End to NHL lockout would reinstate joy of playoffs
By Taylor Brown
April 21, 2005 9:00 p.m.
Four years and three days ago, I witnessed the greatest live
sports moment in my 19 years.
With the Los Angeles Kings down 3-0 with six minutes remaining,
and down 2-1 overall to the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round
of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I had given up all hope. I was
throwing in the towel. I was writhing in excruciating emotional
pain over what was certainly the beginning of the end.
And then the Kings pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the
history of the NHL playoffs, scoring three goals in the final six
minutes and one more in overtime to remarkably tie the series.
The crowd was literally drowning out the PA announcer. The
players were mobbing each other.
Keep in mind this was only game four of the first round.
The Kings went on to win the next two games and take the series.
So why do I bring up such a joyous memory? Because that’s all
it is right now, a memory, and not a reality.
The NHL playoffs should be taking place right now. Yet
there’s nothing of the sort. None of those vaunted
five-overtime games that go on until 2 a.m., where each team is
fighting tooth and nail just for one measly break. No more
bone-jarring hits in which an undersized forward struggles to
regain his footing for about 23 seconds.
Just one big gap on an idle Stanley Cup where a winner’s
name should be scrawled.
But there are also no more TV ratings that get topped by
bowling.
Bowling! But to be fair, it is pro bowling.
Meanwhile, devoted hockey fans must suffer from a lack of the
most exciting playoff sport in the world. All because NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players’ Association
Executive Director Bob Goodenow aren’t all too familiar with
that obscure negotiation tactic Ben Franklin utilized. I believe it
was called “compromise.”
In what seems to have been the worst bluff in the history of the
world, the NHL Players’ Association folded to the idea of a
salary cap. Too bad they couldn’t agree on an actual number.
Thus, no season, and maybe, just maybe, no NHL ever again.
Enter the wacky NHL proposals to change the sport. Heck, if you
can’t have your hockey, might as well try and fix
what’s not even there. The Buffalo Sabres’ minor league
team in Rochester is experimenting with “electric powder
blue” ice (think NHL ’94 on Sega Genesis) in order to
allow the fans at home to see the puck better, if that even makes
any sense. They’ve also proposed a dark blue line in place of
the traditional red line, and orange (yes, bright freaking orange)
in place of blue lines.
That’s fantastic. The NHL, brought to you by
Marks-A-Lot.
To increase scoring, proposals of smaller goaltender equipment
and larger nets have been tossed around. One of the proposed nets
curves the post outward. Basically, imagine a normal net through a
fish-eyed lens. Trippy.
It’s incredible how both sides skirt the real issues, such
as, oh, reaching a collective-bargaining agreement. Instead of
complaining about the current state of the game and batting around
drastic rule changes, why not bear down and just agree to a
reasonable salary cap first? Attendance is decreasing, ratings are
abysmally pathetic, and the lockout has only caused interest to
fade away at an exponential rate. They’re killing the
game.
And if the NHL has to “give in” a little bit, then
it just has to do so. Both sides have handled this situation so
poorly and stubbornly, it’s no wonder they’ve made such
little progress.
But considering how close the two sides were (ESPN described an
agreement as “imminent” in February), they MUST come to
terms before the 2005-06 season. Or else, one of the most exciting
and passionate pro sports around, especially when it comes to
playoff time, will cease to be.
“If we don’t have a new (collective bargaining
agreement) so that our players can start the season with us in
October, we will not open on time,” Bettman said to the
Canadian Press.
Simple as that. No collective bargaining agreement means another
season with no NHL.
No more dramatic comebacks.
No more Stanley Cup tradition.
I guess I better start brushing up on my pro bowling.
E-mail Brown at [email protected]
