NHL Lock-out Latest
The NHL season should have started by now.
What we have instead is two sides that desperately want you to know how much they value your support, when in reality they are taking it completely for granted.
Progress towards a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to end the lockout is painfully slow with no obvious end in sight, as more and more players are making plans for the season in Europe. At this point the season is cancelled up until the 24th October but expect another delay announcement fairly soon.
Scheduled talks between the NHL owners and Players Association (NHLPA) are occurring fairly regularly to be fair, although the majority of the time it seems they aren’t even discussing the sticking points of the deal. Genuine counter offers are rare, thanks to the complexity of the agreement but it just comes off as a lack of urgency even as the season wastes away. “Oh talks have broken for today have they? Well that’s OK, come back in two days and we’ll debate your drug testing for 6 hours.” Give me a break.
The longer this goes on, the less sympathy I have for anyone directly involved, and the relentless spin is getting increasingly tiresome too. For the owners claims of wanting to improve struggling franchise finances long term mean little when the lockout could do irreparable damage to their already thin fanbases. Meanwhile the players have refused revenue sharing offers similar to those of the other major leagues and are all too aware that they aren’t the target of most of the condemnation. My Twitter timeline is full of players retweeting how Gary Bettman has made another #fail, not understanding that we all can’t stand him already anyway.
Plenty believe that the entire 2012/13 year will be written off but despite my pessimism I am not one of them just yet. I maintain that someone is going to see sense and realise that an entire season lost for the second time in a decade would completely alienate hockey fans and in terms they understand, do catastrophic damage to the league’s image. Progress should accelerate once the situation does get truly dire, then a deal might actually get thrashed out, here’s hoping.
On the bright side plenty of quality hockey is currently going on right now though, AHL teams have as usual been assigned a number of prospects from their NHL parent teams to aid their development. This side of the Atlantic Russia’s KHL is currently hosting their homegrown superstars such as Malkin and Kovalchuk but you’ll also spot familiar faces scattered across the European leagues. Of course there is our very own Elite League too, which is receiving some great publicity now that NHLers Matt Beleskey, Tom Sestito and Anthony Stewart have joined the party. Your local team would appreciate your support more than your NHL team does too!
Bettman out!
