Addressing the Impending NHL Lockout: The NYR Clinic Side

I am a fan.

That's about as far as my relationship with the NHL goes. I am a rabid, willing-to-pay-out-the-nose-to-see-hockey fan. I have been for as long as I can remember, and will continue to be one as long as the game is around.

But there is one thing that stands in the way of my enjoyment of watching my favorite sport from October to April every year: the politics of this goddamn lockout hanging over the NHL's head.

In 2005, the NHL halted all hockey operations for an entire season. That meant all of those pros, young and old, missed out on what could have been a fantastic year. Along with that, the NHL lost most of their credibility in the major sports network of the United States. It was a long road to get back to where they were, but now, in 2012, the NHL has finally managed to gain some traction again in the realm of major American sports. Could the NHL come back after two lockout in less than a decade?



Why must it be so complicated for the NHL to figure out how to handle themselves? The NFL managed to figure it out before they lost any games. The NBA managed to eventually get on the same page in time to have a pretty successful season. Why can't the NHL follow in their footsteps? As a fan, it makes me so angry that this has happened twice in my recent memory. I think it is a disgrace to the sport of hockey that the biggest and most skilled league in the sport can't pull it together and put their product on the ice without bickering like little bitches over minuscule things that keep us from enjoying the sport we all love.

I feel as if I can speak for a lot of fans when I say, we don't give a DAMN who gets paid what amount, so long as I can watch the puck drop every other night. We, the fans, are what pay these people. We should be on the minds of the people conducting these labor talks. How can you imagine to get paid if no one can see a game?

We want hockey. No, scratch that, we NEED hockey. If we, the fans who pay to sit and watch these games. are going to take this league seriously anymore, this lockout cannot happen.