The Hawks and Stanley Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi are scheduled to go to arbitration on Thursday, and both sides on Tuesday were able to take a glimpse of the other’s argument. Arbitration rules state that both sides will present their arguments in writing to the opposing side — as well as the arbitrator — 48 hours before the hearing.
“We exchanged briefs, and we’ll take it from there,” Niemi’s agent Bill Zito said. “I imagine we’ll keep talking.”
That last statement from Zito does give some hope that the team and the player could settle before tomorrow morning.