November NHL Games Canceled, League Eyes Winter Classic
The NHL canceled all November games last week, lopping another 191 contests off the calendar and pushing the number of games axed so far to 326.
From The New York Times,
The NHL canceled its November schedule Friday, the 41st day of the lockout, eliminating 191 more games. In a season that was supposed to start Oct. 11, the league has lost 326 games—about 22 per team, or 26.5 percent of the regular season.
The cancellations took place a day after the expiration of a league deadline for preserving a full 82-game schedule. Donald Fehr, executive director of the players union, said the league had withdrawn its most recent offer for a new collective bargaining agreement, another complication in stalled negotiations.
Citing the NHLPA’s refusal to work from their last offer, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman claimed November games as his latest victims, eclipsing the 2,000-games-canceled mark over the course of three work stoppages in the process.
With November NHL games canceled, the Winter Classic is set to be take off the schedule this Thursday. According to reports, the NHL is required to make a down payment on its $3 million rental fee this Friday.
Canceling the Classic before Friday means the league won’t have to make a payment on an event it won’t be staging—one that was estimated to generate some $75 million in the region over the course of one weekend. To date, the league predicts it has lost some $730 million in revenue due to the lockout.
Friday’s to-be-sidestepped down payment is worth $250,000.
Image rskoczylas41 @ flickr
About the Author
James Conley is the owner of Slew Footers. A Pitt grad and freelance writer, James also contributes to the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Baseball News Source and SB Nation's Pensburgh.
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