NHL Lockout cancels All-Star contest

The next announcement will probably be that the season is canceled.
NEW YORK (AP) -- In another sign the NHL season is slipping away, the league canceled its All-Star game Wednesday because of the lockout.
No regular season games have been played since the season was scheduled to begin Oct. 13, and NHL arenas have been given the go-ahead to release dates on a 45-day rolling basis. With the All-Star game now off the schedule, the next announcement could be the cancellation of the entire season.
"To call off something that's a lot of fun for the fans to enjoy is a shame," nine-time All-Star Jeremy Roenick of the Philadelphia Flyers said.
"It has no bearing on anything. They still haven't canceled games in January. Why haven't they canceled games in January but they're canceling the All-Star game?"
Practical decision
Bill Daly, the league's chief legal officer, said this decision "is not tactical at all," saying it was more of a practical decision to free up blocks of hotel rooms and other facilities that would have been needed.
"We had to make a decision on whether making those advance commitments made sense," Daly said in Dallas prior to an open forum with fans. "Given where we are with the status of our negotiations, it didn't warrant making those commitments."
The lockout, in its 49th day, was imposed by commissioner Gary Bettman after the collective bargaining agreement expired on Sept. 15. Bettman declined comment on the cancellation of the game, which was scheduled to be held in Atlanta in February.
Haven't met since Sept. 9
The NHL and the players association haven't met since Sept. 9 and have no plans to return to the bargaining table.
Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said the league began discussing the cancellation last week and finalized the decision Wednesday.
"Even if you're going to start playing in January, to try to take five days off to play the All-Star game, it's just not going to work," he said.
The lockout during the 1994-95 season also forced the All-Star game to be canceled.
"I don't know if it's so much a ploy as to get anybody all riled up or nervous that they're canceling stuff like that," Roenick said. "I don't think it changed the mind-frame of what the [players' association] is getting behind."
The previous lockout ended when an agreement was reached in January 1995. Each team then played a 48-game schedule.
January deadline
A new deal would have to be reached by the same time in this season for any part of the campaign to be salvaged.
"The season is likely to slip away," Bettman said in an interview this week with TSN in Canada. "Whether or not we miss half a season or three-quarters of a season, or don't have a season at all -- that is not the issue from our standpoint. We need a deal that is the right deal to address the problems and let us go forward.
"Then if there is time for the semblance of a season, we'll have one. If not, we'll see you next season or whenever."