has my view toward the players changed? yes. the players are almost out of view.
i'm a blackhawks fan, and ever since i was little, i've kept track of every single game, staying on top of who scored, who fought, who was in goal... etc. i've mulled over stats, listened to games on headphones from 400 miles away trying to hold my walkman just right to get enough signal to hear the game through the static, soaked up every article i could... etc. i loved mikita and hull, esposito and maki (chico maki, best name ever!), secord, savard and larmer, wilson and smith and chelios, graham and fraser, roenick and belfour. and i love ruutu and vandermeer, mccarthy and calder, thibault and poapst.
but now that the games have been quiet for almost a year, all of that seems rather distant, almost too far away to make out. a part of history rather than the present.
i'm sure that when hockey - the nhl - returns, i'll root for my hawks again. but i'm not sure how into it i'll be. i'm sure there will be new faces on the team (as there will be on all the teams) and that will feel fake to me, contrived just to get things going again. i don't even know how much replacement players will be different (sure, the level of play won't be as great, but give it a couple of years and i think the talent level will recover), i'll have to get to know the hawks all over again.
i'm not so angry with the players right now because they are basically following pa leadership, which was formed in response to the criminal behavior of its own predecessor and the monopoly-enriched power of the owners. as a union member myself, i stand behind my leadership, but i speak up to that leadership when i have concerns, so i don't blame the players for speaking up (i just think that in some cases, a person should consider to whom he is speaking before opening his/her mouth).
it is up to the pa leadership - linden, guerin, goodnow, saskin... etc - to do their job, not the individual players. iginla said today that the players are behind the leadership and know they will get a fair (note: not 'best') deal and that the players were trusting them to do that. (personally, i think that all of this could have happened before sept. 15th and the players would have done much better than they are going to do, but that's moot now. the process is playing itself out and if both sides focus on what is right for all, then the league will recover.) i do not equate the players with their leadership. obviously the leadership is doing well enough to remain the leadership for now.
we'll see what happens this spring and summer with the league and the fan response.