NEW YORK -- The NHL canceled the rest of the preseason Thursday, just a day before negotiations were set to resume in an effort to end the lockout.

The league announced its second cancellation of preseason games in a two-sentence statement. NHL owners locked out players Sept. 16 when the collective bargaining agreement expired.

The NHL already had called off all the preseason games scheduled in September. The regular season is supposed to begin Oct. 11.

The two sides have scheduled talks on Friday in New York, although they are on secondary economic issues as opposed to the core of the dispute -- how to split more than $3 billion in annual revenue.