NEW YORK (AFP) - The National Hockey League Board of Governors was to meet, with commissioner Gary Bettman expected to announce that the league will lock out players for the second time in a decade.
Meetings between the NHL and the NHL Players Association in recent week have failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement, with the current contract due to expire at midnight (04:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
The biggest issue is a salary cap, which owners want and the players union says it will never accept.
"Unfortunately, the owners have expressed no willingness to engage in any dialogue that could lead to a fair agreement for both sides," NHLPA president Trevor Linden of Vancouver said after the last meeting on Thursday.
The NHLPA, which rejected six proposals by the league in July, presented its own on Thursday, which the NHL declined to consider, calling it a repackaged version of a previous plan including a luxury tax, player salary rollbacks, changes to the entry level system and a revenue-sharing plan.
"We've proposed a few proposals along the way and they haven't even looked at them," Edmonton Oilers left wing Ryan Smyth said after Canada's 3-2 victory over Finland in Tuesday's World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto.
"The power right now is out of our control, but it's talked about so much that maybe they'll come down at the last hour. It hasn't looked good the last few weeks."
However, few players were optimistic that the first work stoppage in the NHL since 1994 could be averted.
NHL owners locked out players for 103 days in 1994 and 1995, wiping out nearly half a season. A prior deal was extended in 1995 to allow NHL talent into the Olympics and in 1997 to add four NHL expansion clubs.
Owners claim player salaries have jumped 252 percent, 90 percent more than revenues, in the last decade and some clubs will fold without a change.
The union claims salaries are up 170 percent, only 10 percent more than revenues, and that a luxury tax and revenue sharing system would solve the problems of owners who spent themselves into their own mess.
The NHL claims it lost almost 300 million dollars last season, about the same amount it has set aside as a "war chest" lockout fund, and wants salaries to be 50 percent of league revenues.
Owners have the money to pay expenses if a lockout lingers, even though most clubs have trimmed staff and the league is expected to do the same.
The union claims six NHL clubs account for 76 percent of its losses and wealthy owners should help the weak.
"We want to play, but right now it's not an option for us," Boston Bruins captain Joe Thornton said. "We don't want a salary cap, so it's not even in our minds."