The NHL cancelled all games through Jan. 14 Thursday and if the feuding sides don't reach an agreement soon then the entire season may be scrapped.
The NHL and players association (NHLPA) representatives have met several times, but have failed to resolve the labor dispute and agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.
More than half of the hockey season has already been wiped out and the danger of remaining games being cancelled is looming large.
Prior to the latest scrapping of games, the league had already cancelled all games through Dec. 14 and the league's two marquee events -- The New Year's Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game.
"I don't want to characterize what today's cancellations mean or don't mean," Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email. "I will stand on the announcement that was made."
Daly made it clear in a radio interview Wednesday that both sides must reach an agreement by mid-January to save the season, while adding he was hopeful the season would not be wiped out entirely.
"I don't think either party is refusing a meeting," Daly said Wednesday. "But unless there is an indication one side or the other is prepared to move or has a new idea to move the process forward -- and so far neither side has indicated -- I am not sure what we would do at the meeting.
"What is the agenda? Who is directing the conversation? We don't have anything new to say right now."
Union executive director Donald Fehr is also hopeful some sort of compromise can be reached, although he blamed the owners for the lack of progress in talks.
"Hopefully, we'll get back together and negotiate out the remaining issues as soon as possible," Fehr said. "(We aren't talking) because the owners have not indicated a desire to resume.
"We've indicated any number of times that we're willing to resume when they are (and) we're willing to resume without preconditions. So we're waiting to hear back from them."
The NHL filed a class action suit in the U.S. District Court in New York last week. The purpose was to establish that the lockout is legal.
The court has given the NHLPA three weeks time to answer.
It is not the first time that so many games have been cancelled. In 2004-05, the complete NHL season was lost because of a lockout.
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