I love John Kerry. I love Howard Dean. Hillary’s large ankles excite me.
I am so confidant that no one will read this about the NHL that I can get away with writing something like that. Today, the NHL will certainly announce the end of the season. No Stanley Cup given this year. All over a salary cap, something the 3 other major sports have. The NHL has no national television package, which is necessary for operating expenses. The owners cannot afford to pay players the amounts of money they have been and still make money. The owners do not own these clubs to lose money. They aren’t liberals, after all. Without TV revenues, cannot continue to pay them the money the players want and still stay solvent. Running an NHL franchise is not an inexpensive proposition, and the only way to make up the revenues is through ticket prices. Which means less people attend games. Which means less revenue.
One possible scenario is, after the lockout has been in place for one year, the NHL will be able to put into place whatever system they want. The players would have the choice of either coming back under that system, which will include a salary cap, or being declared "on strike." If declared on strike, then the NHL will be able to use replacement players. This will not give us the level of play we had, especially at the goaltender level. It will also decimate the minor leagues. But, hey, there are some great players down there, and this might give the Rangers a shot at the playoffs. Or not. Plus, there might not be as many teams when play restarts.
Some NHLer’s will cross the picket line, particularly those whose salaries are in the lower end of the spectrum. Some won’t. The difficult part will be to bring the fans back. Even a die hard hockey fan like myself will take some convincing. I will watch it on tv. But, they better have some good incentives to get the Direct TV NHL package and go to the games live. Acting like nothing has happened and having the same old prices will lose my loyalty. And money.
BTW, the whole first paragraph was a joke. Just need to be crystal clear on that one.
