NEW YORK, 6 February 2005 — National Hockey League club owners and the players’ union broke off talks Friday after four hours, saying they are making progress but have no new meetings scheduled.
“We had extensive and constructive talks over the past two days,” said National Hockey League Executive Vice President Bill Daly.
“While there are no future meetings scheduled, we have agreed to keep the lines of communication open.”
Daly also denied a report by ESPN on Thursday which said that the league would announce the cancellation of the season either Thursday or by the latest Friday.
“Despite media reports to the contrary, we have no intention of making any further announcement relating to collective bargaining or the status of the season at this time,” he said. With players like Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeremy Roenick now saying they would consider accepting a salary cap, the two sides met for nine hours on Thursday in an 11th hour effort to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement. Daly did not go into details or whether the two sides were any closer to a deal after Friday’s session. The union had a less optimistic tone.
If the season in canceled, the NHL will become the first North American sports league ever to have lost an entire season due to labor problems.
A Stanley Cup champion has been crowned every year since 1893 with the exception of 1919, when the finals were canceled after five games due to a flu epidemic. The two sides resumed talks Thursday just one day after the NHLPA rejected the NHL’s latest proposal.
Unlike the previous five meetings, however, Thursday’s session included commissioner Gary Bettman and Goodenow.
But with the lockout in its 142nd day and over 60 percent of the schedule already postponed, the possibility of salvaging a portion of the 2004-05 season appears dim.
The 1994-95 lockout was settled on Jan. 11, 1995, and a 48-game season began later that month.
