NHL, union keep labor peace until ’22

National Hockey League players said yesterday they will not opt out of the collective bargaining agreement, guaranteeing labor peace until at least 2022.

The NHL Players Association announced its decision just before the deadline to trigger its opt-out clause. Not terminating the CBA is a positive sign that negotiations are progressing toward an extension.

“While players have concerns with the current CBA, we agree with the league that working together to address those concerns is the preferred course of action instead of terminating the agreement following this season,” NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said. “We have been having discussions with the league about an extension of the CBA and expect that those talks will continue.”

Meetings between owners and players have been going on since February and increased in frequency in recent weeks. The league also did not opt out of the CBA, with commissioner Gary Bettman citing momentum and the importance of labor peace overriding any issues the owners might have.

Players made significant concessions in the last CBA, which was agreed to in 2013. Escrow payments, health care, Olympic participation and what qualifies as hockey-related revenue are things players have cited as some of their top concerns — many of which could be addressed in a potential extension.

In a departure from labor negotiations of 2004-05 and 2012-13 that were full of rancor, Fehr has called this round cordial and pleasant. Bettman referred to it as “joint problem-solving” rather than a combative relationship.

Fenway Bowl set

Fenway Park will host a matchup between teams from the ACC and the American Conference, starting in 2020. The date for the Fenway Bowl will be announced today.

It will be the first college bowl game at the home of the Red Sox. The park has hosted other football, including the Boston Patriots in the 1960s and The Game last year between Harvard and Yale . ...

Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett has declined a pay raise offered by the school and instead asked school officials for additional compensation for his staff and program improvement . ...

Mississippi State starting quarterback Tommy Stevens’ status for its SEC opener Saturday with Kentucky remains uncertain after a shoulder injury knocked him out of each of the Bulldogs’ past two games.

Indiana coach Tom Allen says he expects injured QB Michael Penix Jr. to be a game-time decision this weekend against UConn.

Truex on a roll

Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Pearn built a championshipwinning team far from NASCAR’s hub in North Carolina, using their own approach in making a single-car organization one of the most dominant.

Then Barney Visser shuttered his Colorado-based team and the driver and crew chief were nearly unemployed. “Out of a job? I don’t think so,” snorted Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs pulled them both into Joe Gibbs Racing, Visser’s technical partner when he was running Furniture Row Racing in Denver, and the results haven’t changed at all. Truex won for the fifth time Sunday in his first season with the Gibbs juggernaut, and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway victory came in NASCAR’s opening race of the playoffs.

Truex is now automatically into the second round and rolling toward a spot in the championship race for the third consecutive year.

“I’m very comfortable where I’m at,” Truex said.