League Cancels All Regulation Games through January 14 -NHL Lockout Update
The National Hockey League (NHL) bumped up the number of lost games so far during this lockout to more than 600 on Thursday as all regulation matchups to take part in the 2012-2013 regular season were cancelled through January 14th.
Cancelling nearly another half-a-month of exhibition games on Thursday was definitely seen as shocking for many stakeholders as matchups had already been cancelled up until the December 31st mark but some experts were seeing as the league willing
to work something out before the turn of the year.
"I don't want to characterize what today's cancellations mean or don't mean," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email. "I will stand on the announcement that was made."
Now with 625 games lost due to the work stoppage and inability of the league and Players’ Association to work something now, half of the 2012-2013 regular season has already gone down the pipeline and more is expected seeing the way things are currently
going.
"We have to find a way to have discussions because it's very hard to come to an agreement if you're not talking to one another," NHLPA executive director, Donald Fehr, said. "It's very hard to come to an agreement if you set pre-conditions to the negotiations,
too."
The lockout has now crossed the three-month mark as the previous collective bargaining agreement came to an end on September 15th. Talks had kicked off as early as June of this year, but with nearly six months of negotiations having gone on now,
both stakeholders have failed in making progress on the issue.
There is also no surety that the league and labour union will be able to work something out when the time comes to expect further cancellations of the regular season, but experts have already regarded the January 15th date as a deadline for the
two as next time, it might be the entire hockey year that comes under the axe.
Updates should be expected in the next couple of days in regards to the lockout and what the league and Players’ Association have planned to do to work something out.
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