NEW YORK - In another sign the NHL season is slipping away, the league canceled its All-Star game Wednesday because of the lockout.

No regular-season games have been played since the season was scheduled to begin Oct. 13, and NHL arenas have been given the go-ahead to release dates on a 45-day rolling basis. With the All-Star game now off the schedule, the next announcement could be the cancellation of the entire season.

"To call off something that's a lot of fun for the fans to enjoy is a shame," nine-time All-Star Jeremy Roenick of the Philadelphia Flyers told The Associated Press. "It has no bearing on anything. They still haven't canceled games in January. Why haven't they canceled games in January but they're canceling the All-Star game?"

Bill Daly, the league's chief legal officer, said this decision "is not tactical at all," saying it was more of a practical decision to free up blocks of hotel rooms and other facilities that would've been needed.

"We had to make a decision on whether making those advance commitments made sense," Daly said in Dallas prior to an open forum with fans. "Given where we are with the status of our negotiations, it didn't warrant making those commitments. ... It's not tactical at all."

The lockout, now in its 49th day, was imposed by commissioner Gary Bettman after the collective bargaining agreement expired on Sept. 15. Bettman declined comment on the cancellation of the game, which was scheduled to be held in Atlanta in February.