Labor Pains

The NHL officially cancelled their season yesterday. As someone who used to be huge hockey fan, I can't say I'm surprised by the whole thing. The NHL has done this dance before. It's hard to believe that not so long ago, hockey's popularity was actually trending upward. Following the extremely exciting 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which saw the New York Rangers win their first Cup in 44 years, there was reason for optimism. I even remember the Sports Illustrated which came out following the conclusion of the NHL and NBA playoffs, declaring that basketball(which had just begun it's first post-Jordan era) was "out" and hockey was "in". So, the owners decided the best course of action was to take this momentum and flush it down the toilet. The players were locked out of training camp and half the season and the All-Star game were lost before the two sides came to an agreement in which the owners gained nothing (I'd say the highlight of the entire labor dispute was the TV interview in which Chris Chelios speculated that fans could shorten the lockout by killing Commissioner Gary Betteman). The NHL played it's half season, and the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup by playing the most ponderously boring style of hockey they could. That season was the dagger for the NHL. The league has never again approached the popularity it enjoyed in 1994. Many fans were alienated by the work stoppage and the owners turned to expansion to raise revenue. The influx of new teams along with many coaches copying of the Devils defensive style led to a decline in the quality of play. With more teams in the League to bid on the highly skilled players who were now at a premium, salaries began to escalate. And the owners sat and bided their time, swearing that they wouldn't be so easily beaten the next time. 10 years later, the owners seem to have succeeded, with the Union fractured, the season cancelled and a salary cap imminent. The owners will finally have their hockey utopia. It seems very likely that they'll have no one to share it with but themselves.