Ice hockey: Embattled NHL cancels season

Brad Richards hoists the Stanley Cup for Tampa Bay Lightning after they beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 in last year's final. Picture / Reuters

North America's National Hockey League, unable to reach a new pay agreement with its locked-out players, cancelled the rest of its season yesterday.

The NHL became the first North American professional sports league to lose an entire season to a labour dispute.

"We are truly sorry," said commissioner Gary Bettman. "It is no longer practical to conduct even an abbreviated season. I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-2005."

The league locked out the players on September 16. More than two-thirds of the 1230-game schedule has been already lost.

Bettman hinted a couple of times the season could have been saved this week had the players' union come closer to the NHL's final offer on a salary cap.

The league's final offer was for a US$42.5 million ($60.13 million) cap. The players' was for $49 million.

Bettman said the difference of US$6.5 million per team multiplied by the 30 teams added up to an unaffordable total close to what the NHL lost last season.

"We didn't have it to give."

He said owners would lose less money by not playing games than they would have playing under the old agreement.

He said in a couple of weeks owners would start planning for next season, with a new financial structure and likely with new game rules.

Without specifying, he said he had hoped that had they reached a deal, a shortened season could have tested some new rules to reinvigorate the league.

"We're going to have to earn back the trust and love and affection of everybody that's been associated with the game," he said. "It may take us a couple of years or so."

Bettman said the league had not ruled out using replacement players next season.

Nearly 400 NHL players have been competing in Europe during the lockout. Others are playing in North American minor leagues.

Earlier this week the union dropped its long-held opposition to a salary cap. But neither side was able to agree on the final numbers and NHL Players' Association executive director Bob Goodenow told Bettman to expect no further word from the union.

Since 1893, the Stanley Cup has been awarded every year except 1919, when the finals were wiped out by a flu epidemic.

- REUTERS