NHL lockout: Sharks players cautiously optimistic about recent developments

Some of the San Jose Sharks players were a bit more optimistic about the lockout following the NHL's proposal on Tuesday, David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The NHL proposed a 50-50 revenue sharing split, among other things, in a new collective bargaining agreement proposal. The NHL Players Association held a conference call but did not formally respond to the NHL's proposal by the evening's end.

Pollak spoke with the Sharks' Patrick Marleau after he had finished a skate around in the morning. Marleau said he was a bit more optimistic after hearing about the news of the proposal, but that the "devil is in the details."

"It's a step in the right direction, but obviously we as a union are trying to fix a lot of things that are wrong with the league. The revenue sharing is a huge part of this. It makes a lot of sense to have that system in place. We don't want to be doing this again down the road."

Dan Boyle echoed Clowe's sentiment, saying, "The wheels are turning so hopefully momentum picks up and we go from there."

But not all Sharks players are in the same boat as Marleau, Clowe and Boyle. Brad Stuart took a hard-line position. ""I'm not going to get hopeful until they tell me training camp is starting. . . . I'm not going to get optimistic," he said.