Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As the NHL lockout enters its second week, some are wondering if there will be formal talks. Others are worried there might be regular season games wiped out.

Steve Manson, owner and publisher of WNY Hockey Magazine, says though no formal talks are going on, that doesn't mean nothing's going on. "That means there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes," says Manson. "There's a lot of rumor and people are talking to other people, and there's stuff going on, it's just they haven't had any formal talks."

Manson was optimistic in the days leading up to the lockout, but now? "I gotta say I'm not as optimistic as I was, and as I said before, the September 15th deadline was an artificial deadline. The real deadline before regular season games get canceled is around October 1st," notes Manson. His optimism remains because the issue is about money, and believes there is an amount where the owners and players can agree on.

Manson says there's little pressure and he blames the fans for that. "After the last lockout when they threw away a whole season and infuriated everybody, they flew open the doors and hockey fans filled the arenas, bought tickets, had great TV ratings, so the owners and players know they can get away with just about anything," explains Manson.

Manson does have one pet peeve about the players. "When they go over to play in Europe, they're playing for a lot less money than they would be demanding for in the NHL. Second they're taking away jobs from North American players who will never get a whiff of the NHL but have made a good career playing overseas," says Manson. He does understand why some European players may travel back during the lockout as they are playing closer to home.