The NHL is not dead, but the NHL as we knew it is gone forever. In particular the team or teams you support will never come back the same. The current Ottawa Senators team is lost to me and the current Toronto team is lost to the Leafs fans. Even if there are “Ottawa Senators†playing “Toronto Maple Leafs†next season or the year after, it will not be the same players, the same feuds, and the same passion. So the sense of grieving we all feel is very real, as we have lost something we had strong emotional ties to. And today it feels like the NHL is gone forever.
Some argue that the players should take any deal on the table, as it has to be much better than what will be available next week, next month, and next year. While this makes sense from a purely short term business point of view, it does not factor in how players feel about it. Studies have shown that when groups are faced with practices they consider are unfair, then they will take steps to resist the practices even if it is not in their personal best interest to do so. It appears that the vast majority of the NHL players feel the NHL partial offers have been unfair, so resistance will continue for at least another season, if not much longer. The players don’t understand how a salary cap of 42.5M can be fair for a team with 100M of revenues, and the league hasn’t been able to present them with a revenue sharing plan that answers this. If the NHL had been able to present an offer perceived as fair by many players, then the NHLPA would likely have had to accept it, or face the disintegration of their association.
For fans the best approach in my opinion is to withdraw your emotional and fiscal investments in the league and wait to see what happens. In particular one should ask for the return of season ticket money, cancel suites, and quit purchasing and wearing league paraphernalia. Letting the teams hold on to your money seems particularly foolish if it will be at the team’s discretion if you have to accept season tickets to a watered-down product. One might end up having to pay face value for whatever they print the tickets as, while they run endless 2 for 1 promotions to try to draw the other fans back. Far better would be to put yourself in the position of one of those fans they are trying to entice back.
As a fan at this point it is not really about which side is right or wrong. In my opinion if both sides could meet in New York Saturday and neither had a comprehensive offer for the other, then both sides are at fault for continuing to play the impasse positioning games at the abyss of professional hockey. For a fan it comes down to what is right for you. That’s hard to figure out right now, because most of the options are not known yet. When will the NHL be back and what will it look like? Will there be another pro league in North America or just Canada? Will a lot of talented European players sign closer to home? When these and other questions are resolved, then the fan can invest time, money, and involvement in the professional sport. For now invest your time in other matters, such as I will. Certainly spending more time with friends and family can’t be wrong.
Bye for now.
