Survival Guide to the NHL Lockout

by UK American Sports Fans

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Negotiations between the National Hockey League and NHL Players Association continue.  Little progress has made to agree a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the related parties.  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has threatened to the shut the league down if a new CBA isn’t in place by 15th September (the expiry date of the current deal).  With a lockout looking likely at this point, here’s a handy guide for hockey fans:

 1.  Follow the Elite League and go to see some live hockey

If you don’t do this already, go and get to see a live Elite League game.  For those of you without a team then just pick one!  The puck drops on a new season on Saturday 8th September so it’s an ideal time to follow.  Belfast Giants won the league last year whilst Nottingham Panthers won the Challenge Cup and were Playoff Champions.

 2.  Watch the KHL instead

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) starts on 4th September and now includes 26 teams across 7 countries.  There will be a mass exodus of NHL stars to the league in the event of a lockout.  Malkin, Ovechkin, Datsyuk are already names being linked whilst rumours of Sidney Crosby being tempted are circulating.  The KHL also sees the return of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl after last years terrible air disaster.

3.  Try other sports

Sacrilege I know but both the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) will be running.  If you’ve never really tried American football or basketball before, it’s an ideal opportunity.  I did that very thing in March when I made a concerted effort to enjoy baseball and haven’t regretted it.

4.  Read the entire 2005 CBA

To fully appreciate the negotiations, a complete read through of the CBA needs to be done.  Read about contracts, salary arbitration, free agency rules, Olympic participation etc.  It’s 454 pages long, by the way…should take you up until June to fully understand.

5.  Watch hockey movies

Dust off the DVD player and watch some great hockey movies such as “Goon”, “The Mighty Ducks” (and sequels), “Mystery, Alaska”, “Slap Shot”, “Sudden Death”.  In fact if anyone could get the season out of lockout, Jean-Claude Van Damme is probably the guy.

6.  Start an online campaign to replace Gary Bettman as Commissioner

For me, 3 strikes and he should be out.  With 1994-95 reduced to 48 games and 2004-05 cancelled completely, a third delay / cancellation would be too much collateral damage for Bettman to continue.  Already a derisory figure, Bettman’s scintilla of authority will be gone forever and his legacy will be one of attempting to kill hockey.  The NHL is shadowy organisation from an administrative perspective so fans need to show the league that a lockout isn’t acceptable.

So there we are then with a few ideas to dissipate the disappointment of a lockout.  Let’s hope that the NHL and NHLPA can find mutual ground to agree a way forward so that we hockey fans don’t lose out.