NHL All-Star Game latest lockout loss
BY IRA PODELL Associated Press
Saturday, November 24, 2012
11/24/12 at 6:55 AM
More than a third of the NHL regular season and two of its marquee events have now been called off.
The league announced its latest round of cancellations on Friday - Day 69 of its labor lockout. All games through Dec. 14 were wiped out, and this time All-Star Weekend, scheduled for Jan. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio, was lost, too. The New Year's Day outdoor Winter Classic already was scratched.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said losing the All-Star festivities is "extremely disappointing."
"We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible," Daly said in a statement Friday.
The Blue Jackets said fans holding tickets to the game, the skills competition, and other events during that weekend could receive refunds.
Brian Jack, a 35-year-old IT director who grew up in Pittsburgh, moved to Columbus 17 years ago and converted from a Penguins fan to a Blue Jackets supporter after the expansion team hit the ice.
"We knew the All-Star Game, the longer (the lockout) went, was probably going to be one of the first special events they canceled," said Jack, a season-ticket holder for all of the Blue Jackets' 12 seasons.
"You knew it was coming, but I hoped that they would get together and fix it (labor problems) up."
A lockout in the 1994-95 season shortened that campaign to 48 games. A similar scenario could play out this time if the sides can find some common ground. Or the whole season could be lost, as it was in 2004-05.
The new cancellations come as little surprise. Owners and players had an unproductive negotiating session on Wednesday that produced no movement.
The impasse is about splitting more than $3 billion in revenue and also player contracts.
Original Print Headline: NHL All-Star Game is latest lockout loss
