The NHL today is expected to cacel games through Dec. 30, and it still hasn’t scheduled the next bargaining session with the Players Association to end Owners’ Lockout III, now in Day 86.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed last night no talks are yet slated with the union after negotiations broke down Thursday evening.
At the time, union head Donald Fehr declared he believed the sides closing toward a deal, only to hear moments later the league had rejected the players’ last offer. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman then said the league’s latest offer was off the table.
The sides negotiated without Bettman or Fehr for two days last week and momentary optimism erupted, only to be quickly dashed. The union says it is ready to talk, while the league is said to want signs the union is ready to make more concessions.
Still, this lockout is more than a month younger than the shortest of the previous two. The one in 1994-95 ended Jan. 11. The 2004-05 lockout killed that entire season.