NHL cancels rest of its preseason

NEW YORK – The NHL canceled the rest of the 2012 preseason Thursday, just a day before negotiations were set to resume in an effort to end the lockout.

The league announced its second cancellation of preseason games in a two-sentence statement. NHL owners locked out players on Sept. 16 when the collective bargaining agreement expired.

The NHL had already called off all the exhibition games scheduled in September. The regular season is supposed to begin on Oct. 11.

The two sides have scheduled talks today in New York, although they are on secondary economic issues as opposed to the core of the dispute, which is how to split more than $3 billion in annual revenue.

The NHL and the union last met on Sept. 12.