"All I know is that before negotiations broke off because of the signing freeze, we were still in the hunt."

It was the signing freeze, then, that kept the three players in Montreal temporarily.

Following the players' meeting, Fehr said the signing freeze would remain in effect until the board decides otherwise.

The union lifted its six-week-old signing freeze, and the clubs immediately countered by imposing one of their own.

Their agents basically negotiated lucrative contracts with new clubs, but the players couldn't sign the contracts because the union had imposed a signing freeze.

Those players, as it turns out, will lose those deals, but not just because they couldn't sign during the signing freeze.

Asked about his position on a signing freeze, Kasten said, "Clearly I wouldn't talk about any report like that."

The union is expected to end its signing freeze Monday.

Three weeks ago Selig said he did not have any plans to lock out the players or institute a signing freeze "at the present time."

People connected to the union and management said that another lawyer, Robert Ballow of Nashville, was the force behind the clubs' signing freeze.