Cancelled...Cancelled...Cancelled...

The National Hockey League is expected to cancel another block of games early this week even as they struggle with when/whether to have further talks with the Players Association to arrive at an agreement on a new labor pact.  The schedule of cancellations so far looks like this...

The block of dates on the calendar for the next round of cancellations will be telling.  If the cancellations amount to a week or two, it might serve as evidence that the sides are still close, despite the histrionics following last Thursday's set of meetings, proposals, and rejections (although we did reset the "puck-in-play" condition back to PUCKCON 2).  If it is longer, it might be a signal as to what the league considers its "drop-dead" date to cancel the season.  This might be the last block of games cancelled before the league puts the season out of its misery.