NEW YORK - The National Hockey League and its locked-out players are talking but not making enough progress to prevent the cancellation of dozens more games of the 2012-2013 season.
The decision, announced by the league office in New York, means 135 games will be lost to the work stoppage between the scheduled season opener October 11 and November 1. That's a best-case scenario; if negotiations between the sides don't thaw soon the entire season will be in jeopardy.
The NHL and the players' association do agree on one thing: Thursday was a bad day at the negotiating table.
Any optimism that existed following the NHL's offer earlier this week of a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue was quickly dashed when the union countered with three proposals that were quickly rebuffed.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said of the three counterproposals from the players' association, "It's clear we're not speaking the same language."
The union gave the league three counterproposals to the one the league offered earlier this week. That plan called for a 50-50 split of hockey revenue and a full season of play.
Bettman left the negotiating table, as he put it, "thoroughly disappointed."
No new talks have been scheduled, and the possibility of a full hockey regular season is quickly shrinking.
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