The National Hockey League has become the first professional sports outfit in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labour disruption.

We’re carrying NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s news conference live on Newsnet right now. (You can watch on the Web – video links on the right — for those outside Canada).

Now there’s talk that there may not be a season in 2005–2006.

 “The shame of this is, our fans deserver better,” Bettman says. “We’re going to have to re-earn our place in our fans world. We’re going to have come back better than ever.”