Welcome back to the world of the lockout, hockey fans. Upon the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement of the National Hockey League at midnight on Saturday, the league's fourth in the last two decades officially began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sunday morning.
Owners (led by commissioner Gary Bettman) and players (led by Donald Fehr) failed to reach an agreement on a new CBA before it expired Saturday, and the two sides did not even meet Saturday. General consensus seems to be that it could be a while before a new agreement is reached, and missing an entire season isn't out of the realm of possibility.
The new season was scheduled to begin on October 11, which is almost guaranteed to be changed. Another potential target date to start the season would be on January 1, the date of the Winter Classic (held at Michigan Stadium between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings).
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