The first leaguewide NHL strike occurred April 1, 1992, when the NHL Players’ Association demanded a new collective-bargaining agreement. (In the very first hockey strike, the Hamilton Tigers walked out on the league during the 1924-25 season and then were fined, suspended and sold the next year.) The players voted overwhelmingly — 560 to 4 — to strike. The walkout occurred during the season and only a few months before the Stanley Cup playoffs, which some believed wouldn’t be played. But after the 10-day “cold war,” an agreement was reached, which included a lengthened NHL season and some player concessions on licensing issues and free agency.
Read about Wayne Gretzsky becoming the NHL’s leading scorer, one of TIME’s top 10 sporting moments.