The National Hockey League (NHL) cancelled its season today after being unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with its players. Gary Bettman made the official announcement this afternoon in New York. Bettman said, "As I stand before you today it is my sad duty to announce that because the solution has not yet been attained it is no longer practical to conduct even an abbreviated season. I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-2005." The league now has the "distinction" of becaming the first North American professional sports league to lose an entire season due to a labour dispute.

There will be a lot of time to analyze this mess but one thing is clear, hockey fans get the shaft.