( 4UMF NEWS ) NHL Cancels Games:

With hopes of preserving an 82-game season swiftly dashed after the passing of the NHL’s self-imposed Thursday deadline, the league announced another chunk of cancellations Friday.

All games through November were axed, the third round of cancellations since the lockout began last month.

Here’s the reality — the NHL won’t play a full season. But a shorter season could still work out just fine, writes Craig Custance. Blog Insider

The league canceled games through Nov. 1 last week following a dispiriting proposal-swapping session between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association in Toronto. With no progress made since, the league was forced to wipe out another significant block of the regular-season schedule.

Don Fehr, NHLPA executive director, said in a statement Friday that the news of the cancellations “comes as no surprise.”

A lack of meaningful dialogue between the warring factions means that the league’s marquee event, the Winter Classic, is in jeopardy as well.

The annual outdoor game may be canceled as early as next week, a source with knowledge of the league’s plans told ESPNNewYork.com.

When asked if he had completely ruled out a full season in light of Friday’s cancellations, Fehr left a shred of hope.

“I don’t know. I would like to believe not but we have a contract to negotiate first,” Fehr told a small group of reporters at the Champs for Charity hockey game in Rosemont, Ill. “All I can tell you is that when a deal is reached, we hope both sides make the maximum effort to put together the largest number of games that are physically possible to do, consistent with the logistics of that and player safety.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Friday via statement that the league accepts “that there is joint responsibility in collective bargaining” and “deeply regrets having to take this action.”

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