2K Sports has officially announced that NHL 2K12 will not be published on any console next year, according to Kotaku. The venerable series got its start on the Dreamcast with NHL 2K, gave EA a run for its money in the past generation with 2K4-7, and was quickly crushed this generation by EA's skill stick enabled Xbox 360 and PS3 hockey titles.

The 2K series seemed to get a bit of a grib on the market for the Wii, running unopposed for two seasons before running into EA again with their new Slapshot series this past season. A look at EA's blanket marketing campaign will likely tell you how well that battle turned out for EA.

The series may not be fully dead yet though. 2K put out an iPhone version of their hockey sim that is currently skating solo in the iTunes store. Perhaps an iPhone exclusive series will be the next step for the franchise.

Given the mass critical acclaim and huge sales numbers for NBA 2K11 this year, at least 2K will not be pulling out of the sports race entirely.