NHL Lockout - Regular Joe

Been thinking about writing something about the "lockout" for a few weeks but got pissed off every time I thought about starting to write. Since the NHL season was supposed to start tonight I thought that it would be the appropriate time to throw my two cents onto the ice.

As a pure fan of the game I am disappointed that instead of watching a NHL hockey game tonight I'm writing this post. I grew up with the game; playing, watching, enjoying and now as an adult I'm involved with the Summerside Western Capitals, our local tier II team. I've also been lucky enough to attend many NHL games and see some behind the scenes action in a few different NHL cities.

Day after day I continue to see the combatants battle it out on-line. Twitter has allowed the fans to be involved in a way that was unimaginable during the most recent labour disputes in 1994 and 2004. The amount of information that fans now have access to is overwhelming. We can follow players, agents, broadcasters; basically anyone involved in the game and we know the instant anything happens.

I listen to sports talk radio everyday and they talk about how people are either on the players side or the owners side. I say who the hell cares, I'm on neither side, I'm sure that both side have valid points and arguments but I think the bottom line is that most fans don't give a rats ass about a pissing match between a bunch of billionaires on one side and a bunch of millionaires on the other. We just want to watch the greatest players competing in NHL rinks playing the game we all love.

One word that I continue to hear that the NHL and NHLPA should be scared off is "apathy". As long as people are pissed off it shows they still care but more and more apathy is creeping into the conversation in Canada, be afraid of this word Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr, be very afraid.

Most days I wish that those involved would adhere to the Paul Brown quote "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." Because right now we are all losing, and I'm getting tired of hearing each side say why they are right. Just lock yourselves in a room and get it done.

For now, we are doing just fine. We've all found lots of things to fill our time. I've got a 1/2 marathon to run this weekend, my PVR is full of great TV, baseball playoffs are on and, oh yeah, there's football too.

Each side may believe that the "fans" will be there to welcome everyone back with open arms when/if games start back up, but I wouldn't be so sure.

I've attached a couple of videos relating to the lockout that I've come across and enjoyed over the past couple of weeks. NHL hockey may or may not resume this year, regardless, we the fans, will be OK  not sure I can say the same for the game we all love.

This video by Universitylhumour sums it up nicely in less than 2 minutes.

This one by @hoodwinkedfilms is pretty funny and gave me a good laugh. "Things You Won't Hear During the NHL Lockout".