NHL owners vote to set lockout deadline
Offer in effect until midnight, and no new talks scheduled to try and avert stoppage
Commissioner Gary Bettman received a unanimous vote from the NHL owners in support of a lockout of the players if the two sides can't reach a deal by midnight tonight (US time).
Neither side appears to be willing to budge, making it unlikely that better proposals from the owners or the players union will be presented before the new collective bargaining agreement deadline arrives.
Training camps are scheduled to open on September 21 and the season is supposed to start on October 11.
The owners say their latest offer will be in effect until midnight tonight and Bettman said they could take a harsher stance with the players if the lockout is allowed to go ahead.
There were no negotiations on Thursday and no new talks are scheduled to try and avert the NHL's fourth stoppage in 20 years.
"Looking back in hindsight, it looks like there was no urgency on the part of the players' association to engage or get anything done," Bettman said. "It's happened over the summer.
"I can't and won't speculate as to why that would be their intention, but it is what it is. If you look at the record and you look at it in hindsight, I think it is crystal clear."