Avalanche players, along with the rest of the league, began voting Thursday night and have 36 hours until Saturday morning to ratify the new labor deal that would end the lockout.

The union will announce the result after voting is finished on Saturday.  If a majority of the more than 700 players choose to accept the deal that NHL owners unanimously ratified on Wednesday, training camps will open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin Jan. 19.

In the meantime, Avalanche players have been meeting for workouts at Family Sports Center in Centennial every morning this week.  The Avs Captain, Gabe Landeskog, was a guest on the 9News Morning show and talked about how he's stayed in shape and his goals for the season.  Check out the video player above to see the interview.

The new NHL CBA is for 10 years, but either side can opt out after eight. The previous collective bargaining agreement was in effect for seven seasons.

The lockout began on Sept. 16, and forced the cancellation of 510 games, the outdoor Winter Classic and the All-Star game.

The NHL says it will release a new schedule once the ratification process is completed.

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