WTF ???? NHL !

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In reply to: Unable to reach deal, Bettman cancels NHL seasonNEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL canceled what little was left of the season Wednesday after a series of last-minute offers were rejected on the final day of negotiations.A lockout over a salary cap shut down the game before it ever got a chance to start in October. Now the NHL, already low on the popularity scale in the United States, becomes the first major pro sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labor dispute."As I stand before you today, it is my sad duty to announce ... it no longer is practical to conduct even an abbreviated season," commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Accordingly, I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-05.""This is a sad, regrettable day that all of us wish could have been avoided," he said.Bettman said the sides would continue working to get an agreement."We're planning to have hockey next season," he said.The union scheduled a news conference later Wednesday in Toronto.The league and players' union traded a flurry of proposals and letters Tuesday night, but could never agree on a cap. The players proposed $49 million per team; the owners said $42.5 million."We weren't as close as people were speculating," Bettman said.This will be the first time the Stanley Cup isn't awarded since 1919 when a flu epidemic forced the finals to be called off. There was a lockout in 1994-95 that ended in time for teams to play 48 games, still more than half the regular season."We profoundly regret the suffering this has caused our fans, our business partners and the thousands of people who depend on our industry for their livelihoods," Bettman said.Before Monday, the idea of a salary cap was a deal-breaker for the players' association but the union gave in and said it would accept one when the NHL dropped its insistence that there be a link between revenues and player costs.That still wasn't enough to end the lockout that started on Sept. 16 and ultimately wiped out the entire 1,230-game schedule and the playoffs.The NHL's last game came in June, when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Calgary 2-1 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.Since then, a lot of stars have moved on, going overseas to play. Jagomir Jagr, Vincent Lecavalier, Teemu Selanne, Joe Thornton and Saku Koivu are among those who went to Europe.For other older players, such as Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier and Dominik Hasek, the cancellation puts their careers in limbo. In reply to: Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. hahaha, whoopshttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/hockey/nhl/02/16/nhl.lockout.ap/index.html?cnn=yes WTF ????

this is terribleI love hockey it is so much fun to watch. It is so fast and it requires so much skill. It is sad to see money get in the way of a sport, in this manner.

I'm not going to get into the blame game on this, both sides are equally at fault.I'm glad they pulled the plug on the season, allowing it to mercifully fade away. I'm hoping that this could bring the NHL to bankrupsy so we can all start fresh with a smaller pool of higher talent teams and affordable ticket prices (what a dreamer)Besides, think of the caveat to winning the cup after a severely condensed season. Sure, you won but only because you had less than half as many games to get through.

Gary Bettman is incompetent. He hasn't done anything to help the league in the ten years he's been commissioner. I am not surprised by the news. I fear the league may fold if major changes aren't made, including kicking him out.

I was going to get season tickets to the Coyotes but the fear of a lockout prevented that. Good news though is that we're getting the Roadrunners back (ECHL). So if the lockout/strike keeps going into next season, I can still go see professional hockey.

Yeah. the league is in dire straits because of his dumbass. Get someone compitent in charge and it will be all good.

all NHL-stars now going to Russia. Yagr, Yashin, Nulander...

Now I am hearing they may un-cancel the season...both sides are talking again.

Do you think a 24-game season and full playoffs would be worth it? What about the legitimacy of the winner of the Stanley Cup?

