NEW YORK - A timeline of events since the NHL and the NHL Players' Association began negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.
June 29, 2012: NHL and NHL Players' Association open negotiations with 2 1/2 hour meeting in New York.
July 5-6: Two days of negotiations in New York. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly termed the meetings as productive.
July 13: In initial offer, NHL asks players to accept a reduction in hockey-related revenue from 57 per cent to 46 per cent. The NHLPA maintains that the mathematics involved means the final number is closer to 43 per cent.
July 18: Labour talks resume for more than two hours at NHL office in New York. The union still hasn't presented counteroffer.
July 24-26: NHL presents "the vast bulk" of its proposals at league office in Toronto, marking the fifth straight week that the sides have met.
Aug. 9: Union head Donald Fehr rejoins negotiations in New York after a trip to Europe to meet with players. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says a "wide gap" still exists between the sides. Fehr referred to the split as "a meaningful gulf."
Aug. 10: NHL and players' association meet for three hours at league office in New York. Both sides express optimism that season could start on time.
Aug. 14: During negotiations in Toronto, players make first offer. The proposal includes a smaller percentage of revenues for players and an expanded revenue sharing program to help struggling teams. The offer separates the salary cap from hockey-related revenue and sets a fixed rate - increasing by two per cent for the first year, four per cent for the second and six per cent for the third. That would increase the salary cap to $78.93 million for the 2014-15 season. After that, players would hold an option to have the fourth year revert to the current system, in which they are entitled to 57 per cent of all revenues.
Aug. 15: NHL rejects players' offer. Bettman says sides "are far apart and have different views of the world and the issues."
Aug. 22: Sides hold 90-minute negotiating session in Toronto.
Aug. 23: Unable to move beyond the philosophical stage, owners and players hold brief session before reporting the same significant gap that has existed from the start.
Aug. 28-29: NHL makes offer in New York in which players' share of revenue would be reduced to 51.6 per cent in the first year of the deal and 50.5 per cent in the second, and wouldn't include a rollback on existing contracts. NHLPA turns it down and says it will make counteroffer.
Aug. 30-31: Talks are put on hold.
Sept. 7: After a week away from the negotiating table, representatives from the NHL and the players' association hold informal negotiations. Sides don't meet again over the upcoming weekend.
Sept. 12: Negotiations resume. NHLPA presents proposal that owners reject before hastily crafting a new simplistic proposal. Neither side is impressed by the other's offer. Players' association begins two days of meeting with over 275 players in New York.
Sept. 13: NHL Board of Governors gives Bettman unanimous endorsements to impose lockout at midnight EDT on Sept. 15 if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached.
Sept. 14: The Quebec Labour Relations Board turns down an application by 16 members of the Montreal Canadiens and the NHL players' association to declare a lockout illegal in Quebec.
Sept. 15: Collective bargaining agreement that ended season-long lockout in July 2005 expires. Bettman will impose another lockout when contract ends at midnight EDT if a new deal hasn't been reached. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly tells Canadian Press there will be no last-ditch talks aimed at averting a lockout.
Sept. 16: For the second time in eight years, the NHL locks out its players. The contract between the league and the players expired at midnight Saturday night. The lockout is the fourth work stoppage for the league in 20 years.
Sept. 21: Scheduled date for opening of NHL training camps.
Oct. 11: The scheduled start for the beginning of the NHL regular season was missed.
Oct. 16: The NHL has presented a new deal to players that it hopes will end the lockout and allow for a full 82-game season. Bettman says the proposal splits revenues with players 50-50 across the board and takes steps to guarantee the players won't see a rollback of existing deals.
Oct. 18: The NHL Players' Association tabled three counter-proposals, which were dismissed by the league.
Oct. 19: The NHL wiped out the third week of the regular season, leaving no more wiggle room if the league hopes to play a full 82-game schedule. A total of 135 games through Nov. 1 have been scratched.
Nov. 7: After all-day negotiations Nov. 3, the NHL and the players' association agreed to resume talks on Nov. 6, which carried over to Nov. 7 in New York. Both sides said discussions over the weekend were good, creating some optimism that a deal may be reached to save the hockey season. The NHL and union hadn't met since Oct. 18 when each side turned down offers.
Nov. 12: Steve Fehr says he believes the NHL's labour deal can be wrapped up quite quickly once the sides make a breakthrough in negotiations.
Nov. 15: Commissioner Gary Bettman has proposed placing a two-week moratorium on talks after NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told him that he didn't know how the sides could proceed.
Nov. 19: Just over a week since the last set of failed negotiations, the NHL and the locked-out players' association return to the bargaining table, hoping to salvage what remains of the hockey season.
Nov. 23: NHL cancels regular-season games through Dec. 14 and 2013 all-star game in Columbus.
Nov. 26: The NHL and NHL Players' Association are turning to mediation in an effort to solve their labour dispute, allowing U.S. federal mediators into the process.
Dec. 4: A report by credit and debit card processor Moneris found that the NHL lockout is hurting some merchants near hockey areas. The report found that overall spending at venues near arenas in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary decreased by more than 11 per cent from last year.
Dec. 5: A marathon day of collective bargaining meetings between NHL owners and players brought some optimism to negotiations. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was among the 18 players who sat with six team owners.
Dec. 6:Negotiations go off the rails after the league was rejecting the proposal put forward and was taking its own offer off the table.
Dec. 7: Penguins player Sidney Crosby says the prospect of lacing up his skates in Europe is growing more appealing as the lockout nears the three-month mark.
Dec. 10: The NHL and the locked-out players' association are talking again, and a return to the bargaining table could happen soon.
After a few days to cool off following an epic collapse in negotiations, the league and the union have been in touch with each other in an attempt to restart conversations that could save the hockey season.
Later in the day, the league cancels another 104 regular-season games on Monday afternoon, bringing the total number wiped away by the lockout to 526. That represents nearly 43 per cent of the season.
Dec. 11: Less than a week after contract negotiations collapse, the NHL and the NHLPA say they will resume negotiations - and they're inviting mediators to join them. But they won't say where those talks will be held.
Dec. 14: NHL players move one step closer to dissolving their union - a decision that would allow them to file a class-action anti-trust lawsuit against the league.
NHLPA members have been asked by their executive board for a vote that would give it the power to file a "disclaimer of interest," according to sources.
Dec. 20: The NHL is believed to be one step away from calling off another season.
The league has cancelled games through Jan. 14, bringing the total number wiped away by the lockout to 625.
Dec. 29: Two days after the NHL submits a new offer to the NHLPA, the two sides agree to discuss the proposal in a conference call in hopes of restarting talks. Time is running out on avoiding yet another cancelled season.
Jan. 2, 2013: After a marathon day of negotiating the NHLPA elected to let a self-imposed deadline to file a "disclaimer" pass. Talks broke off early Thursday morning (Jan. 3) and are set to resume discussions with U.S. federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh later in the afternoon.
Jan. 6, 2013: After six long months of negotiations, it took one extremely long night to get the NHL out of the boardroom and back on the ice.
A tentative deal to end the 113-day NHL lockout was reached Sunday morning at the end of a marathon 16-hour negotiating session.
Jan. 9, 2013: NHL owners have voted in favour of ratifying the new collective bargaining agreement with their players.
-With files from The Associated Press
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