New York, NY – The NHL rejected the players' most recent offer for a collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, causing talks between the two sides to be suspended indefinitely.
The two sides had met for nearly 20 hours over the past two days and reportedly exchanged proposals Wednesday in an effort to end the lockout, which is approaching the three-month mark.
The NHLPA then submitted its counteroffer on Thursday, but the owners quickly shot it down.
"Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game," Winnipeg Jets chairman and governor Mark Chipman said in a statement. "While I sense there are some members of the players association that understand our perspective on these issues, clearly there are many that don't. I am deeply disappointed that we were unable to bring this extremely unfortunate situation to a successful conclusion and I wish to apologize to our fans and sponsors for letting them down."
The current work stoppage, which began Sept. 16, has already forced the cancellation of regular-season games through Dec. 14, as well as the Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.