NHL Cancels September Preseason Games

NEW YORK -- The NHL canceled its entire September preseason game schedule on Wednesday, the first on-ice casualty of the four-day lockout.

The league is wiping out all games through Sept. 30, a move it deems "necessary because of the absence of a collective bargaining agreement" with the players' association.

The NHL also said the 2012 Kraft Hockeyville preseason game, scheduled for Oct. 3 in Belleville, Ontario, has been postponed until 2013, bringing the total to 60 games called off on Wednesday.

The regular season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 11.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league has "no set policy on cancellations" of other games.

Also Wednesday, a person familiar with the plan says NHL employees at the league offices will switch to a four-day work week Oct. 1 because of the lockout.

The move will effectively cut salaries by 20 percent. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the NHL hadn't made the plan public.

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