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Finally, the plug
has been pulled, and it’s about time too. After listening to six months of
baloney I’m literally at the end of my rope and for once I can honestly say I’m
at a loss for words.
Now all of us can
get on with our lives, even though to be quite frank, life has gotten on just
fine thank you very much.
I’m not going to
repeat what’s already been said in the news because we’ve been hearing it for
far too long, but I will say this: this is going to sting for a long time to
come, and do you know what? For the time being I couldn’t care less.
Yes, you read
that right.
The game I’ve
idolized for so long has run out of ways to impress me. Forget the whole labor
situation, the NHL game itself has simply worn out its welcome. A recent Sports
Byline online poll really says it all. The question asked was “Do you think the
NHL is dead as a major North American sport?” Not surprisingly, 77% of
respondents answered yes.
Why should we
care? Don’t get me wrong, I really feel most for those folks whose very
livelihood depends on NHL hockey, but it’s become clear to me over the past six
months the two people who could have solved this whole mess don’t care. I’m
tired of hearing all the excuses and rhetoric. Yes, Gary Bettman and Bob
Goodenow, I’m talking to both of you. Both of these so-called leaders of the
pack should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for even allowing the lockout to
drag on for as long as it did, give us a glimmer of hope, only to pull the plug
when we all knew full well there wouldn’t have been enough time for a meaningful
season anyway.
So now, sadly,
for the first time since 1919 there will be no Stanley Cup awarded. Not even
the First and Second World Wars or recent 21st century terror threats
were able to stop us from seeing a championship celebration. There’s only one
word to accurately describe what killed the 2004-05 NHL Season: Greed. Period.
So now, the fun
begins. Not only does the NHL need to get its labor impasse solved, if you can
even call it that at this stage, it needs to fix the game. It remains to be
seen what, if anything, will happen to the 30 teams in the league now. There is
certainly a real possibility of contraction whenever we do play again, even
though Mr. Bettman contradicts this, but realistically, if we don’t end up
losing or relocating at least two teams out of this whole mess I for one will be
shocked.
Assuming all 30
teams survive, there is also the issue of how to improve the product on the
ice. Had it not been for the lockout, I think we might have seen a different
game with some of the planned rule changes. To further illustrate this, just
watch an AHL game and cross your fingers we can get back to a similar level of
play once it resumes. I for one, am not holding my breath.
Let’s not forget
the most important ingredient: the players. How many players either
playing in Europe or nearing the end of their careers will actually return?
Will we ever see some of the unrestricted free agent signings from the summer of
2004 play for their respective teams? For those teams who have to cut
payroll to get under the salary cap (and make no mistake, there will be one,
it’s just a matter of how much), what do you do with those players you can’t
sign for fear of being taxed or fined? How do we convince the future stars
of our game like Sidney Crosby to play for an organization who's lost their
identity? Most
importantly, when, where and how do you even
hold a draft?
If the sport of
hockey is a business, then the ultimate solution is easy: the leaders of the
business have to go. In business, if you’re a CEO and you mess up, you’re
gone. So I, on behalf of all fans, would like to ask for Mr. Bettman and Mr.
Goodenow to both step down from their posts and allow someone else to take a
shot at the net. I’m sorry, but when you can’t get a proper deal made during 10
and 15 years of tenure respectively, then you’ll never get it done. Personally
I think Don Cherry could have made a deal faster than these two.
So we may not yet
have cost certainty, but we are certain there won’t be a season, so let’s stop
all the rhetoric and let’s not talk about it again until everything is fixed.
Let’s just get it done right and get back on the ice in October 2005 with no
more excuses.
The NHL can be rest assured of the fact I can
still go see OHL hockey for less money than it costs to park or even bus
it to the Corel Centre, and believe me when I tell you I won’t be first in line
to buy tickets if and when the NHL decides to reopen their doors. Furthermore,
this lockout has given me and many fans an opportunity to re-evaluate our lives,
and we will just simply find something else to do.
SIM UPDATES
Well, now I can
carry on with my EA Sports NHL 2004 simulation of the NHL 2005 season that
wasn’t. I’ve actually fell behind in the schedule in the hopes the NHL could
have salvaged something, but life will go on. Here is are some scores from last
month, with promises of more to come.
January 11 - New
York Rangers 5 Anaheim 5 F/OT – Dan Blackburn 44 saves, Bobby Holik 4 assists
– Tampa Bay 4 Ottawa 1
January 12 –
Toronto 6 Nashville 2 – Gary Roberts 3 goals
January 13 –
Calgary 4 Phoenix 1 – Martin Gelinas 2 goals, Jarome Iginla 2 assists
January 15 –
Tampa Bay 3 Nashville 2 - Nolan Pratt game winning goal, Brad Richards 1 goal,
Nikolai Khabibulin 39 saves – Edmonton 3 Colorado 2 – George Laraque game
winning goal, Radek Dvorak 1 goal, Steve Staios 2 assists, Ty Conklin 29 saves,
Paul Kariya 1 goal – St. Louis 5 Phoenix 1 – Brett Hull 1st goal
of season, Dallas Drake 2 goals 29 seconds apart, Pavel Demitra 1 goal, Doug
Weight 1 goal 2 assists, Patrick Lalime 17 saves
January 16 – New
York Islanders 4 New York Rangers 1 – Alexei Yashin 1 goal, 1 assist, Mike Peca
2 assists, Mark Messier 1 goal - Ottawa 2 San Jose 2 F/OT – Daniel
Alfredsson 1 goal, Martin Havlat 1 goal
January 17 –
Edmonton 3 Anaheim 2 – Steve Staios 1 goal 1 assist, Radek Dvorak 1 goal
January 18 –
Nashville 3 Vancouver 1 – Steve Sullivan 2 goals - Phoenix 3 Buffalo 1 –
Coyotes win first game of the season – Paul Mara & Sean O’Donnell both score
shorthanded, Mike Ricci empty net goal, Brian Boucher 41 saves.
I want to
reassure my loyal readers I will continue to check in at least once a month.
Next month I’ll be traveling to Syracuse, New York to catch some AHL action, and
who knows maybe even some March Madness. Take care everyone and I’ll talk to
you soon. It will take more than the NHL to stop me from finding ways to
satisfy our hockey cravings.
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Puckin' Around...
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GAME OVER