National Hockey League Cancels Games Until January 14

More National Hockey League (NHL) games have been cancelled raising the realistic possibility of the entire season being lost.

The league has wiped out all fixtures until January 14 due to the failure of the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL to agree on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The announcement takes the total number of games lost in the regular season, which should have begun on October 11, to 625 – 59.8 percent of the original schedule.

The NHL has previously said a shortened campaign should include at least 48 games, which means an agreement needs to be reached in the coming weeks.

No official deadline has been announced as yet by the NHL, which is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of to a labor dispute. The 2004-05 season was lost completely to a lockout.

Players are currently casting ballots on whether or not to give their executive board the authority to file a disclaimer of interest. Such action would dissolve the union and allow individual players to file anti-trust lawsuits against the league.