let it die

Joke my ass, it's on the news. I guess ESPN is making this up.-----------------------Season might be un-canceled SaturdayESPN.com news servicesSeveral sources have told ESPN The Magazine's EJ Hradek that a deal could be imminent that would un-cancel the 2004-05 season.The Hockey News reported Friday that the NHL and the players' association will meet Saturday in New York after the league requested the sides get together again. The Hockey News also reported the two sides had reached an agreement in principle that includes a $45 million salary cap.Asked if there was any way a deal won't get done, a player close to the talks who asked to remain anonymous told The Hockey News, "Not that I can see. I couldn't possibly imagine the idea that somebody is going to try to make a name for themselves in the last minute here."However, NHLPA spokesman Johnathon Weatherdon told Canada's TSN on Friday night that "the [Hockey News] report is absolutely false." And NHL vice president Bernadette Mansur denies that the two sides have agreed to a deal in principle, saying it is "simply not true." NHL vice president Bill Daly told TSN that the Hockey News report was "entirely untrue and without foundation."And a top bargaining source told ESPN.com early Saturday morning there was no truth "to anything that's out there," in terms of a deal being in place or a firm number for a salary cap. On Wednesday, commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the season, saying it was too late to play any semblance of a schedule. The cancellation made the NHL the first major North American sports league to lose a full season to a labor dispute.Or did it?In a statement released Friday night, the players' association said the NHL made the offer late Thursday night to get back together. NHL spokesman Frank Brown told ESPN that the league had no comment on the reports.There was no immediate word on who would take part in the meeting, although TSN reported that Daly and NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin -- who Hradek reported was traveling to New York on Friday night -- will be in attendance. TSN said Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow may not be directly involved in the meeting.Both TSN and The Hockey News reported earlier Friday that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are in New York taking part in the talks, but the Canadian Press reported it wasn't clear if the two would actually join the official discussions Saturday.A second source confirmed to The Hockey News that Lemieux traveled to New York on Friday.One general manager told The Hockey News that Bettman used the cancellation to force Goodenow's hand -- i.e., if Goodenow thought he could maintain his reputation of being a successful deadline hunter, he was wrong."I think the timing has always been to get an agreement so that we can play," said New Jersey Devils president Lou Lamoriello, who has taken part in previous negotiations. "Right now, it's still get an agreement, and then if we get an agreement, then can we play?"I think it's a little different than it was before," he said.Hradek reported that even if an agreement is reached, there is no guarantee a season will be played this year."The way everything has transpired, nothing surprises me," said Lamoriello, who declined to say whether he would be in attendance Saturday.Daly was involved in a closed-door meeting Friday evening and declined to comment.There hadn't been any official contact between the NHL and the players' association since Tuesday night -- when the sides traded what they said were final offers.All proposals were rejected, and Bettman went ahead and canceled the season Wednesday at a news conference that was scheduled two days earlier.The Canadian Press reported that some players, owners and general managers agreed $45 million was the magic cap number to get a deal done. But, according to the CP, neither side initiated talks in the last 12 hours leading up to the cancellation."I don't think anything was premature. It was a necessity," Lamoriello said. "It didn't appear to be going anywhere and there was too much jockeying going on."Right now, there's a chance of people getting down to possibly getting this done," he said.Bettman said in a letter to Goodenow on Tuesday that the league's salary cap proposal of $42.5 million was as far as he could go and that there was no time or flexibility for negotiation.Goodenow sent a letter back, proposing a soft cap at $49 million that could be exceeded by as much as 10 percent by teams twice during the course of the six-year deal.It appeared there was momentum toward reaching a deal and that the season had a chance to be saved, since the sides were only $6.5 million apart on their cap numbers. But talking ceased after each side sent two letters to the other on Tuesday night.There were big breakthroughs Monday in Niagara Falls, N.Y., when the NHL agreed to drop its demand that player costs be linked to league revenues and the union, in turn, came off its steadfast opposition to a salary cap."We got through the philosophical end of it, so there's a better chance, but I think there is still a lot of work that has to be done and it still takes some time," Lamoriello said.Bettman said the NHL couldn't afford the union's final proposal and said if all 30 teams spent $49 million on player costs, then more money would be paid out to players than last season.Rumors began to swirl on Thursday, once the realization set in that the season had indeed been canceled."A lot of players, owners, managers saw how close the two negotiating teams got to a deal and I think people are just exploring if that can be explored any more," agent Pat Morris said Friday. "I don't know if it'll have a successful conclusion."Bettman has said that teams lost more than $1.8 billion over 10 years -- the last time a collective bargaining agreement was reached. The previous lockout cut the 1994-95 season down to 48 games per team.NHL clubs claim to have lost $273 million in 2002-03 and $224 million last season.Bettman said that a deal would have to be in the drafting stages by the end of last weekend if there was going to be time to play a 28-game season and a standard 16-team postseason.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.-------------------As much as I'd like to see hockey, I think it would be a farce to have such a short season. Maybe exhibition games, but the real thing? I don't think so.

OH MY GOD!!! Not the NHL!!!!!!

Whats the NHL?

I would shit my pants if they had a shortened season. That would be so awesome. I would definitely get tickets to see the Sharks play. Oh man I hope the season comes back, hockey is so awesome.

like I said, a diminished season would diminish the finals. I havn't waited my whole life for the Leafs to win the cup just to have it be during a mini season.

Yeah, but wouldn't you enjoy to see them play?I just want to see some NHL games.

Of course, I'd love to be tuning into Hockey Night In Canada in 3 hours. I'm just hoping this lost season will be the enema that the NHL is in desprite need of.

I wasn't joking, why is the NHL so good? Toothless people sliding stuff across ice...

better than the national sport of Ireland

I should be offended, but I don't understand what your saying, so I'm not.

you should be offended! that's why I thought twice about my stupid comment and removed itsorry

I hope it wasn't some IRA comment, cause they're having enough trouble as it is at the moment with the whole Northern Bank incident.And Ireland has many good sports, like Hurling and Gaelic!!! Not to mention that we play many sports WITH OTHER COUNTRIES!!!! And winning the Rugby at the moment, we rock!

Although the NHL only covers Canada and the US, hockey is played almost world wide. Canada won gold in the olympics for mens and womens. We also took the word juniors this year. We do alright.Hey. speaking of good Irish stuff, Have you heard of the band Therapy? ?