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NEW YORK -- Courtesy:  MTU

The National Hockey League today announced the cancellation of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and the Sirius XM Hockeytown Winter Festival due to the absence of a collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players Association.

The cancellation of these events means the 48th annual Great Lakes Invitational, which was scheduled to be played outdoors at Comerica Park Dec. 27-28, will be moved to Joe Louis Arena. Games will now be on Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 29-30.

The Dec. 29 semifinal matchups of the 2012 GLI are: Michigan State vs. Western Michigan at 3:30 p.m. and Michigan Tech vs. Michigan at 7 p.m. The GLI Third-Place and Championship games will be played Dec. 30 at 3:30 and 7 p.m., respectively.

Tickets for the GLI are available at the Joe Louis Arena Box Office (313-396-7575), all Ticketmaster outlets (800-745-3000) and online at OlympiaEntertainment.com. Those who purchased tickets for either the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and the Sirius XM Hockeytown Winter Festival will be refunded within the next 30 days.