Report: NHL Will Push Season Back to Dec. 15 If No Deal Is Reached in Next Seven Days

by Doug Kyed on Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 9:45PM

We’ve got bad news, and some more bad news regarding the NHL lockout.

If the NHL and the players’ association cannot reach a deal in the next week, the start of the season will be further pushed back to Dec. 15, according to Chris Botta of the Sports Business Journal. The current proposed start date to the work stoppage-shortened season is Dec. 1. If the two sides can’t reach a deal by Dec. 15, the season will be cancelled.

The hockey season was supposed to start on Oct. 11. It’s been pushed back since then to Oct. 25, Nov. 2 and now Dec. 1. The league and the NHLPA have not met since Sunday. Last week, they appeared to be making progress after meeting for four straight days.

Chris Johnston of the Canadian Press had high hopes on Tuesday, saying that a deal could be worked out soon once the two sides start talking again. We can only hope that Johnston’s optimism turns into fact.

Check out Botta’s tweet below.

Source: if there isn’t a deal in place in next 7days, NHL will cancel games thru Dec. 15. Next cancellation could be the season.

— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) November 15, 2012