Full NHL season not likely a reality
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says it looks as if a full-82 game schedule “is not going to be a reality,” as the lockout nears its seventh week.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says it looks as if a full-82 game schedule “is not going to be a reality,” as the lockout nears its seventh week.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday announcing the New York Islanders’ move from Nassau Coliseum to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2015, Bettman seemed resigned to looking at a shortened season with the NHL and the players’ association still at odds after months of negotiations.
Bettman stated, in making the NHL’s most recent offer, that a deal needed to be in place by Thursday for the season to begin Nov. 2 and allow for each team to play a full 82-game slate. With no negotiations scheduled, reaching a deal in one day appears very unlikely.
“The fact of the matter is there are just sometimes that you need to take time off because it’s clear that you can’t do anything to move the process forward,” Bettman said. “We’re at one of those points right now because we gave our very best offer. That offer, for better or for worse, was contingent on playing an 82-game season. So I think things actually in some respects may get more difficult.”
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