It's all systems go for NHL lockout

The expected work stoppage will begin 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

By Ira Podell ~ The Associated Press

TORONTO -- Wade Redden took off his practice gear unsure of when he'd have a chance to put it on again.

His injured shoulder wouldn't allow him to play for Canada in the World Cup of Hockey championship on Tuesday night. The lack of a collective bargaining agreement between NHL players and owners figures to keep the Ottawa defenseman off the ice much longer.

The current deal expires at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, and with no talks scheduled between the league and the players association, a lockout is a virtual certainty once the NHL board of governors conclude an afternoon meeting in New York.

Training camps won't open this week and games -- slated to begin Oct. 13 -- will soon be canceled, too.

"Tomorrow is D-Day and it's going to be probably the last time we get on the ice for a bit," Redden said Tuesday.

A bit would be an optimistic view. The sides haven't spoken since talks broke off last Thursday when the players association made a proposal of a luxury-tax system with revenue sharing, a rollback of salaries, and changes to entry-level contracts.

The owners said that framework doesn't ensure cost certainty for its clubs, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the sides "weren't speaking the same language."

"It's a sad situation but there's nothing you can do right now," free-agent forward Teemu Selanne said. "Everybody is expecting a long lockout which is not good for hockey, but it's going to happen no matter what."

That's what happened in the 1994-95 season when the game was shut down for 103 days and the schedule was cut nearly in half. If no deal is reached by January, like it was the last time, the season would likely be lost.

The message in the locker rooms of Canada and Finland was clear. Players won't accept a salary-cap system and they are prepared to wait as long as necessary to get a deal they can live with.

Even if that means sacrificing a season or two.

"I'd rather not miss a year in hockey when I'm 25," Dallas forward Brenden Morrow said. "I'd like to be playing, but I'm just one small piece of this whole puzzle.

"So until we can divide up that pie and everyone be happy with their piece, we're not going to get too much hockey played this year."

Both the Canadians and Finns said they were keeping their focus on the final game of the World Cup and would worry about the future once the final buzzer sounded Tuesday night.

But they couldn't escape the countless questions about what was coming. And judging by the answers, the tenuous situation was very much on their minds.

"We're going to enjoy this moment as much as we can because you never know when you're going to play next," Selanne said.

While that was true for Selanne, who is mulling various options for what to do during the lockout and others for when the NHL starts up again, some of his teammates do have upcoming games.

Ville Nieminen, a forward with the Calgary Flames, will join his hometown team in the Finnish Elite League that begins this week. European players have more options in that regard than their North American counterparts, who could join some optimistic startup leagues.

"If I don't do anything I can't play hockey ever again. I like food too much," Nieminen said.

Morrow has opportunities to play in Europe but he has been reluctant to act on them since he has an infant baby at home and is not eager to go so far away.

"I want to take a few weeks after this tournament, go back to Dallas and wait for a miracle to happen," he said. "If it doesn't, then I'll check over my options.

"I don't think I'm going to go a year without hockey. I'm going to end up doing something eventually. I'm just not doing anything tomorrow."

On Monday, Nieminen took some of his younger Finnish teammates to the players association offices and introduced them to representatives.

His quiet, 20-year-old teammate Joni Pitkanen has just one NHL season under his belt and the Philadelphia Flyers defenseman is not looking to return to Finland.

Pitkanen just got here and wants to get more comfortable with the smaller North American ice rinks and with English -- a language still quite foreign.

"It was a big change for me and I don't want to take a back step and go home again," Pitkanen said.

So, he will instead play with the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' minor league team in the AHL.

Selanne said he will enjoy the rare time off for a while. But there's no question he and other players who had that last World Cup game left, still want to play hockey.

Teppo Numminen's career might be over if the lockout stretches too long. He's already 36 with 16 NHL seasons behind him. His time in North America might be done for good.

"Maybe as a player," he said. "If this drags out, I might be back for vacation."

It seems there'll be plenty of time for that.