The NHLPA wraps up its voting and ratifies the labor deal. The sides then agree to a memorandum of understanding, officially (for real this time) ending the lockout. Training camps open the following day with the season starting the following Saturday on Jan. 19.

The NHL owners vote, and approve the tentative labor deal in Manhattan. All that remains is player approval to finally start the hockey season. While addressing the owners and the media, Bettman officially said he was 'sorry' for the lockout.
 

After an all-night bargaining session, a tired Gary Bettman (left) and NHLPA head Donald Fehr (right) addressed the media in the wee hours of the morning with great news. The NHL reached a tentative agreement with the NHLPA on a 10-year pact. On the 113th days of the lockout, labor peace is all but a reality.

NHL Players' Association members vote to give the union's executive board the power to file a ''disclaimer of interest'' until Jan. 2. If the executive board files the disclaimer, the union would dissolve and become a trade association. That would allow players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (left) and Bill Daly, deputy commissioner and chief legal officer, gave the players a new proposal, leading to the sides getting back to the bargaining table days later. "We delivered to the union a new, comprehensive proposal for a successor CBA," Daly said in a statement on Dec. 28. The NHLPA has since counteroffered and the sides are in negotiations, trying to end the lockout before a reported Jan. 11 drop-dead date that would result in the entire season being canceled.

The NHL announces it has canceled all games through Jan. 14. Over half of the regular season (624 games) is now wiped out due to the lockout.
 

The NHL files a class action suit in U.S. District Court in New York, seeking to establish that the lockout is legal. In a separate move, the NHL files an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the players' association has bargained in bad faith.

The following day, news breaks that NHL players will vote on whether they will grant the players' association's executive board the authority to dissolve the union because of the inability to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the league.

The NHL announces that all games have been canceled through Dec. 30. There had already been 422 regular-season games lost through Dec. 14 because of the lockout, and the latest cuts on Day 86 of the league shutdown claimed 104 more.

Negotiations between the league and the players' association broke off the previous, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly (pictured) says the sides are trying to restart talks.

The NHLPA's most recent offer is rejected by the NHL. Donald Fehr (right) originally believed, and said, that the sides were getting closer on major issues. Turns out, things just got way, way worse.

"They knew there was a major gulf between us and yet they came down here and told you we were close," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

Fehr vehemently disputed that assessment and stuck to his opinion that the sides really aren't far apart, saying they are "clearly very close if not on top of one another."

Thursday's meeting ended after just an hour.

With the NHL's biggest star in attendance, Sidney Crosby (pictured), 18 players meet with a group of owners without Bettman and Fehr in an attempt to move the needle. The sides engage in Manhattan for over 10 hours. It's seen as a sign of progress. They meet again the next day into the late hours of the night, but the vibe starts to sour.

Not much else is working, so the sides agree to try mediation. After meeting for two days, the process fails with federal mediators informing the parties that it was no longer productive to continue discussions. "The mediators indicated that they would stay in contact with the league and the NHLPA, and would call the parties back together when they thought the time was right," Donald Fehr said.

On Black Friday, it's another dark day in the NHL. It couldn't get any worse for Columbus Blue Jackets fans and the club. The already-struggling franchise takes another blow when the NHL announces that the 2013 NHL All-Star weekend scheduled for Jan. 26-27 is canceled. All games through Dec. 14 are also wiped away. ''We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

The Flyers' Danny Briere (pictured) and the rest of the NHLPA are hopeful after presenting a five-year proposal to the league, but it is quickly rejected. Talks between both sides break off with Gary Bettman saying, "We're still very far apart."

The frustrated sides show progress by meeting for four straight days. Discussions eventually turn sour and the gap between the parties widens.

The NHL cancels the 2013 Winter Classic scheduled to be played at Michigan Stadium between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 1. Fans and plenty of media members never believed the league would let the lockout drag on so long to force it to cut its premier event. The 2013 version was going to be the biggest yet, with high school and college teams joining the fun to create a two-week Winter Festival.

Gallery: Winter Classics through the years.

Remember that offer that the NHL proposed to save an 82-game regular season? On this day, Bettman and Co. pull that off the table. A day later, the league cancels all games through the end of November.

More games are lost as the league cancels all games through Nov. 1. Some fans decide to find fun elsewhere with the NFL, like this photo suggests.

The NHL offers a proposal of a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue and a chance to save an 82-game season. Some view this offer as a PR move. When the players union and leader Donald Fehr (pictured) respond with three proposals of their own just two days later, the league quickly turns down all of them.

The league whacks into the regular-season schedule, canceling the first two weeks of the season. ''We were extremely disappointed to have to make today's announcement,'' NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at the time. ''The game deserves better, the fans deserve better, and the people who derive income from their connection to the NHL deserve better."

With zero progress in CBA talks, the NHL chomps on the remainder of the preseason schedule.

The first round of cancellations are announced by the league as the preseason schedule through Sept. 30 is axed. Madison Square Garden (pictured) and other arenas around the NHL remain empty.

The NHL locks out its players after the previous CBA expires. It’s the league’s fourth work stoppage since 1992. The NHL becomes the third major sports league in the US in the last 18 months to impose a lockout, and it's another one under commissioner Gary Bettman's watch.

From Sept. 16 to today, check out the major dates in this NHL lockout.