By Chris Mackey
So, the National Hockey League is going to declare in a press conference on Wednesday that this season is going to be officially cancelled. In other news… blah, blah, blah.
My question is this: Does anyone really care now that this enevitable action is finally coming to pass after it had been on the minds of hockey fans everywhere all season? I at least know this: I sure don’t.On Wednesday, the National Hockey League will officially announce that it will cancel the remainder of the season. Thus ending all negotiations with the player’s union for quite some time.
If the season was going on as usual, right now would be the end of the All-Star break.
The biggest hurdle in the negotiations has been the League’s insistence on a salary cap. According to figures they’ve compiled, the league lost $224 million last year and $273 million the year before. They claim the players received 75% of the revenues. The union contests this claim.
Now, I’m quite surprised that the season wasn’t cancelled sooner. The negotiations have resulted in dead-ends and neither side backing down. And of course, no comprimise in sight. Hence, the end of the season.
I am left with two questions now. First, does anyone besides hardcore hockey fans, obviously the players – those who either playing or not in other leagues, the owners – who have lost everything this season, and what about the journalists? For some, that is all they cover. I feel bad for those of us who have been forced to cover other sports. Some may not care but others might. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to cover it so it makes no difference to me if the rest of the season is cancelled or not.
Anyway, question numero dos: Will the negotiations resume and if so, will a comprimise be struck? If not, what does that mean for future NHL seasons? Will the lockout continue forever until both sides reach an agreement? And if no agreement is reached, will hockey ever become a professional sport again?
There are smaller leagues like the USHL in which my hometown team, the Des Moines Buccaneers, are a part. They are pretty good by the way. The Dallas Stars were going to install a farm team here in Des Moines, but with the lockout taking place, that probably won’t happen anytime soon.
So, if no season takes place, what will the players do? They certainly, at least I think, won’t want to return to a league where they will make less money then they are making now. I sure wouldn’t. With that in mind, I find it hard to believe that a new league would be formed. Also, it probably won’t be any different than its predecessor therefore, fans might not have difficulty warming up to it. But at the same time, they more than likely will have a hard time. Just in the fact that is different. People have a hard time accepting change.
Only time will tell if a NHL season will ever take place again. If it does, when will that be and will there be any significant changes?
6 replies on “Hockey season to be officially cancelled. Does anyone care?”
Yes Of course people still care about hockey. Just because most of those people aren’t located in the United States doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I know a lot of casual hockey fans who were quite disappointed today by the announcement that the season was close to being canceled.
Your second question has already been answered.
I think the league will come back and be fine, and I could care less if it is ever really popular again so long as I get to watch some hockey. The league can make money off an even smaller fan base than they had before, but they need the salary cap to control spending on player salaries.
the problem is that not enough people care. And the cancellation will sour the perception of the casual fan who watched a big game on tv or took their kids to the rink every once in a while.
IanB, I know you’re a big hockey fan, and I am a semi-big fan too. It’s disappointing that the season is over. Unfortunately, for 80% of sports fans, it’s just a blip on the radar. If this was the NFL, there’d be rioting in the streets.
I realize that I don’t think that’s as big of a problem as people make it out to be. There’s a functioning lacrosse league that no one cares about, why can’t there be a hockey one? They just have to adjust and realize that hockey won’t be big in the US for a while, if ever.
Hockey getting big You know, this might just be me, but I think hockey was starting to get bigger in the US. Hockey isn’t a bad sport, it just needs better publicity. I actually enjoyed hockey, although I never watched it, but I payed some attention and went to a few hometown Bucs games. And this happened. I seriously think hockey will be tarnished for quite some time because of this. But I also have to think that there is good light at the end of this tunnel. This lockout was not because of players wanting to get more money, but the owners trying to cap it. That is a good thing. Maybe baseball and basketball will follow suit.
It’ll be a while now Hockey won’t be popular again for a while, I don’t think. Especially now that both sides reverted to their posistions from two years ago. Basicallly, we’re back at square one. Go watch some junior or college hockey if you’d like, because no one will be seeing the NHL for a long time.
Players making less money? Why wouldn’t the players return to a league making less money? What do you think a great numbers of them are doing right now: playing in Europe for far less money.