At this point, we're still on schedule.

Let this definitive and final agreement leave no doubt that the New Jersey Devils will start the '07-'08 season at this world-class, state-of-the-art facility. This means the Devils are satisfied that the city of Newark will fulfill its obligations.

All the questions have been put to bed now, and we can enter the next phase.

We took some huge steps forward in the first two days, so we needed to memorialize a lot of |that to paper. We're continuing to talk so we can understand where we are |both coming from.

Was this harder than I imagined? Yes. I guess the devil was in the details. But they say that nothing that's any good ever comes easy. Now we look forward to Oct. 8, 2007, when our fans will come to Newark and watch the Devils play in a world-class setting.

Some franchises might have doubled in value since the labor contract was signed, though not all.