There’s no telling when the NHL lockout will end, especially when neither the  NHL nor the NHL Players Association has committed to face-to-face negotiations to end the labor unrest. There were no formal talks Sunday on the first day of the lockout, the league’s fourth shutdown since 1992, including a year-long dispute that forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season when the league successfully held out for a salary cap.

And there are no formal talks planned.

However, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr talked Sunday over the phone. The two plan to talk again Tuesday evening, Daly told ESPNNewYork.com.

The league issued a statement to fans on its website that it was “committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that is fair to the players and to the 30 NHL teams.”

The clock is ticking and there’s no new Collective Bargaining Agreement  in sight. The league could start to announce this week the cancellation of preseason games, and there’s little chance training camps will open on time. The regular season is scheduled to begin October 11, but that obviously is in peril.

Day 1 of the lockout could serve as a preview for the next several cold months: Empty rinks, empty talk.

“This is a time of year for all attention to be focused on the ice, not on a meeting room,” the league said. “The league, the clubs and the players all have a stake in resolving our bargaining issues appropriately and getting the puck dropped as soon as possible. We owe it to each other, to the game and, most of all, to the fans.”

“The league, the clubs and the players all have a stake in resolving our bargaining issues appropriately and getting the puck dropped as soon as possible,” the team said. “We owe it to each other, to the game, and most of all, to the fans.”

NHL players struck in April 1992, causing 30 games to be postponed. This marks the third lockout under commissioner Gary Bettman. The 1994-95 lockout ended after 103 days and the cancellation of 468 games.

 


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