NHL teams could be back to playing every other club in the league by next season. The board of governors from the 30 teams met Tuesday and moved closer to ditching the unbalanced schedule put in place after the lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season. Although a vote won't take place before the group meets again in November, there was a clear indication Tuesday that the often criticized schedule would soon be scrapped. "We had a preliminary discussion about the schedule, and I think it's clear that there will be a change," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said after the four-hour meeting. "That's something that we will work toward effectuating at the [next] meeting." The current schedule, in effect for the upcoming season that begins next weekend, consists of eight games against each divisional opponent and only 10 total against non-conference opponents. Teams play one out-of-conference division at home and another on the road -- leaving five teams completely off the schedule.