As a fan of the San Jose Sharks and good hockey in all forms, I was devastated by the total loss of the 2004-2005 NHL season to managerial greed in the form of the NHL lockout. While the owners and executives managed to sway the collective bargaining agreement more in their favor than it has ever been, one must ask at what cost.
The NHL was far from an elite power on the American professional sports radar before the lockout. After the lockout, things got even worse. As with Major League Baseball in 1994, the total loss of a season left many fans feeling alienated and angry, and when you consider that there were relatively few NHL fans to begin with, that meant big problems for the league.
Owners worked with the league to develop a set of rule changes to “enhance” the appeal of the game and try to cater to a wider array of American sports enthusiasts. These changes artificially encouraged higher scoring, poorer fundamentals, and elevated individual flashy play over solid team-oriented game skills. In my opinion they greatly diminished the merit of what once was a terrific spectacle.
Did it work? That is not perfectly clear. Attendance and television ratings have re ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Patrick Goulding II
I Want MY NHL! Time to Reverse Post-Lock-Out Rule Changes
July 1st, 2010 by Patrick Goulding II Leave a reply »
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