[Drake]

"It's been a long day of meetings and we'll resume tomorrow," Cohon said shortly after 10pm ET. "And that's a good thing."

The league and union initially met around 10am ET, and the day was a steady stream of comings and goings. The league's representative, including Cohon, chief operation officer Michael Copeland, Saskatchewan Roughriders president Jim Hopson, Calgary Stampeders president Ken King, and CFL legal counsel Steve Shamie, left the meeting room a couple times before noon.

"We're still talking," is all Cohon said then.

"We're working hard," Hopson said. When asked later to give a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on how discussions were going, Hopson placed his bag on the ground and gave both.

The players, including union president Scott Flory, vice-presidents Marwan Hage and Jeff Keeping, treasurer Brian Ramsay and legal counsel Ed Molstad, remained in nearby meeting rooms for much of the day, breaking for dinner around 6pm ET.

Keeping, an offensive lineman with the Toronto Argonauts, said the players weren't considering any new proposal around dinnertime, but did expect to meet with the CFL by the end of the day. Molstad confirmed a "conciliation officer" was present to assist with negotiations throughout Wednesday.

At 7:30pm ET, the league's representatives returned to the meeting room to resume discussions with the union. The two sides met for about an hour before the league left once again.

"Going upstairs [to the league's room in the hotel] to talk," Cohon said at the time. Shamie and the mediator walked into the meeting room used by both parties at 9:45pm ET. Shamie later emerged and said the league and players were "still talking."

When asked if the two sides were any closer, the mediator just smiled and continued walking.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=453365