While the NHL's leader struck a rueful tone at the season's cancellation, his counterpart with the players sounded angry and defiant.

"This is a sad, regrettable day that all of us wish could have been avoided," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters at a news conference in New York.

But Bob Goodenow, the NHL Players' Association's executive director, said in Toronto: "At some point, the concessions end and they ended here today."

Bettman's announcement came two hours after his 11 a.m. ET Wednesday deadline for the players' association to accept a final $42.5-million salary cap proposal passed without a word.

"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," Bettman explained.

"Accordingly, I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-05."

The official announcement ends speculation that the league and its players would be able to reach an agreement and salvage the season.

Instead, the NHL becomes the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season of play over a labour dispute.

As a result, the Stanley Cup will not be awarded for the first time since 1919 when the final between Montreal and Seattle was cancelled because of the Spanish flu.
 
Despite reports that last-ditch negotiations had brought the two sides close to a deal, Bettman said the proximity was exaggerated.

"We weren't as close as people were speculating.... We were still very far apart," Bettman said, referring to the gap in salary cap proposals made by both sides.
 
In its final offer, the NHL Players' Association had proposed a salary cap of $49 million US. The $6.5 million US difference between the union and the league's offers, Bettman noted, is actually $200 million US when factored by the league's 30 teams.

Goodenow said every major concession in the negotiations came from the players.

While Bettman said the Monday proposal to drop linkage was now off the table, Goodenow said the players' offer of a 24 per cent salary rollback and acceptance were now part of history.

"Both sides start with a clean slate," he said.

Apologizing to hockey fans, business partners and the "thousands of people who depend on our industry for their livelihoods," Bettman explained that the league simply ran out of time.

"The shame of this is our fans deserve better, the people who earn their livelihoods from this game deserve better," he said.

Bettman blamed the standstill in negotiations on the NHLPA.

"This is a very difficult negotiation to have in collective bargaining when the party on the other side doesn't know your economics. We've asked them to audit our books and they have refused. If they don't acknowledge your numbers it's pretty difficult to come to an agreement," he said.

For his part, Goodenow said the players never had a real negotiating partner. While the players were sorry the fans were deprived of hockey, he noted that Bettman was the person who triggered the lockout.

Looking to the future, Bettman said the league would begin planning for a 2005-2006 season.

Background on the negotiations

Late Tuesday, Bob Goodenow told Bettman "you'll hear nothing further from us."

He was responding to a note from Bettman that rejected the players' counter-proposal of a $49 million US salary cap after Bettman had issued a "final" offer of a $42.5 million US cap.

Twenty of the league's 30 teams in 2003-04 had salaries of $49 million US or less, according to the USA Today sports salary database.

Goodenow said the NHL's calculations had 21 teams under the $42.5 million US limit based on players receiving 54 per cent of league revenues.

The Canadian Press said if one counted the rollback of 24 per cent, four teams would be over the $42.5 million US figure and two others would be very close -- and that was without signing anyone else.

The average payroll, with the 24-per-cent rollback first proposed by the players in December, would be about $34 million US.

With files from TSN and The Canadian Press