The kickoff to the holiday season wasn’t enough to bring the NHL and it’s player’s association together to strike a new labor deal. Instead, more games were canceled and one highlight event—the NHL All-Star game—also got the axe.
The NHL Friday announced that it has cancelled games scheduled through Dec. 14. Over the course of this year’s labor lockout, one-third of the games scheduled for the 2012-2013 season have been cancelled.
The latest cancellations means more frustration for New York Islanders fans who will be missing out on the first 29 games of this hockey season.
“The cancellation was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL,” the league said, according to the Islanders news release.
Hockey fans have already suffered the loss of one marquee event, the Winter Classic. Now they will also lose out on seeing their favorite players compete during All-Star Weekend, which was scheduled for Jan. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio.
“The reality of losing more regular-season games as well as the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend in Columbus is extremely disappointing,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement posted on the league’s website. “We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible.”
The labor lockout has reached Day 70 as the league and the NHL Player’s Association continue to squabble over how to split more than $3 billion in revenue.