National Hockey League cancels 1st 2 weeks of 2012-2013 regular season – @reuters
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) October 4, 2012
It’s official. The NHL has canceled regular season games from October 11th until October 24th.
NHL announces cancellation of 2012-13 regular season schedule through October 24th. Details: bit.ly/Pd439P
— NHL (@NHL) October 4, 2012
Hockey fans saw this conclusion coming for the past few weeks. NHL officials already canceled all pre-season games and most of the league’s all-stars have jumped ship to rival European leagues. On top of that, talks between the players’ union and team owners have been a failure, the latest attempt saw both sides leaving the table after 2 hours of talking.
Players, team sites and fans have already begun to tweet their feelings:
Feels like I’m going to practice without a purpose, and I hate it!Don and Gary, let’s figure this one out! #NHLHockey #theplayers #thefans
— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30) October 4, 2012
“Dear #Canucks fans…” A message from GM Mike Gillis addressing the cancellation of games through Oct. 24th. bit.ly/SFLPIX
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) October 4, 2012
Fuck this NHL lockout..
— Tyler Mesisca (@tmesisca05) October 4, 2012
There is one upside to the league canceling the first two weeks. As pointed out by Greg Wyshynski (Puck Daddy), The league has only canceled the first two weeks, not the first two weeks of games. There might still be the full 82 games season but crammed into a smaller time span.
NHL has canceled the schedule for Oct. 11through Oct. 24. Not games – the schedule. Hence, could stil cram in 82 game season if CBA settled.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) October 4, 2012
NHLPA reps and team owners aren’t scheduled to sit down in the near future. This would be the third time the NHL has locked out since Gary Bettman took over as GM.