NHL Lockout: Season On Ice

Original NHL logo, used until 2005. A version of the logo features it in the shape of a hockey puck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Three months into what was supposed to be the National Hockey League's 2012-13 season, arenas are sitting empty except for the occasional basketball game or concert.  Players are either playing in Europe, the minor leagues, or just hanging out.  Fans are twiddling their thumbs watching old hockey games on You Tube.

That's how long the owners have been locking out the players over the new collective bargaining agreement.  The owners want a 50/50 split of the profits in a 10 year deal.  The players union want a little more than half, and for the agreement to run at least five years.  See the problem?

It's not as if the players and owners haven't been serious about negotiating.  Heck, they've tried everything, including arbitration through a federal mediator and a dramatic face-to-face meeting between players and owners--without their representatives in the room.  But the two sides haven't come close to anything resembling a deal.   Now they're trying the courts, in the hope that a friendly judge will see things their way.

The NHL has now canceled games through mid-January, which is over 50% of the regular season schedule..  That includes the Winter Classic, which was scheduled for the University of Michigan on New Year's Day, and the All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio.

If the season ever does return, there's talk of a 48-game schedule with a one-time expanded Stanley Cup playoffs with more teams than the current top 16.  But that's not going to bring the fans back for a gimmick like that.  Anything less than a full season is unacceptable.

The NHL and the players union now have only a few weeks to save their season with a new labor agreement.  But the longer this goes, the more this is getting to be a waste of time.  Why doesn't the NHL just stop stringing people along and just cancel the season right now?  We can wait until next October.