-- The National Hockey League became the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season because of a labor disagreement Wednesday, when Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the cancellation of the 2004-05 schedule after the owners and players' union failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement.
The decision was the culmination of a labor dispute that began Sept. 15, when the owners locked the players out of training camps because the union would not agree to the owners' demand for a National Football League-style ceiling on payrolls, commonly referred to as a salary cap.
The demise of the season creates enormous uncertainties for the NHL, which has strived unsuccessfully for years to achieve a stature equal to that of the other big three sports leagues in the United States. The NHL, which says its teams have lost $1.8 billion over the past decade and that 20 of its 30 clubs lost money last year, is instead left with an unsatisfied core fan base, no national television contract and a future very much in doubt.
