Bettman set to cancel the season next Thursday … 48 game schedule for Jan. 19th with 7 divisional games

Mark Easson

11 years ago

Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press: A veteran member of the NHL Board of Governor’s has said that Gary Bettman is prepared to cancel the season next Thursday if a deal is not complete or appearing to be imminent. The NHL believes the that Don Fehr won’t do a deal until after Bettman cancels season. That Fehr is slowing down the process one last time to put pressure on Bettman according to the governor. The governor also theorized that if Bettman canceled the season, Fehr would wait a day or two before one last leverage attempt that would be better for the players. If the season is lost, the NHL may pull their 50-50 share and will look for a revamped package.

Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Sources are saying there is a 48 game scheduled created to start on January 19th. The first day of the season would feature lots of rivalry games, and would be played throughout the day. Under this schedule, teams would play 7 games against their division rivals, and a home and away with each of the remaining conference teams. They could have went with a 52 game schedule starting January 12th if a deal was done by this weekend.