With negotiations stalled and the league-imposed deadline approaching Thursday, there does not appear to be any hope to preserve an 82-game season. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said as much Wednesday. "Unfortunately, it looks like an 82-game season is not going to be a reality," Bettman said at a news conference from Brooklyn's Barclays Center, announcing the Islanders' relocation starting with the 2015-16 season. Bettman painted a bleak picture on the state of negotiations with players and said the union "has chosen not to engage on our proposal." The league made its last offer to the NHLPA last Tuesday, one that included a 50/50 revenue split and a provision to "make whole" existing player contracts by employing deferred payments. The union responded two days later with a trio of its own offers. However, all three were rejected by the league within 10 minutes. The union requested a formal meeting with the league Tuesday night but was rebuffed. The NHL maintained that if the NHLPA was unwilling to work off the league's last proposal, then a meeting wasn't necessary. Source: ESPN
eh, a shorter hockey season is probably a better thing ........... just like it was for the nba this past season.
