The NHL donated $33,800 toward tsunami relief efforts in Thailand as part of a charity game by Bangkok-based players.
A team of players from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Japan and Thailand defeated a Canadian squad, 7-6. The NHL donated $2,600 for each goal.
| _____ From The Post _____
• Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky take part in six-hour meeting between NHL and players' union but no deal is reached.
• Commissioner Gary Bettman officially cancels the NHL season.
• There is speculation about where the league goes from here and whether it can survive.
• Michael Wilbon: There's no question the league and its owners won this particular battle.
• The cancellation may work to the Capitals' advantage in time.
• Q&A: What's next?
_____ On Our Site _____
• Audio: The Post's Thomas Heath discusses the end of the season.
• Video: Bettman announces the cancellation of the season.
• What's Your Opinion?
_____ Lockout At a Glance _____
• NO SEASON: The NHL season was canceled Feb. 16 over a lockout that started before training camps opened last September. It's the first major North American sport to lose an entire season to a labor dispute.
• THE REASON: The NHL and the players' association couldn't resolve how to split revenues from the $2 billion industry. The league demanded a salary cap, but by the time the players agreed to that, it was too late to work out how much the cap would be.
• WHAT'S NEXT?: The NHL could seek the declaration of an impasse, which allowing it to implement its last offer, open training camps in September and invite players back. The players' association would likely respond with a strike.
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"We've played a lot of hockey here for more than 10 years, but this is the team's proudest moment," Bangkok Flying Farangs defenseman Kevin Hall said.
Players from the Farangs (the Thai word for foreigners) and the Thai-World Hockey League scrambled to put together the event to aid the Red Cross Thailand's efforts to help thousands of survivors in the country's tsunami-devastated south.
Five of the Farangs did volunteer work after the Dec. 26 disaster, retrieving bodies, meeting grief-stricken relatives and aiding the identification process.
Thailand's Vanchalerm Rattapong, who scored three goals Sunday, had volunteered to carry corpses. "I heard the NHL was going to donate cash for goals," he said. "And I knew what I had to do for my people."
-- From News Services
