Similar to the 2004-2005 NHL season, where a player lockout cancelled every regular season game, the NHL led by Commissioner Gary Bettman, declared yet another Lockout against the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) once more for 2012-2013. This year however, the league cutout 625 regular season games and left a little less than half left to play. The new schedule is set to commence on either January 15th or 19th, 2013. But with such little time left to play, what does this mean?
Now, the cause for the Lockout this year, is the same that of any other lockout in the history of sports: money. Basically, owners of different NHL franchises have been failing because of an inability to increase their fan attendance. It’s kind of hard to make money, when you don’t have any spectators. And when you can’t make any money, its obvious that you definitely won’t be making a profit.
To fix the financial crisis, owners looked to cut the salary of players throughout the NHL. Consequently, once the players were told that their salary was going to be cut, they weren’t too pleased. I mean, you wouldn’t either if you were losing money after recording a standout season?
Personally I’m not a huge hockey fan. But after hearing about all these arguments happening between players along with the small remainder of the season left, I was confused to why the NHL would even bother starting the season up this time of year. With all that, this is what I’ve taken away from the Lockout.
One: with games commencing mid-January, the chance to become a ‘comeback team’ during the regular season is pretty much gone. The first half of the season is gone, so how can a team that has had an early season struggle improve enough to make the playoffs? Take the New York Giants during the 2011-2012 NFL season. The Giants began the season terribly and worked their way up to an 8-8 record, continuing to push until they were Super Bowl champions. Are you telling me, if the Giants were to only have half a season, they would have been able to start poorly and still had a chance to pull off another great year?  With so much lost from this year in the NHL season, the underdog theme, in my opinion, has been eliminated.
Two: in every sport, there are games that fans look forward to. The MLB and the NBA both have the All-Star game and the NFL has its historic Thanksgiving Day games. If you’re a hockey fan, I’ll assume notable games on the calendar such as the NHL Winter Classic (this year between the Detroit Red Wings vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs) and the 2013 All-Star Game are kind of a big deal. With half the season gone, these two games along with hundreds of others, have been canceled.
Three: with so much lost from this years season, is it really necessary to start so late? It seems like the players are in it for the money and the fans are upset with the league while a majority of them don’t even bother coming to the games, which is what started the lockout in the first place. From what I’ve seen and heard from fans and friends, the NHL and the players have acted foolishly and have cost them a season. In my point of view, it’s as much the NHL and players fault as it is the fan’s.
So should the NHL have just cancelled the entire season or should there be a big change management wise? Commissioned under Bettman, the NHL has now undergone three different lockouts. When you have to reformat something like a professional season repeatedly, something is going wrong.
