By sacrificing this season's event on the altar of competitive negotiation, both NHL owners & players are putting the future of the Winter Classic at serious risk.

As expected, the league has erased the month of November from the season schedule, the boldest strike yet in this six-week lockout.

Often criticized in this space for not shooting the puck often enough, Sergei Kostitsyn has started shooting with his mouth instead. The Nashville Predators forward is quoted in a new Russian article as saying he'd rather stay in the KHL.

Back on October 4, Gary Bettman announced that the league was cancelling the first two weeks of the season, so the time has come to swing the scythe yet again.

After hopes were raised that today's meeting between the players and owners could salvage an 82-game season, the Commissioner expressed his disappointment over the NHLPA's latest proposal.

In a sharp reversal Gary Bettman's comment yesterday that they "don't negotiate publicly", the NHL has published the details of their latest CBA offer.

With a short time left to save the prospects of an 82-game season, the NHL rolled out a proposal today which moves the CBA negotiations forward - but how will the players respond?

It's a hard day to be a hockey fan.

Nashville's rookie sensation from 2011-2012 becomes the fourth Predator to head overseas to keep his game sharp during NHL Lockout 2012, as he joins Finland's SM-liiga.