NHL cancels more contests including All-Star Game - 11-23-12

Maybe this is why they call it Black Friday.

With negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA hitting another standstill, the NHL canceled games through Dec. 14. The league also canceled the All-Star game scheduled to take place in Columbus, Jan. 27.

As far as the Penguins are concerned, the following games can be added to the pile of canceled contests already:

Dec. 1 - at Stars
Dec. 4 - vs. Hurricanes
Dec. 6 - vs. Blues
Dec. 8 - at Devils
Dec. 10 - vs. Jets
Dec. 11 - at Capitals
Dec. 13 - at Bruins

The Penguins' next scheduled game is Dec. 15 at Winnipeg.

EN Says: Even if the NHL and NHLPA miraculously found an agreement yesterday, there is no way the league is going to follow what is left of the schedule. A reduced schedule something approaching 50-60 games will have to be played if there is going to be a season and it will be heavy on conference opponents.

When the NHL salvaged a 48-game schedule during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, the regular season schedule was exclusive to conference opponent. Expect the same if the 2012-13 season is to be salvaged.

Also, it was doubtful the all-star game was ever going to be played once games started getting canceled back in October. This was inevitable.