It's not looking like a November to remember for NHL fans.
As expected, the league on Friday cancelled all of November’s games, on top of regular season matches between Oct. 11 - Nov. 1 and all exhibition games.
The November dates were essentially toast after a league-imposed deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement passed Thursday, which might have seen a short training camp and a full 82-game schedule beginning Nov. 2.
The league has yet to drop the Jan. 1 Winter Classic outdoor match between Toronto and Detroit or the all-star game a few weeks later in Columbus. But it will mean the Hall Of Fame Game in Toronto is scratched, which was to be played Nov. 9, with former Leaf captain Mats Sundin one of four inductees.
If there is a quick thaw in CBA talks with the Players’ Association, late November games could still be salvaged. But the league is now looking at its first shortened season since the 1994-95 lockout cut the schedule to 48 games -- if hockey is played at all.
No new date for a resumption of talks is planned. The league pulled its last offer on Friday as it was based on an 82-game schedule.
The disappearance of so many games means the loss of millions in revenue, but some owners can now book other events in their dark arenas.
