NHL Lockout kicks in at midnight

No talks are scheduled between the league and the NHLPA.
TORONTO (AP) -- First, the talking stopped. Now, the games have, too.
Hockey has run out of time and tournaments. All that's left is a lockout.
The current collective bargaining agreement between owners and players expires at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. With no talks scheduled, a lockout is a virtual certainty once the NHL board of governors conclude tonight's meeting in New York.
"We're supposed to be partners," said Mario Lemieux, the player-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. "It's not a question of going to war or winning a battle, it's just a question of what makes sense for the business and what makes sense for the players."
Training camps won't open this week and games -- slated to begin Oct. 13 -- will soon be canceled, too.
"I think everyone is going to be on the same page and hopefully something is going to happen sooner than later," New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur said.
"As for my plans, I'm just going to probably coach minor hockey, my kids."
Wade Redden took off his practice gear unsure of when he'd have a chance to put it on again.
His injured shoulder wouldn't allow him to play for Canada. The lockout will extend his rest time.
"Tomorrow is D-Day and it's going to be probably the last time we get on the ice for a bit," Redden said Tuesday.
Silence
A bit would be an optimistic view. The sides haven't spoken since talks broke off last Thursday, when the players' association made a proposal of a luxury-tax system with revenue sharing, a rollback of salaries, and changes to entry-level contracts.
The owners said that framework doesn't ensure cost certainty for its clubs, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the sides "weren't speaking the same language."
"It's a sad situation but there's nothing you can do right now," free-agent forward Teemu Selanne said. "Everybody is expecting a long lockout, which is not good for hockey, but it's going to happen no matter what."
That's what happened in the 1994-95 season when the game was shut down for 103 days and the schedule was cut nearly in half. If no deal is reached by January, as it was the last time, the season would likely be lost.
The message in the locker rooms of Canada and Finland was clear. Players won't accept a salary-cap system and they are prepared to wait as long as necessary to get a deal they can live with.
Even if that means sacrificing a season or two.
"I'd rather not miss a year in hockey when I'm 25," Dallas forward Brenden Morrow said. "I'd like to be playing, but I'm just one small piece of this whole puzzle.
"So until we can divide up that pie and everyone be happy with their piece, we're not going to get too much hockey played this year."