With the player lockout stretching towards its third week, the National Hockey League announced on Thursday that they will cancel two weeks of regular season games.
The league released a statement through its website cancelling 82 regular season games from Oct 11. through Oct. 24.
The statement said: "The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through October 24. A total of 82 regular-season games were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Oct. 24."
"The cancellation was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL."
According to ESPN.com, it is possible that the games could be rescheduled if a deal is reached soon.
"Certainly fair to say that if we reach a deal, we will be looking to reconfigure (the) schedule in a way that would maximize (the) season consistent with health and safety concerns for the Players," Bill Daly, the N.H.L. deputy commissioner, told the website via email Thursday afternoon.
The NHL Players Association has released a statement in response to the NHL.
Executive director Donald Fehr said: "The decision to cancel the first two weeks of the NHL season is the unilateral choice of the NHL owners. If the owners truly cared about the game and the fans, they would lift the lockout and allow the season to begin on time while negotiations continue. A lockout should be the last resort in bargaining, not the strategy of first resort. For nearly 20 years, the owners have elected to lock-out the players in an effort to secure massive concessions. Nevertheless, the players remain committed to playing hockey while the parties work to reach a deal that is fair for both sides. We hope we will soon have a willing negotiating partner."
According to TSN, the games will cost up to $120 million for players in salary. The financial issues have been the biggest sticking point between the players and the league during the lockout. USA Today reports that the players will lose their first 13 checks.
As of Thursday there are no new labor talks scheduled by the sides.
Some of the big games that were cancelled from the first two weeks of the season include the first game for the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, who were set to host the New York Rangers, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Philadelphia Flyers
The league generates $3.3 billion in yearly revenue, 57 percent of which goes to the players based on the last agreement. The league is hoping for the players to lower the number to between 49 percent and 47 percent.
The league locked out the players on Sept. 16, which was when training camps were scheduled to begin. Commissioner Gary Bettman is overseeing his third lockout since 1993 and based on the progress so far, the current stalemate could be one of the longest.
In 1992 the players missed 30 days, while the 1994-95 lockout had 468 games lost. The lockout in the 2004-05 lost the entire NHL season and resulted in 1,230 games lost. During the last stoppage, the two sides did not meet to start bargaining until three months into the lockout.
"Feels like I'm going to practice without a purpose, and I hate it," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said on Twitter. "Don and Gary, figure this one out!"
Many players have started playing games overseas and expect the lockout to continue for most of the year.
"If the league (NHL) continues to insist on their (demands), then it will take a full year. That's because we are not going to cave in," said Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin to the Associated Press a few weeks ago. "Then I will spend the entire season in the KHL. It's an absolute reality."
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