NEW YORK (AFP) - The National Hockey League (NHL) 2004-05 season has been cancelled after owners and players failed to reach a labor agreement, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday.

"It is my sad duty to announce it is no longer practical to conduct even an abbreviated season," Bettman said. "Accordingly, I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-05."

The NHL becomes the first US sports league to lose an entire season to a labour dispute.

It will mark just the second time since 1893 that a Stanley Cup champion hasn't been crowned. In 1919, the Finals were cancelled after five games due to a flu epidemic.

Players Association chief Bob Goodenow scheduled a press conference yesterday afternoon in Toronto.

"This is a sad, regrettable day, that all of us wish could have been avoided," Bettman said.

But it was a day that had appeared inevitable for some time.

Owners locked out players on September 15 after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
In the ensuing five months, the two sides haggled over the issue of a salary cap, the league insisting it was necessary to control costs and the union vowing it would never accept one.

A flicker of hope flared early this week when the union relented on the idea of the salary cap and owners agreed that a cap didn't have to be linked directly to revenues.

But a final flurry of proposals on Tuesday proved too little and far too late as the sides couldn't reach agreement on any concrete figures.

Bettman said the players' proposed US$52-million salary limit for each club was too high.

Bettman presented a counter-proposal that raised the league's proposed cap from US$40 million to US$44.7 million.

Union executive director Bob Goodenow offered a counter-proposal to Bettman's "final" offer, rejecting the US$44.7-million figure and seeking a US$49-million annual cap for each of the league's 30 clubs.

But Bettman said that the union's figure was so high that clubs which were already spending themselves into bankruptcy to stay competitive would have no cost containment and in fact would allow for greater spending.

"We weren't as close as people were speculating," Bettman said, and added that in future negotiations the league would again demand that player salaries must be linked to team revenues.

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