Ice hockey: NHL season cancelled

NEW YORK - The National Hockey League (NHL) cancelled its season today after being unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with locked out players.

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

League commissioner Gary Bettman began a news conference in New York by apologising to fans then announcing the season had been cancelled.

"When I stood before you last September I said, NHL teams will not play again until our economic problems have been solved," Bettman said.

"As I stand before you today it is my sad duty to announce that because the solution has not yet been attained 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."

Owners had been seeking to impose a salary cap on players, something their union had refused to consider since the lockout began last September until Monday when they said they would be prepared to accept a cap of US$52 million ($73.42 million) per team, which was rejected by the owners.

That figure was lowered to US$49m, while the owners upped their proposal from US$40m to US$42.5m and dropped their demand that payrolls were linked to revenue, but neither party was willing to budge any further.

"We weren't as close as people were speculating," Bettman said.

"This past weekend we came to understand the union, despite all their protestations, indicated they would accept a salary cap but it could not be linked to revenue.

"What that means was there was to be an arbitrarily negotiated number that had nothing to do with our economics. All the risk of that number was with the clubs."

Bettman said had they reached an agreement on the US$42.5m offer the league would still lose money over the next three years.

"Nevertheless, we wanted to try and save the season but when the union came back with $49 million it was clear there was no basis on which to make a deal."

With Bettman's announcement the NHL earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first North American professional sports league to lose a season to a labour dispute.

The Stanley Cup has been awarded every year since 1893 with an exception of 1919 when the finals were wiped out by an influenza epidemic.

Saying they have lost US$1.8 billion over the last decade and close to US$500m in the last two years, NHL owners have demanded "cost certainty" in any new deal in a bid to gain control of skyrocketing payrolls.

Over the 10-year term of the last collective bargaining agreement players' salaries went from just over US$500,000 a season to US$1.83m.

An economic study commissioned by the NHL determined that players received 75 per cent of team revenues, the most of any of the four North American professional leagues.

- REUTERS