NHL Cancels Season Through Dec. 14, Including 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - The NHL announced that all regular-season games through Dec. 14 have been canceled. The league also announced that the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 26-27 will be canceled.
The league made the announcement Friday, the 69th day of the NHL's lockout of its players.
The new cancelations come as little surprise. The two sides had an unproductive negotiating session on Wednesday that produced no movement to break an impasse over splitting more than $3 billion in revenue and also player contracts.
"We've identified what's important to players, but they seem to be so far at least unwilling to treat those concerns in a serious way," union head Donald Fehr said after the last round of talks, at which the union presented a new proposal to the league.
The cancellation of games brings the total to 422 regular-season games – 34.3 percent of the season – were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Dec. 14.
The league said, "cancellations are necessary due to the absence of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL."
"The reality of losing more regular-season games as well as the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend in Columbus is extremely disappointing," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible."
The Columbus Blue jackets, the club hosting the All-Star game and the skills competition, said fans with tickets to events on that weekend could receive refunds.
"On Wednesday, the players presented a comprehensive proposal, once again moving in the owners' direction in order to get the game back on the ice," Fehr said in a new statement. "The gap that remains on the core economic issues is $182 million. On Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the league is losing $18-20 million per day during the lockout, therefore two more weeks of cancelled games far exceeds the current economic gap.
"It makes the NHL's announcement of further game cancellations, including the 2013 All-Star Weekend, all the more unnecessary, and disappointing for all hockey fans — especially those in Columbus. The players remain ready to negotiate but we require a willing negotiating partner."
Daly said he spoke to union officials on Friday, advising them about the cancellations, but at this point no face-to-face talks are scheduled. The two sides had stayed apart for eight days before reconvening on Monday night and then again on Wednesday when the union presented a comprehensive proposal the NHL requested.
It didn't take long for the league to reject it.
The union made its offer that was based on a framework the NHL had given, which included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue and a $393 million in deferred payments for the players, who earned 57 percent of revenues in the collective bargaining agreement that expired in September. The NHL offered only $211 million to the players in a proposed deal that took into account that a full 82-game schedule would be played this season.
The NHL on Oct. 16 offered a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue, down from the players' 57 percent portion of $3.3 billion last season. With guaranteed contracts likely to push the players' share over the halfway mark at the start of the next deal, management wants that money to come out of future years to bring the overall percentage down to an even split over the length of an agreement.
Players previously had proposed they receive a guaranteed amount of income each year.
Management wants a seven-year deal, which the union says is too long because less than half the current players will be active by the last season.
This is the league's third lockout since 1994. The first settled on Jan. 11 and the last one led to Bettman announcing the cancellation of the 2004-05 season on Feb. 15, 2005.
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
