The gears of the NHL owners’ lockout continued to grind in depressing and methodical fashion with the league’s cancellation of September’s 60 scheduled exhibition games, plus a 61st on Oct. 3, the Kraft Hockeyville match between the Maple Leafs and Senators in Belleville, Ontario.
The Rangers, who had scheduled six road preseason matches in order to accommodate the second phase of the Garden renovation, have thus lost the Sept. 26 date in Albany against the Devils, the Sept. 28 game at New Jersey and the Sept. 29 match in Philadelphia (all the better for the Blueshirts’ health).
The league, whose announcement euphemistically cited “the absence of a collective bargaining agreement” as cause for the action, is expected to cancel the full slate of preseason games within the next few days. That will knock out the Oct. 2 Devils-Islanders match at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Though representatives of the NHL and the Players’ Association spoke by phone Wednesday, there are no current plans to resume bargaining. Negotiations broke off last Wednesday, a day before Gary Bettman announced the league’s intention to lock out the players upon Saturday midnight’s expiration of the CBA.
NHL training camps had been scheduled to open Friday. The Rangers’ AHL Whale affiliate will hold its camp at the Blueshirts’ training facility in Westchester beginning Sept. 30.
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Ryan McDonagh’s agent confirmed the Rangers’ 23-year-old defenseman has received offers to play in Europe during the lockout.
“We are sorting through them, but have not made a decision yet,” Ben Hankinson wrote in an email.
McDonagh last week told The Post he would seek advice before committing to play in Europe.
“The most important thing for me is to stay sharp and keep developing,” McDonagh said. “It’s my first time through this, so I’ll ask for recommendations from people with more experience.
“I want to improve as a hockey player. Whatever the best way is to accomplish that, that’s what I’ll do.”