Winter Classic ready to be cancelled by League -NHL Lockout Update
The annual and much looked forward to 2013 National Hockey League (NHL) Winter Classic event is closer than ever to being lockout out and according to sources, it could be as soon as the next 48 hours by the way things are looking.
NHL Players’ Association and team owners have miserably failed in their attempts to get a new labour deal in place in order to save what is left of the 2012-2013 NHL regular season, but it just might not be enough to save the Winter Classic.
In an email to ESPN, NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly, made it clear that there are no meetings scheduled for the next couple of days and nothing progressive in sight.
"No new news. We withdrew our most recent proposal on Friday, and now we are spending time thinking about our next proposal and how best to get closer to a resolution," Daly said. "We hope the union is doing the same thing. Given the fact that the union
refused even to discuss our last proposal, it would appear that we still have a large gulf to bridge."
While the league continues to blame the labour union for being uncooperative in terms of discussing a new contract, Steve Fehr, the special counsel of the NHLPA, has different views.
"Since the last bargaining meeting on Oct. 18, we have consistently made it clear to the League that we are ready to meet and are willing to discuss all ideas, certainly including their last proposal," he told ESPN.com.
Fehr went on to add that it is the league that has been declining to meet these past few days, proving that they are unwilling to move ahead and save what remains of the season and Winter Classic.
Due to November already having started and organisers waiting on an answer from the league in order to go ahead with the Winter Classic or not, the NHL will be making a decision anytime in the next couple of days, bearing another loss amounting to millions
of dollars.
Until this blame game does not come to a stop, there is no telling what could happen of the lockout between the two stakeholders.
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