On the eve of the scheduled start of the new NHL season, there is still no sign of the owners' lockout of players being resolved.
Seven games were due to be played on Wednesday, 13 October, with a further five planned for Thursday, but the calendar is now in disarray.
The NHL has been shut down for nearly a month following the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
The league and the players' association (NHLPA) are so far apart that they have not met or even spoken since 9 September - a week before the decade-old deal ran out.
"I don't think anybody is happy that we're in the situation we're in," said Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer. "I think everybody would much rather be playing hockey."
Training camps failed to open and then the entire pres-eason schedule was wiped out.
Now, real games are about to be officially lost, and with no talks planned, the entire season is in serious jeopardy.
"The players are disappointed but not surprised the 2004-05 season will not start on time," said NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin.
"The league's decision to lock out the players to try to force them to accept a salary cap system had been planned for many years."
Although games will not officially be cancelled by the NHL until the day they are supposed to be played, they are really being called off a month in advance.
The league is leaving the cancellation of games up to clubs that have been given permission to release arena dates on a 30-day rolling basis.
Even the most optimistic observers believe there will not be any NHL hockey before January.
That is when the league and the players association face a deadline: make a deal, or try again in the fall to save the 2005-06 season.
The last lockout interrupted the 1994-95 season, lasting 103 days and was settled in time to have a 48-game schedule.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1
Seven games were due to be played on Wednesday, 13 October, with a further five planned for Thursday, but the calendar is now in disarray.
The NHL has been shut down for nearly a month following the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
The league and the players' association (NHLPA) are so far apart that they have not met or even spoken since 9 September - a week before the decade-old deal ran out.
"I don't think anybody is happy that we're in the situation we're in," said Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer. "I think everybody would much rather be playing hockey."
Training camps failed to open and then the entire pres-eason schedule was wiped out.
Now, real games are about to be officially lost, and with no talks planned, the entire season is in serious jeopardy.
"The players are disappointed but not surprised the 2004-05 season will not start on time," said NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin.
"The league's decision to lock out the players to try to force them to accept a salary cap system had been planned for many years."
Although games will not officially be cancelled by the NHL until the day they are supposed to be played, they are really being called off a month in advance.
The league is leaving the cancellation of games up to clubs that have been given permission to release arena dates on a 30-day rolling basis.
Even the most optimistic observers believe there will not be any NHL hockey before January.
That is when the league and the players association face a deadline: make a deal, or try again in the fall to save the 2005-06 season.
The last lockout interrupted the 1994-95 season, lasting 103 days and was settled in time to have a 48-game schedule.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1
