EMPTY NETS `TERRIBLE': NHL SEASON CANCELED.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The NHL is gone, at least until September and possibly for much longer.

On Wednesday, the NHL became the first North American professional sports league to cancel an entire season because of labor issues. Players and owners could not agree on a new deal to boost the overall health of the league, which lags behind other major team sports and which owners contend is on the brink of bankruptcy.

``It no longer is practical to conduct even an abbreviated season,'' commissioner Gary Bettman said in a somber news conference in New York. ``This is a sad, regrettable day that all of us wish could have been avoided. ... If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word: terrible.''

Bettman's announcement was far from surprising, given that a player lockout had been in effect since Sept. 15. But hopes had been raised by a series of exchanged offers between the owners and the players' union in the 48 hours that preceded the league's self-imposed Wednesday morning deadline.

In the end, the numbers seemed close on the major issue, as the league offered a $42.5 million salary cap compared to the union's offer of $49 million, but no medium could be reached and neither side blinked. Bettman indicated that the sides appeared closer to a deal than they actually were, because differences also remained in other areas, such as cap exemptions, luxury taxes and a minimum team salary level.

After the cancellation became official, both sides continued sniping at each other but apologized to fans and sponsors, whose already shaky support of the NHL could further dwindle and decimate the league.

``I hoped we'd never see the unthinkable,'' said Bob Goodenow, the union's executive director. ``Gary owes (the fans) an apology because he started the lockout. Yes, we apologize to the fans. We've done an awful lot to get a fair resolution, but it's the other side we have not been able to make contact with.''

Bettman said the league would work under the idea that the 2005-06 season would begin as scheduled, but that still would require labor peace, and by all accounts the sides will be farther apart than ever. Bettman said the league's latest offer would be off the table and owners seemed headed for a hard-line stance.

In late negotiations, owners had agreed to give up their long-held demand that player salaries be linked to team revenues. But Bettman said the owners would return to their ``linkage'' demand, which previously had been a deal-breaker for players, because of the revenue uncertainty caused by the season's cancellation.

``We're done losing money as a league,'' Bettman said. ``We weren't looking to make a great deal. We were looking to make a fair deal. There's no reason why, with the right economic system, we can't have 30 healthy, competitive teams. ... We're still planning to have hockey next year.''

Most everyone other than Bettman considered that to be an optimistic statement, and it remains to be seen what the NHL will look like when, or perhaps if, it returns.

Owners claim to have collectively lost $1.8 billion over the past decade. It remains a possibility that some of the 30 teams might fold before the league resumes, and Bettman downplayed, but didn't dismiss, the suggestion that he would declare a legal impasse and restart the league with replacement players.

For now, everything is on hold. The Stanley Cup will not be awarded for the first time since 1919, when a flu epidemic ended the playoffs. Players are receiving subsidy checks from the union and some owners and are dipping into the $300 million ``lockout fund'' they began creating in 1998.

``Whatever revenue there is today, there will be less tomorrow,'' Kings president Tim Leiweke said. ``This is going to hurt, and it's going to hurt a lot. It's going to be a very long process to rebuild this sport, but at some point you just have to stand up and say 'enough is enough,' and this is one of those times.

``Unfortunately, I'm not very optimistic this is going to get resolved by the beginning of next season. We may be far from the end of this process. I'm flabbergasted that we find ourselves at this point.''

The NHL Entry Draft, scheduled for June and expected to feature juniors star Sidney Crosby, won't be held until a labor deal is reached. The Kings and Ducks each are expected to lay off at least 40 employees because of the lockout, but management sounds prepared for the long, tough haul.

``We should not, and will not, come back until we find an economic model that makes sense, and we did not find it in these negotiations,'' Leiweke said. ``I know Gary is taking a lot of heat, but I'm very proud of the job he's done. He's done exactly what we asked him to.

``Smart people would have solved it by today. I'm ashamed of what we did, and I hope everyone feels that way. ... I'm embarrassed, I'm sad and I'm very apologetic to our fans because they didn't deserve this.''

Players didn't seem quite as certain. Some, such as Detroit's Steve Yzerman, expressed hope that a deal could still get done. But many, such as the Kings' Luc Robitaille, see a long, tough road ahead.

``There's no real motivation to start serious negotiations until February (2006),'' Robitaille said. ``We gave everything we could to make a deal. We already agreed to a 24 percent (salary) rollback. How many people would do that? We tried to make a deal. We even went against our principles.

``It's only going to get uglier. The owners know we won't accept a worse deal than this one.''

That will cause problems. Some players already feel the union went too far in negotiations, and with revenue streams coming to a standstill during the lockout, owners aren't likely to give in easily.

``Hopefully in the next few weeks,'' Bettman said, ``the union will come forward and begin negotiations that will serve us well going forward.''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday was a `` sad, regrettable day.''

Paul Chiasson/Associated Press

(2) NHLPA player representatives, left to right: Vincent Damphousse, Trevor Linden and Bill Guerin.

Frank Gunn/Associated Press

(3) no caption (Gary Bettman)

(4) no caption (Bob Goodenow)

Box:

THE WORK STOPS HERE

Source: Associated Press