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Only the fans have no choice

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Kara Yorio

September 15, 2004.

The day came as expected, with the announcement the hockey world knew was coming for months, if not longer. The season will not start on time. There is no timeline for a return and no scheduled negotiations with the players' union.

There were many reactions to commissioner Gary Bettman's largely union-attacking

announcement--and to union executive director Bob Goodenow's counter. Goodenow described Bettman's contention that the union wanted the lockout and a long fight as "stupid and ridiculous." There was the disgust with both sides, the feeling of a pox on both their houses, let both sides suffer from this arrogance. Goodbye and good riddance.

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But something popped up unexpectedly--a sense of sadness and disappointment. Maybe it came from watching NHL employees say goodbye, maybe from seeing some pretty good hockey in the World Cup and knowing what could be lost with each canceled game. Maybe it was just the reality of it all; what had been a moment in the future for so long arrived so suddenly. The time finally had come.

Knowing it was coming didn't make it any easier for the NHL employees who left the World Cup looking for new jobs instead of toward the new season. Unbelievably, some of these workers seemed as saddened by what was happening to the league as they were about what was happening to them. It had been their league. They had to say goodbye and deal with the anxiety of the unknown. Unlike the players and the teams, most regular workers couldn't save enough to ride out this labor battle. Most people don't make that kind of money, don't have a war chest to lean on in lean times.

Bettman apologized to these people and the rest of us who make our living working in and around his league, but that apology rang hollow. When you watch both sides not only prepare but plan for a lockout, it's difficult to think a real effort is being made to keep it from happening. This is all strategy, and it takes down others in its wake.

But Bettman is missing something important. The NHL isn't a vocation, but an avocation, for its fans. They will find other things to do, other sports to watch. Some will return with the NHL, some will not. This league cannot afford that loss. Bettman vows all 30 teams will return in the same places after the lockout. Even if that happens, how long will they last with 6,000 or 7,000 people in the stands? What kind of salary cap can counter that?

There are those who argue these men and their business battle cannot take the game away. There is truth to that. But these men can bring the league to its knees. They can take away any notion that the NHL stands even slightly behind the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. (And that Big Four belief realistically died seasons ago.) These men and this fight can kill TV coverage in the United States, making it even more difficult to find a game on cable television, never mind a network, making it more difficult--perhaps too difficult--to be a fan.

Last Wednesday afternoon, disappointment overcame disgust for a day.

"We owe it to hockey's fans to achieve an economic system that will result in affordable ticket prices and stable, competitive franchises," Bettman said. "The very future of our game is at stake, and the NHL's owners are united, as never before-determined to do everything humanly possible to bring hockey's economic system into the 21st century. We have no other choice."

And now we have no other choice. We leave the disappointment behind and move on.

SPEED READ

* Team Canada wanted to celebrate with each other and the fans. That's great. But the players should not have passed around the World Cup trophy as if it were the Stanley Cup, skating it around the arena. That ritual is what makes winning the Stanley Cup (and witnessing the victory) so special. It shouldn't become a basic celebration at every tournament.

INSIDE DISH

According to the players' association, more than 150 players were unsigned when the lockout began. Those players, including big-name unrestricted free agents Alexei Kovalev, Ziggy Palffy, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, cannot sign with an NHL team until the lockout is over.... An unrestricted free agent can sign with an AHL team. D Chris Chelios has an agreement with the Red Wings but has not signed, and during the World Cup he talked about possibly keeping in shape with the AHL's Chicago Wolves. Chelios also mentioned playing in Europe.... Although commissioner Gary Bellman promises every team will return after a labor agreement is reached, many believe a seasonlong lockout would crush more than a few teams. Some players, such as Mike Modano and Matthew Barnaby, say there are too many markets. But Barnaby also told Sporting News Radio that, as an aging player, he doesn't want to lose the jobs associated with those extra teams.... Tickets for the Original Stars Hockey League went on sale two days before the lockout began. At $35 to $60 Canadian, tickets might be cheaper than for an NHL game, but that's not the bargain fans might have hoped for--even with part of the proceeds going to charity. The first game was played Friday, in Barrie, Ontario.... Young Blackhawks star C/W Tuomo Ruutu did not immediately return to Finland after the World Cup. Instead, he went to Chicago to talk to management about what would be best for his development. Ruutu could play in the Finnish Elite League, but he also is eligible to play for the Blackhawks' AHL team in Norfolk, Va. A decision is expected in the next couple of weeks.--K.Y.

Only the fans have no choice

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Kara Yorio

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