NEW YORK - If next week's labor negotiations go as well as the NHL general managers' dinner meeting, there might be hope for a hockey season after all.

The NHL and the players' association agreed Thursday to return to the bargaining table for the first time since talks broke off Sept. 9, triggering the lockout that threatens the entire NHL season.

Early in the 78th day of the lockout, players' association executive director Bob Goodenow sent a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, inviting the league back to the negotiating table. The letter also said the union was working on a new offer.

"Almost three months have passed since the players made their last proposal, and we have yet to receive a counteroffer from the league," Goodenow said. "We have been working hard at other creative solutions and believe our new proposal will provide a basis to end the owners' lockout."

The NHL accepted the overture, and negotiations will take place next Thursday in Toronto. If progress is made, the sides will continue discussions the following day.

"I'm pleased that the union has finally decided that it makes sense to go back to the bargaining table, but beyond that let's see what the offer looks like before we speculate or attempt to draw any conclusions," Bettman said after meeting with 26 of the 30 general managers. "We'll get the offer, we'll evaluate it, we'll respond appropriately. We hope it's a good one."

The NHLPA stole a little thunder from the GMs by making its pitch just hours before the group came to eat with Bettman at a Manhattan restaurant. Because of a league-imposed lockout gag order, the general managers had more to say about the food than the labor situation.

The union's offer will remain a secret until it is formally given to the league.

"In fairness to the collective bargaining process, we will not be discussing our proposal publicly until after it has been communicated to the NHL," NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin said.

Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer, said the NHL had not been preparing to make a new offer. The players' association rejected six concepts put forth by the league before the union's previous proposal.

The most recent offer by the NHLPA was a luxury tax-based deal that was rejected by the league, and the lockout began one week later. As of Thursday, 334 regular-season games, plus the 2005 All-Star game, had been wiped out.

Bettman has said that a luxury tax won't work because teams are losing money at a pace that makes it impossible for the league to survive without "cost certainty." The union says that idea is tantamount to a salary cap - a solution it refuses to accept.