undergoing treatment for the disease, which attacks the body's immune system and affects the central nervous system. 

GM Chuck Fletcher said he knows the "competitive fire" Harding has used in hiscareer will help him fight this challenge.

The Maple Leafs are the first NHL team worth $1 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

The Leafs, who have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, are worth $250M more than the next most valuable franchise, the Rangers, according to an ESPN.com report. 

The idea of Sidney Crosby playing hockey in Europe is more and more realistic with each passing day of the lockout.

But while he is monitoring the situation, he says there's certainly no set date on any decision in that regard.

"There's no real timeline, I think it's just trying to get a pulse on what's going on (on the labor front), and that's been hard to do," the Penguins star told ESPN.com over the phone late Tuesday night

Blue Jackets Executive Vice President and GM Scott Howson announced today that Ryan Murray will undergo surgery on his injured shoulder in the next two to three weeks and will be sidelined approximately six months.  Murray, the captain of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, was injured on November 16 in a game against the Victoria Royals.
 
Murray, 19, was the Blue Jackets’ first pick, second overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft.  In 23 games with Everett this season, he had collected two goals and 15 assists for 17 points with 14 penalty minutes. 

The stalled labor impasse has gone a new route, with the NHL and NHLPA agreeing to meet with a mediator.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service director George Cohen broke the news Monday afternoon.

"While we have no particular level of expectation going into this process, we welcome a new approach in trying to reach a resolution of the ongoing labor dispute at the earliest possible date," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. "We have no further comment on the upcoming meetings at the current time."

The NHL and union confirmed to ESPN.com they had accepted an invitation from federal mediators to meet with them. A source said the first meeting will be Wednesday.

The NHL announced another round of cancellations on Friday, canceling all regular-season games through Dec. 14, as well as the All-Star Game, originally slated for Jan. 27.

The lockout has now cost the league 422 regular-season games, 34.3 percent of the season. 

"The reality of losing more regular-season games as well as the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend in Columbus is extremely disappointing," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. 

NHL labor talks quickly broke off Wednesday after the players union made a new proposal they said left sides separated by less than $40M annually over a five-year contract and commissioner Gary Bettman rejected the plan, saying "we're still far apart."

On the 67th day of a lockout that already, the two sides didn't set a date to get back together.

Flyers center Claude Giroux is leaving his club in the German league to seek medical attention for a neck injury, his agent Pat Brisson told ESPN.com.