The Professional Hockey Players’ Association and the ECHL announced Saturday evening a tentative deal has been reached on a new collective bargaining agreement.

The players union went on strike Friday amid a monthslong labor dispute with the ECHL.

The strike forced the postponement of two Maine Mariners games scheduled to be played in Portland this weekend. Maine’s game against Trois-Rivieres in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec on Sunday was postponed earlier Saturday.

“While we only missed two games, we realize that we don’t get time back: time spent with families at a game during the holidays, time to see friends, and while we will reschedule these games, we understand we can’t reschedule those memories, and for that we are sorry,” Mainers owner Dexter Paine said in a statement released by the team Sunday morning.

The league and the union released a joint statement Saturday announcing the agreement. The deal needs to be ratified by the players and the league’s board of governors, according to the statement.

No details about the deal were released.

The statement said “Players will report to their teams in good faith and prepare to return to play, pending ratification and approval. “

“We are pleased that we were able to come to what we feel is a fair agreement for all parties involved with minimal disruption to the season, and are excited to getting back to focusing on our shared passion — the game of hockey,” Paine said in the statement.

Members of the Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced this week that players in the ECHL were prepared to stop work, accusing the league of obstructing collective bargaining with unfair labor practices.

The strike took effect Friday, when games had been scheduled to resume after a holiday break, according to the union, which represents players in the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League.

The Mariners are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday afternoon at the Adirondack Thunder. They have three games scheduled in Portland for Jan. 2-4.

“This brief stoppage also reaffirmed what we already knew: our most valuable assets are our fans and our partners, who along with our athletes, make this a valued business of people, which is why we play the games,” Paine said.