NHL Lockout

Yes! Finally, after 133 days it's back! I know, it was tough living without it. Wait, what? You don't know what I'm talking about? You didn't even know anything was missing? Well obviously it's the NHL. Yes, you know it, the National Hockey League.If you had no idea what I was talking about in the beginning, don't worry about it. You can join the majority of people who didn't know the NHL was in a lockout. I, however, am really excited for this season and am very relieved that the lockout has ended.

On Jan. 6, the NHLPA(NHL Players Association) and the NHL reached a deal ending the lockout which had surrendered 625 regular-season games. The season began last Saturday as 28 of the 30 teams faced off. The two sides agreed to a 10-year CBA(Collective Bargaining Agreement) which raised the salary cap to $64.3 million. The salary cap (amount of money a team can spend on it's players in a year) was probably the most important discussion during the lockout. The NHL wanted to have a cap of $60 million while the NHLPA was hoping for a $67 million cap.

The first thing I have to say is "C'mon man!" I think I am speaking for most NHL fans when saying I am disappointed about the loss of over half of the season. I don't understand why it has to come to this. Seriously, these players are getting paid millions of dollars but still want more. Sure they have a very rare talent that people like to see, but that is why there should never be a lockout. It decreases the fan base. Without the fans the players are nothing. Maybe people should just stop going to the games. I wonder how long it would take for all the teams to go broke? There are people who are really good at working a forklift. The reason they're not getting paid millions is because there aren't fans who pay to watch. The lockout is not only hurting the fans but also the NHL itself.

Sure the cons far outweigh the pros during this lockout, at least for the fans, but there still are some pros. The biggest one for me is just the flat out interest I have gained in the sport. In previous years I would see the occasional highlight on Sportscenter but never really paid much attention to it. However, this year, I'm not sure if it's because of the lockout or just a coincidence, I am following it closely and even playing it. Everynight I find myself checking to see if the Wild are playing, I am in a fantasy hockey league, and even in a real league in town. Not sure if we can call it a league but I'm going to anyway. All I wanted to point out is that the lockout isn't totally bad.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-lockout-over-players-owners-reach-tentative-cba-102905515--nhl.html