Talks between the National Hockey League and its players union resumed Thursday in New York, even as ESPNews reported, citing an anonymous team owner, that the league was prepared to scrap the full 2004-05 season as early as that day or Friday.
A cancellation would make the NHL the first major North American pro sports league to lose a complete season to a labor dispute. The Stanley Cup has been awarded annually since 1893, except in 1919, when a flu outbreak ended the finals early. A 1994-95 lockout was resolved in January 1995, allowing a shortened 48-game schedule. The current lockout, now 141 days old, has already wiped out more than 60 percent of this season's games.
On Wednesday, the league put forward a proposal including revenue-based profit sharing and a salary structure ranging from a $32 million floor to a $42 million cap per team, adjusted annually. The plan also addressed arbitration, free-agency eligibility age, minimum salaries, and incorporated the union's proposed 24 percent salary rollback.
The players association, which has consistently opposed any salary cap, rejected the offer. Thursday's session notably included commissioner Gary Bettman and union head Bob Goodenow, unlike the previous five rounds of talks.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in February 2005, in its own words.