Lockout has become a big headache for the NHL and it has compelled the league to scrap the scheduled games for a second time in a month. The hockey season was slated to begin on Oct. 11, but because of the lockout, it was postponed until Oct. 25. Now, NHL has decided scrap all the games until Nov. 1.
NHL officials and players union have miserably failed to reach an agreement on hockey-related revenue sharing. NHL commissioner had come up with 50-50 revenue sharing formula, but the players' union rejected it and presented their counter proposals, which were in return not accepted by the NHL owners.
The NHL had scrapped 82 games two weeks back and now it has decided to cancel 53 more games. However, the NHL is hopeful that some kind of agreement can be reached with the players' union by next Thursday and the hockey season might be started by Nov. 2.
"As expected," New York Rangers goalie Martin Biron told The Associated Press in a text message. "We continue to work hard to find an agreement and get back to playing hockey."
The players union had rejected the NHL's proposal Thursday, which offered equal sharing of hockey related revenue. If both the parties don't come to some form of agreement then more games may be scrapped with even the New Year's Day Winter Classic in danger of being cancelled.
"We are disappointed that the NHL has canceled more games as a result of the owners' lockout," said former player Mathieu Schneider, now the NHLPA special assistant to the executive director. "The players made another major move in the negotiations this week in an effort to end the lockout, by presenting the owners with a proposal that gets to a 50-50 split of revenues.
"In return, we expect that owners will honor the current contracts they have already signed, which everyone knows is fair."
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was dissatisfied with the players' union's decision of not accepting equal revenue sharing and he expressed it by saying that he was "thoroughly disappointed."
"None of the three variations of player share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50, either at all or for some long period of time," Bettman said Thursday. "It's clear we're not speaking the same language."
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