So the 2012-13 NHL season would have gotten underway tonight as the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers would have faced off on a Comcast family network. Think about that for a second. Whether anyone actually has the cajones to admit it or not, one of the main reasons why there is no NHL hockey is because of these two owners and their flat out stubborn nature. No one can tell me or anyone that all 30 owners are united and all on board with this. They have, along with the league, allegedly lost almost a quarter billion dollars in revenue. They did lock out the players ladies and gentlemen. Now the players have their fair share of blame as well and hopefully they do not go down the “salary cap road”. For the sake of humanity let us pray that does not happen or we are in for more than just a lost season.
Players and owners have seen it happen already and the fans came back. Even the fantasy hockey numbers which took a pretty decent hit bounced back to record numbers last season. Our Fantasy Hockey ONE column has been partially put on hiatus because of this but it will be back by the end of the month. To be bluntly honest, it has not been easy for any of us the last couple months and for those who have lost their jobs or been cut back, you have my deepest sympathies.
Yet we somehow press on because there is so much other hockey to be played despite what owners like Ed and Jeremy would want you to believe (along with Mr. Bettman of course). Then there are the greedy agents and the players who as a whole probably make a bit too much money. Let’s be honest here. The fans are the ones that wind up having all the expenses and increases passed on them. This sounds a lot like politics with the middle class, doesn’t it? Sadly it is a part of life that often keeps repeating itself because of that old adage about those with regards to history.
There would have been four games in all tonight and some pretty good matchups. We would have been spotlighting a new starting goaltender in Vancouver (or so we believe) and maybe a surprise team in Colorado. Also, the fantasy masses had such high hopes going into this year before the real spectre of the lockout loomed too large. The impact on the fantasy hockey community has been met with a suprising resolve. Sure there is no fantasy hockey show right now on Sirius/XM but they have quite a few prospect shows and some AHL coverage on tap.
So all is not entirely lost in that sense. Sure who knows when the team you drafted in that NHL fantasy league will actually play but hopefully there is some small solace in those other fantasy leagues that sprang up from all this mess. Here on The Program, we will continue to go outside the normal bounds of coverage to bring you all the information you need to know. In the meantime, let’s hope for cooler heads to prevail but hey there are plenty of other options out there. Just do not expect NHL level hockey. Just enjoy it for what is is. Thanks for reading.
