NHL cancels all games through Nov. 30

Don't blink. The NHL season might soon pass you by.

As promised, the NHL announced Friday it had canceled all of its 2012-13 regular season schedule through Nov. 30, a total of 191 additional contests because of their lack of accord with the NHL Players' Association on a new collective bargaining agreement.

In all, the NHL has now axed 26.5 percent of its season - including 13 Flyers home games.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has authorized the cancellation of 2,024 games because of labor unrest in his 19-year reign, by far the most of any league executive in professional sports history.

"The National Hockey League deeply regrets having to take this action," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. "We acknowledge and accept that there is joint responsibility in collective bargaining and, though we are profoundly disappointed that a new agreement has not been attained to this point, we remain committed to achieving an agreement that is fair for the Players and the Clubs - one that will be good for the game and our fans."

The latest cancellations will cause the players to miss four of their scheduled 13 paychecks (Oct. 15, Oct. 30, Nov. 15, Nov. 30) due throughout a regular season.

For the average NHL salary of $2.5 million, a loss of 26.5 percent of the season equates to a roughly $662,500 pay cut. That loss would be much more significant than any proposed escrow holding set forth by the NHL in its Oct. 16 proposal of a "50-50" revenue split.

"Last week, the owners gave us what amounts to a 'take-it-or-leave-it' proposal," NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said. "We responded with the framework for three proposals on the players' share, each of which moved significantly, towards their stated desire for a 50-50 split of [hockey-related revenue], with the only condition being that they honor contracts they have already signed. Honoring contracts signed between owners and players is a reasonable request.

"Unfortunately, after considering them for only 10 minutes, they rejected all of our proposals."

Fehr was scheduled to spend his free time Friday night at a charity game put together by NHL players in Chicago.

The rhetoric was tossed back and forth between the NHL and NHLPA on Friday. The bottom line is simple: The sides have not met since last week's quick dismissal and they have no plans to do so. The NHLPA called the NHL's bluff on a Friday deadline to play a full, 82-game season, and the NHL showed its hand with a big cancellation.

Now, with such a large chunk of games missing to free up dates for arenas, the motivation to negotiate is almost lost until the next deadline looms. That deadline appears to be Nov. 23 - at the latest - to resume the regular season by Dec. 1.

(Side note: If the NHL slate were to resume on Dec. 1, the Flyers would have a tough start to their season, with the Wells Fargo Center unavailable from Dec. 27 through Jan. 6 for "Disney On Ice.")

Yes, the NHL could cobble together something close to a 70-game season, but the sides already are fighting over how to divvy up what is an already smaller pie. Out of the $3.3 billion in revenue the NHL made last season, Daly predicted on Friday that this latest cancellation would result in the loss of $730 million in revenue.

Very quickly, the Winter Classic and other signature events are on the chopping block. HBO begins filming its "24/7" behind-the-scenes look at the Winter Classic in late November. The award-winning show, which the Flyers helped make famous last year, now appears to be in jeopardy. It has appeared, all along, that the entire season may be in jeopardy - a belief that was affirmed a bit more on Friday.

Slap shots

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon, who played 45 games with the Flyers last season, was back in the Phantoms' lineup on Friday night against Albany after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury . . . Max Talbot had his No. 25 retired Friday night by the Gatineau (Quebec) Olympiques, the same junior club that produced Claude Giroux . . . Giroux added two assists in Eisbaren Berlin's 5-3 loss on Friday night in Germany, giving him 12 points in five games.

Contact Frank Seravalli at seravaf@phillynews.com.

Follow him on Twitter @DNFlyers.

For more Flyers coverage and opinion, read his blog at www.philly.com/FrequentFlyers.