Opinions about the image of the NHL are changing already. Gary Bettman and his crew of money hungry owners are still aggressively trying to suppress the players association into reaching a fair agreement. The average fan like me and you are tired of hearing the malarkey that goes on in the bargaining talks.
Well it doesn’t much matter anymore because the philosophy of hockey fans is changing. Of course everyone has their own opinion but the general consensus about the NHL is the same. People have had enough. News of the NHL cancelling games from now until October 24 means that both parties of the bargaining table do not have the intent to attend important meetings anytime soon. Stories posted on Global and CBC news from sports bar owners have the same line. The lockout is killing their business.
Well I have news for them.
Their businesses will be just fine. The AHL and KHL are bound to gain popularity from the mistakes of the NHL. These sports bars will start to display minor league games on their big screen t.v`s and it will draw fans back to their bar stools. People are starting to make leagues like the CHL, KHL and even the AHL their favourites. According to a Sportsnet.ca survey, 73% of people will be inclined to watch KHL games on air in Canada. John Shannon from Sportsnet just wrote a great article the other day about the growing indifference of hockey fans. He says that fans are changing their opinions about who they follow for hockey entertainment and the comments posted underneath his blog says it all! Some of these people who commented were so riled up that they even typed in insubordinate slander (swear words) in their comments. I feel for those guys, I really do and I would have to point in their direction. There’s no reason why that there should be a work stoppage just so two unions can negotiate. Paying good money to watch a hockey game is supposed to be a right not a privilege. We the fans are being treated like mud just for one man’s greed and it goes to show that this man has too much power. He already makes $7 million a year just for denying struggling NHL teams in the southern United States to move up north where the real money is at and now he is getting paid to lockout players and its fans of enjoying the league we love to watch.
We have other fine hockey leagues around the world and teams in those leagues can even be played in NHL 13 on Xbox 360. If I was a hockey fan who lived in Vancouver, B.C. and I wanted to go see a hockey game, I would be happier to go to a Abbottsford Heat AHL game and pay $25 for an awesome seat near the front row compared to paying $100 for a Vancouver Canucks game sitting on a lousy seat near the back row where the players look like ants from a distance. Highlights of KHL top plays can be found easily on YouTube and there are plenty of good ones there. I just viewed one the other day where Ilya Bryzgalov was scored on with an amazing play by the opposing player behind the net to pass to his wingman in front of the net. I still had a good time watching it and I had no thoughts of what that very same could of been like in the NHL and I didn’t care.
So now you have some examples that you have read here to go by, I hope you enjoyed reading this and I will see you again soon.
