By Fitzgerald Cecilio

The NHL has shelved the remaining 46 preseason games ahead of resumption of collective-bargaining talks.

Earlier, the league canceled 61 games through Sept. 30 and postponed the Kraft Hockeyville game in Belleville, Ontario until 2013.

If a fresh collective bargaining agreement will not be reached, the league is expected to begin cancelling games in the regular season, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 11, starting next week.

The talks, the first since both sides failed to reach a new labor deal, is expected to tackle only non-core economic issues, such as pensions and grievance procedures and will not touch on revenue matters and other issues such as contract lengths and eligibility for free agency.

The issue on how to split the league's $3.3 billion revenue has been the biggest hindrance to the approval of a new labor deal. Team owners want to reduce players' revenue share from 57 percent to 46 percent.

The resumption of negotiations was earlier agreed upon by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Players' Association special counsel Steve Fehr when they met in Toronto Monday.

"We are resuming discussions on all of the other issues that need to be resolved in order for us to reach agreement," Daly earlier said.

"We still need to hear from the PA on economic issues. They have been working off the same basic proposal since Aug. 14. We have made it abundantly clear to them that the proposal is unacceptable to us," he added.

 

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NHL Cancels Preseason Games Ahead of Resumption of Talks