Wednesday, February 16, 2005

The NHL (No Hockey League)

Last May, while on vacation with my family, I watched the Stanley Cup Finals with my brother and father. They were both Lightning fans, and I cheered along with them. I was a bit torn rooting for a Florida team against a Canadian one, Canada being the heart of hockey and Florida being a place where you can't even play hockey outdoors in the winter. But only a bit. So we watched together, a rare occurrence given our locations across the country, the infrequency with which we're together, and our different sporting interests. And it was entertaining. The announcers talked about the upcoming labor dispute, but it was background. They said there was a good chance for a lockout, but that was in the future -- we were enjoying the present, and there wasn't much we could have done about it anyhow.

Well, the future is now, and this season hockey officially is limited to the minor leagues and colleges (go Big Red!). The Lightning remain defending champions for another year, though who knows if any of the winning players will be defending their title. The owners must be happy -- they've fractured the unity of the players, and, according to their mantra, they're losing less money than if they'd played the season under the existing labor agreement. Never mind that the players agreed to major pay cuts that would have reduced the loss and possibly even given them a gain. Never mind that the owners were the ones that caused the problem in the first place with their profligate spending -- they decided that as a group they couldn't control their spending, and consequently, the players would have to bail them out. Never mind that the casual fan is likely lost for a decade, and some probably won't return.

Interest in hockey had been growing, slowly, but growing nonetheless. Now it will fall back among the lesser sports (it was already a distant 4th among the team sports -- the average sports fan doesn't even care that it's gone). Will it ever rise again?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Canada, Hockey is #1. Actually I should say it was #1. This lockout directly affected our family, our son worked for a credit card marketing company and worked every Flames home game last year. This year without any Flames game, he has lost out on over $5,000.00 in income, and for a full time university student that's a lot. Calgary rode a huge wave last year in the run for the cup, and it was incredibly exciting for our little city (population about 940,000). We are considered a small market team and the team payroll last year was one of the lowest in the league. My son developed a website regarding the lockout and has had thousands of hits, most expressing their dismay at the players greediness. Having read our local paper's editorial page for the last several days, most writers are agreeing with that. Although, most concede that the owners started this whole thing. Canada is considered the home of hockey. Right now we have 6 teams in the NHL. Three of those teams are considered small market teams (Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa). There is a very real threat that those 3 small market teams may not be here in the not too distant future. I think most Calgarians have the opinion that this whole business is a crying shame.

Debbie - Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget that today is the 25th Anniversary of the USA-CCCP game, undeniably the greatest sports moment of our lifetime.