By Jonah Sharf
On September 15, 2004, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL and the players union did not reach a new collective bargaining agreement and a lockout would begin. The lockout began the next day, September 16, and lasted over 10 months, cancelling the entire 2004-05 NHL season. This became the first time a full season of one of the four major professional leagues in the US was cancelled.