In short, the NHL has turned what is supposed to be an exciting and joyous weekend into a depressing and uneventful one. Rather than think about the amazing combination of Eric and Jordan Staal playing together in Carolina or why one win in the pre-season means we can plan a parade here in Toronto, there is nothing. Nothing in LA where the Kings did what Gretzky couldn't by bringing a Cup to Hollywood, nothing in Toronto where new ownership means that the Leafs will have nothing to hold them back and nothing in Winnipeg, where after waiting for so long to get their beloved team back, there is nothing.
Considering NHL fans found themselves in this exact situation just 8 years ago, it begs the question: What is the NHL thinking? Last year when the NFL and NBA both went through work stoppages, there was a feeling among sports fans that the last NHL lockout was inevitable and something that modern day sports leagues can't avoid. If the mighty NFL could end up in a work stoppage, then so could any other league. The problem is that while the NFL lockout was definitely not going to impact the length of the season and games played (there was just too much money to be made/lost) and the NBA lockout pointed to a shorter season, there is no such optimism when it comes to the NHL. The league lost a lot of fans the last time they were locked out to MMA and Poker and there is reason to believe that some fans who leave this time around south of the border may not return.
NHL Owners have put themselves in a situation where I find it difficult to not place much of the blame on them. Consider:
- NHL Revenues have grown 50% since the last lockout to roughly 1.7 billion dollars
- The NHL will not release information on which organizations are losing money, or how much money they are losing.
- During the last lockout, the owners were seen as big winners by getting players to agree to a salary cap which they now say isn’t working.
- NHL teams continued to sign players to lengthy, expensive contracts (Minnesota Wild anyone?) though they claim that revenues are in danger and that players are making too much money.
I struggle around this idea that the players are making too much money and it’s a huge problem since it is the owners and management themselves who decide on how much money the players make. Fact is that until the owners find somewhere to make public what exactly the NHL is danger of losing or struggling with financially, the players will continue to get my sympathy. After all, many NHL teams continue to save on money during this lockout which again points to their lack of motivation in trying to engineer a fair and quick end to this lockout.
Considering that the NHL and its fans found themselves in this exact situation just 8 years ago, it begs the question: What is the NHL thinking? Last year when the NFL and NBA both went through work stoppages, there was a feeling among sports fans that the last NHL lockout was inevitable and something that modern day sports leagues can't avoid. If the mighty NFL could end up in a work stoppage, then so could any other league. The problem is that while the NFL lockout was definitely not going to impact the length of the season and games played (there was just too much money to be made/lost) and the NBA lockout pointed to a shorter season, there is no such optimism when it comes to the NHL. There is no rabid fanbase in every market (like the NFL) and there is no universal appeal globally (like the NBA) which leaves the league as a strictly North American league. Not only that, but there is outside pressure from European leagues (KHL anyone?).
Unfortunately, the NHL lockout appears to be a case of wealthy men wanting to become more wealthy at the expense of rich men. It is also an example of an organization (the NHL) that created a problem (rich player salaries), continues to add to the problem (increasing the average salary per player) and then complaining about the very problem they created. The owners need to stop looking at the money they feel they are losing and focus more on the fans that they are losing and the revenues lost on the backs of the players that built the revenues in the first place.