With the season on the line, the NHL and the players’ association agreed on a tentative pact to end a 113-day lockout and save what was left of a fractured schedule. A marathon negotiating session that lasted more than 16 hours, stretching from Saturday afternoon until just before dawn Sunday, produced a 10-year deal.
With no deal in sight and no negotiations planned, the NHL chopped another two weeks off the schedule and moved closer to canceling the entire hockey season.
How The NHL’s Lockout Hurts NBC
The work stoppage, which comes on the heels of the L.A. Kings’ first championship, has chilled momentum at the network’s sports group.
Already, 422 regular-season games had been called off through Dec. 14 because of the lockout, and the latest cuts on Day 86 of the NHL shutdown claimed 104 more. The New Year’s Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game were canceled earlier.
The league on Friday wiped the season schedule clean through Dec. 14 as team owners and players fail to agree terms on a new labor deal.
