There will be a resumption of talks between the parties in the ongoing NHL lockout today.
There were talks yesterday as well, and these lasted over ten hours, evidently.
I have continually heard that the issues are more complex than the one issue that most people truly feel is at the heart of the matter: greed.
True, there may be specifics, but it seems more than likely that, when you scrape away the details, the heart of the matter will indeed be greed.
As I understand it, one of the major issues that has yet to be ironed out is the long term security for profitable hockey in markets that are not traditional hockey markets. That would be particularly true in regions that have relatively recently acquired hockey teams - namely, the South.
Anyone who knows me, or has kept up with this blog over the months and years, knows that I have been very critical of this Southern expansion program for the NHL. Many hockey officials, particularly Gary Bettman, have stuck doggedly to it, and hail those successes, which are tantamount to proving the exception as the rule.
In truth, it has failed, and if indeed one of the major underlying issues in this lockout are the concerns that these "markets" are, in fact, not that marketable, than it further illustrates the folly of the NHL as a whole over the past two decades and change.
Now, let me be clear here: I don't blame the NHL for trying to expand to new markets. After all, why remain restricted to traditional markets? Why not try to expand the interest in hockey to areas that, at least in theory, could prove to be accepting of this traditionally cold weather sport? Why not venture forth and give it a shot? I am not opposed to that.
No, it makes sense - at least in theory. That is not where the NHL went wrong.
Where it went wrong was in showing such an easy and unthinking willingness to sacrifice the loyalty in traditional markets, in order to make this experimental expansion policy work. Where it continues to go wrong is in it's dogged refusal to accept defeat, and to give up this plan, in favor of restoring faith among loyal followers of their beloved NHL franchises. Where it has remained wrong, and continues to remain wrong, is in the willingness of NHL officials, and owners of NHL franchises, to make the fans pay for the mistakes of NHL owners and NHL officials, and the seemingly growing limits to cap the popularity of the sport and the league that are in evidence all over the place, if one is honest enough to look and admit it.
Yes, the fans are paying for their loyalty. At least, that is what it has appeared as to many fans, myself included (whether or not NHL officials will outright agree to that or not is irrelevant). Ask fans of the Minnesota Northstars (although they now have the Wild to root for). Ask fans of the Winnipeg Jets (although Winnipeg has the Jets back). Ask fans of the Hartford Whalers and the Quebec Nordiques. Ask fans of teams that are continually threatened and have seemed on the verge of a move elsewhere (almost always much further south) in Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and Buffalo.
The fact of the matter is that this strategy of expansion backfired precisely because the league seemed so intent on it's success that it at least appeared willing to sacrifice it's own popularity in traditional markets. This current lockout is proof of that failure, and anyone who would try to minimize, or perhaps even deny, that the current situation obviously illustrates a failure by the league is only fooling themselves.
I have been speaking to a huge fan of the sport (admittedly, probably a bigger fan than me) for several months regarding this situation. He is, or was, a fan of the Rangers, and his second team would be none other than the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. I remember in October, he was saying that he half expected, and very much hoped, that a deal could be reached around Thanksgiving, so that hockey could resume by the holiday season. That, of course, did not happen.
But he also expressed rather extreme skepticism that this situation would resolve itself this season, and even warned me to prepare for this situation to continue on to next season. He gives voice to his belief that this season, according to him, "is over", before it ever even began. He believes that there is virtually no chance that a season will be salvaged, however shortened. Now, hopefully, he is not proven right. There should be limits to this, after all. But then again, the NHL has not shown a strong adherence to limits in the recent past, and one even wonders if they know the meaning of limits. Three significant stoppages of play that eliminated at least huge chinks of three different seasons (including one season entire in 2004-2005) show that the NHL really knows no bounds, and that this is what is hurting them.
I would like to believe he is wrong, and he would like to believe he is wrong on this, as well.
But the NHL seems to be intent in proving him, and other skeptical fans such as myself, that they are right in their skepticism. That the NHL was a bad place to invest their faith in, and appreciation of a sport. I have given voice to this belief of mine before, and I will say it again: fans of the NHL (and most likely, any sport) watch the games and take interest not because it is a business, but because it helps them to forget the world of business. The NHL's stance of "business as usual" has hurt it's popularity, and compromised what once seemed a promising future for it, and mostly, that is because it has not allowed fans to simply enjoy watching games, and rooting for their teams.
Instead of providing an escape for fans of NHL hockey, it has served as a reminder of the stress that the business world often provides people.
And without going too far in specific examples of the failure of the Southern expansion program, and particularly in the league's seeming willingness to sacrifice it's own popularity in traditional markets in order to make this experiment work, the possibility that this lockout continues largely because of concerns over the long term feasibility of non-traditional hockey markets is only the latest of a long line of proofs that this policy has failed, and should be scrapped.
If the NHL wants to expand, then fine. But not at the expense of the very fans that helped make the NHL what it is. This has proven to be the greatest failure of the NHL, officials and owners alike. The NHL will continue to compromise itself until it reverses this trend, or until it manages to take itself out of existence. That seemed an impossible scenario not every long ago (and it might seem all that realistic presently, either), but the league appears intent on keeping that as a distinct (if unlikely) possibility, which will seem more realistic if they, indeed, cancel yet another season entire.
The choice is theirs. Apparently, we fans have nothing to do with it, and the league continually reminds us of that every chance that they get.
The league boasted that attendance and popularity went up after the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season. That may be true on some level, but what the league is not saying is that it had to go to considerable lengths to assure this possibility, such as huge discounts on tickets, in order to promote attendance that was expected to sag.
If the league cancels this entire season, or even if they do not, there will be a lot of fans who will choose not to attend, or perhaps even watch, NHL games anymore.
I used to go to a lot of games back in the nineties and early 2000's. It took years after that cancelled season of 04-05 for me to go back to a game (it was 2008). When play is resumed (always assuming that it, in fact, is resumed), it might take me a bit longer to get back into NHL hockey, if at all. I am sure I will take interest as a fan, eventually. But the NHL apparently is willing to test the loyalty of it's fans (and not just in the markets that either lost their teams, or where the threat to lose it's teams loomed large), and I expect it will pay a very steep price for it's trademark indifference to these once loyal fans this time. If it does, there will be no one left to blame or point fingers at but themselves.
Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that the major issue for the failure of the current lockout would be greed. But I can think of another that is related, and which both the NHL and it's commissioner have a prety long and proven track record of: arrogance. It has made a mockery out of a serious sport, and the league has not shown a willingness to learn from the past. This will cost them, and perhaps this time, it cost them dearly indeed.
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