The first casualties of the NHL lockout were recorded on Wednesday, as the league announced the cancellation of all preseason games up to Sept. 30.
That wipes out four exhibition games for the Bruins, including back-to-back contests against the Winnipeg Jets in both Winnipeg and Saskatoon. Only the Oct 3, 5 and 6 games against the Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens remain.
Bruins training camp was set to begin this weekend, and all of those sessions have been canceled, as well. The closest the New England area will get to Bruins hockey this month will be the opening of Providence Bruins training camp at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Sept. 28.
The NHL also cancelled the 2012 Kraft Hockeyville preseason game scheduled for Oct. 3 in Belleville, Ontario and postponed it until 2013.
In a press release, the NHL simply stated the preseason games were cancelled because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players Association and the NHL.
The NHL and NHLPA are also expected to go another day without formal talks on Wednesday, and its now been nearly a week since the two sides sat down for any formal negotiations. Meanwhile the Bruins players continue to practice at Harvards Bright Hockey Center and begin to make plans to play elsewhere while staying sharp and hoping for hockey to start up again soon.In all 61 preseason games were cancelled across the NHL in one fell swoop of Gary Bettman's lockout stick.Here is a list of the four preseason games cancelled by todays action from the NHL:
Sept. 25: Bruins at Capitals (Verizon Center, Washington)
Sept. 26: Bruins at Sabres (First Niagara Center, Buffalo)
Sept. 29: Bruins vs. Jets (Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon)
Sept. 30: Bruins at Jets (MTS Centre, Winnipeg)