A Sports Illustrated writer blooged recently that he expected the battle to be resolved in March before the playoffs.

But Yahoo Sports today asked Versus for a status report. A Versus spokesman said:

"At this time, we are not optimistic that an agreement will be in place with DirecTV in time for the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs."

Yahoo quoted one source as saying "two sides (are) speaking different languages."

Versus has the broadcast rights for both NHL regular season and playoff games.

Also see:
Consumer Reports: 'Best Buys' For HDTVs

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