Music: {allcanada} Report: Winter Classic to be cancelled Thursday

Monday, October 29, 2012

{allcanada} Report: Winter Classic to be cancelled Thursday

With November's games down the drain and no further collective bargaining talks scheduled between the National Hockey League and its players, a report surfaced Monday that more bad news for hockey fans is on its way.

The league is expected to cancel the Winter Classic on Thursday, a source familiar with the league's plan told ESPNNewYork.com on Monday.

The annual outdoor showcase is scheduled to pit the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings before 115,000-plus at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbour.

"If this season's Winter Classic is lost to the labor dispute, the game at Michigan Stadium is certain to be rescheduled for 2014," the Detroit Free Press reported two weeks ago.

"It does matter. (The Winter Classic) is millions and millions and millions of dollars of revenue for the league and the players. The players get 50 per cent of it," Doug MacLean said Monday on Hockey Central at Noon. "The bigger questions is, with the corporate partners so heavily involved, if that leaves, do they get a discount on their deal?"

In an email to ESPN.com, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote that there was "no new news" regarding CBA talks.

"We withdrew our most recent proposal on Friday, and now we are spending time thinking about our next proposal and how best to get closer to a resolution," Daly emailed the site. "We hope the union is doing the same thing. Given the fact that the union refused even to discuss our last proposal, it would appear that we still have a large gulf to bridge."