The NHL will announce the cancellation of the remainder of the pre-season later today. No hockey thru October 8th.

— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) September 27, 2012

John Shannon of Sportsnet reported this afternoon that the NHL will announce the cancellation of the remainder of it's preseason schedule Thursday. Right on time, here's the release from the Stars:

"Frisco, TX - The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the remainder of the 2012 preseason schedule.

The cancellation of the preseason schedule was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL."

Short and to the point, because it seems there isn't much left to say about any of this these days.

If you're the glass half-full type, you might be glad to hear that the league and the players association are "holding open" Saturday and Sunday for negotiations this weekend in addition to the already scheduled Friday session. If Fehr and Bettman address the media tomorrow afternoon we'll update you as soon as possible. The two sides are expected to exchange views on "non-core economic" issues.

With the regular season scheduled to start just 11 days from now the announcement that will really hurt, the cancellation of those games, could come any time next week.