Hockey's back...

There was a time when I would have greeted the news that the NHL was going to play again with some more enthusiasm. That enthusiasm died in February when the NHL and NHLPA failed to negotiate a labor agreement and shut down the league. I know that it is in the best interests of the league to negotiate a salary cap and that the players didn't think that it was in their best interests to accept one. I don't really care. I just know that unless the NHL doesn't also implement revenue sharing as part of its CBA then there will be a continued competitive imbalance between rich teams and poor teams. And for me, that is the most important thing.

One of the biggest strengths of the NFL (which everyone seems to be trying to copy), is that the maxim "Anyone can beat anyone on any given Sunday." While that means that many teams have a near .500 record at the end of the season, it also means that fans in 90% of the cities know that their team has a chance to qualify for the playoffs every year. Fans are much more involved since there is always hope.

If you contrast that with the NHL where most teams (16/30) qualify for the post season, several teams are eliminated by the halfway point because their talent is so far below that of the other teams at the top of the standings that they can't hope to win. Witness the utter despair of the Pittsburgh Penguins the last couple of seasons.

I'm glad that hockey is back for next season - don't get me wrong. I just hope that they addressed the REAL problems with this shutdown. Now let's drop that puck.