Its hard to think long term

It is a strong instinct for every person to direct their thought towards what is happening to them today. After all it is what is in front of us, what we can see and feel that influences us most. If we have a hot stove in our home we don't put our hand on it and if we have small children we try to teach them about hot, thats the immediate reaction, but how many of would go further and take action that still allows for the heat, but develop a solution that ensures no-one can be burned. In most instances the thought of the long term solution wouldn't even occur. I have been following the NHL talks because it is such a contrast in short and long term planning. Forget the side issues, concentrate on the big picture.

Whether you agree with it or not the NHL expanded into a bunch of cities in the south that were certainly non traditional markets and it is no secret that many of these teams are hanging on by the skin of their teeth financially. There simply aren't enough bums in the seats in these arenas, so we get an abnormal business situation developing, the teams in the hockey hotbed markets are doing well but the further south you go the smell of hockey popularity could be compared to that of an aging and unwashed jockstrap.

Now from the players perspective, there are lots of jobs and lots of money, and on the surface they are right but its like the song "All the gold in California, is in the middle of a Bank in Beverly Hills, in somebody elses name. But what they don't realize is that they are in a surreal situation. Collectively there is lots of money but its in the names of the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils etc. These guys could give a shit if their payroll is $30 million or $60 million. But Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay etc simply can't make it on the revenue structure they have where they are located. So lets look past the big pot of money, acknowledge that some people have it and others don't, which means we recognize that its not community property, lets look down the road a bit.

Here are the facts, we have 30 NHL teams and if Gary Bettmans vision of a chicken in every pot or an NHL franchise in every city had not been undertaken the 18 teams in traditional markets would probably be doing very well, the players on these teams would be making a lot more than they are now and 300 players currently making $750.000.00 per year would be flipping burgers at $7.00 per hour. The players association is ignoring the fact that these Southern cities are not hockey meccas and that without out them the league would be radically different and this strike/lockout would never be taking place.

The owners are in a screwed up position as well, expansion was a product of greed. You see each time a new team was added a big fat entrance fee was paid to the NHL (who is the NHL, why its the existing owners) Who gets these expansion fees ( why the owners do, its free money, like selling air). Short term gain, but long term pain because now the league has to look out for the interests of these fucked up frankensteins they parented.

And the union has to look out for all these guys who are one step from the MacDonalds griddle, but nobody is taking a look down that long dark road. Excuse me I'm wrong somebody is and much that I hate to admit it, its that little weasel Gary Bettman and the owners. The ugly harsh reality of the whole mess is that if the cost of operating a team can not be rationalized for the bottom feeders then the only solution is to, euthanize them, or let them starve to death, but the bottom line is they will cease to exist.

So if the union wants to keep its 700 members and the league wants to continue with 30 teams they had better agree to a solution that ensures the future of their weaker members.

For the fans, probably the best thing that could happen to the game would be for the number of teams to shrink by 50%. Wow, just think of the rosters and the quality of the game, no more need of the trap to even things out for the lesser quality players, a concentration of talent that makes the real hockey fan drool and with the de-americanizing of the game it will return to its roots, and the instigator rule which efectively killed the game will be sent to that big penalty box in the sky from which there is no return.

And the real hockey people all shouted out hallelujah and amen!!

NOTE: Do you think more people in the south would have come to the games if they thought they might see John Ferguson and Terry O'Reilly face off, you're damn right they would have. I think the NHL and their drive for political correctness ended up shooting themselves in the foot, instead of pushing hockey they ended up hawking mumblypeg.