Two things are certain every 86 years: The Boston Red Sox will win the World Series and the Stanley Cup Finals will be canceled.
On Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season amid the worst labor dispute in American sports history. The announcement cancels the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1919, when a flu epidemic ended the season.
This announcement will affect the NHL for years to come. Unlike baseball, hockey is not America's pastime and will suffer longer than Mario Lemieux's prediction of "a couple of years."
R.I.P., 2005 Stanley Cup Finals.
You've joined the aforementioned 1919 Stanley Cup Finals and the 1904 and '94 World Series in the cemetery of sports championships.
Across the street is the cemetery of sports leagues. And right next to the XFL is Bettman, who is digging a 6-foot hole for the NHL.
