All NHL 2013 preseason games scrapped amid lockout

By Lindy Rumer

The Los Angeles Kings celebrate after defeating the New Jersey Devils in Game Six of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final at Staples Center.

NEW YORK, United States (TheSportsNEXT) September 28, 2012: All the preseason games of the National Hockey League 2012-13 (NHL 2013) were cancelled Thursday by the NHL authorities after it failed to achieve common grounds with the NHL Players Association which resulted in the lockout.

 

The NHL, which locked out players on September 16, 2012 when the collective bargaining agreement expired, announced the decision to scrap all the preseason games in a two-line statement.

Scott Parse of Los Angeles Kings celebrates with Stanley Cup

Previously, the NHL had cancelled the NHL preseason games scheduled for September and while the NHL regular season was due to commence from October 11, 2012 the authorities failed to reach an agreement with the NHLPA and now have been forced to cancel all the preseason games.

The move has come just a day ahead of the NHL-NHLPA talks scheduled for Friday where both sides will be negotiating secondary economic and financial issues. The crux of the disagreement is the distribution of over 3 billion US dollars in annual NHL revenue.