R.I.P. NHL

Okay, so I wrote this longass article on Wednesday when the NHL cancelled its season, and the fucking blog ate it.
This taught me two things:

1) Don't ever write long messages in a web browser that could easily lose your message if the submit operation times out or crashes or something.
2) I'm a fucking idiot for not always following Lesson #1 after having this happen to me dozens of times during my years of experience with the internet.

So let's just move on, and I'll try and remember most of what I typed…

Yes, I'm a hockey fan. Yes, I am pissed. And yes, I blame both sides in this debacle.

I've been a hockey fan since like 1985 or so, when my friends and I began playing street hockey. We eventually graduated to ice hockey, where I played goalie for 4 years, including a stint on the legendary Yonkers Kings, a traveling team. I'll save the details of my illustrious hockey career for another article. I feel in love with the NHL after staying up til like 2 in the morning watching a multiple OT playoff game between the Capitals and Islanders. Kelly Hrudey immediately became my idol, and my team allegiance went with the Islanders that night, then followed him to the LA Kings when he was traded. After his retirement, I came back to the local Rangers during the early Richter/Leetch era, just in time to enjoy the Cup win.

Anyways, the actual cancellation of the NHL season wasn't really a surprise, and I expected it. However, the way the final 2-3 days unfolded was frustrating and angering to the point of hoping the NHL never comes back. I've cooled down a bit since then, but basically here's what I think happened..

When the owners backed off the whole "revenue tied to players cost" demand, the deadline had already been set for reaching a deal. There were like 2 days left. It would take a miracle for things to be worked out by then. The owners offered a $40 million cap, with the clock quickly ticking away. However, the players were pretty quick in responding by accepting a salary cap now, one not tied to league revenues. $52 million, the players countered. The league then said "$42.5 million, final offer." Now, here's where things get a little weird/aggravating. They said "final offer." We all know that "final offer" doesn't REALLY mean it's final. So the players countered again and said $49 million.

So let's do a little negotiations math, shall we?

League says $40, Players say $52… Difference of $12 million.
League says $42.5, they come up $2.5.
Players say $49, they come down $3.
Difference of $6.5 million.
What's the next step?
League says $45, they come up another $2.5.
Players say $46, they come down another $3.
$1 million difference isn't that big a deal, hell, the players could just come down the extra million and make it a nice, round, $45.
Boom, done deal.
Easy, right?

Except the fucking league never made another offer after the $42.5. Apparently this time "final offer" really MEANT final offer. Who would have thunk?

So, now, the season is over. The fans are pissed off. The players are confused by their union's sudden change of stance on the salary cap at the 12th hour. (All along the players have gone with the "no salary cap at all" stance.) The owners don't have any product to sell. The TV networks will be running more infomercials than usual. Pretty much everybody loses.

And here's the worst part: They're basically back at square one right now. After the "final offer" by the owners was turned down, they immediately retracted that offer, and said that was the best offer the players would get. Which means that their willingness to remove the tie-in to revenues is gone. Which means that since the cap will again be tied to revenues according to the owners, now there's no way the players will accept a salary cap.

There are some rumors floating around that some people are still trying to salvage the season and agree to the cap number of the final deal, but everybody involved denies it. Hell, there are even rumors that Gretzky and Lemeiux have been brought in to work some hockey legend magic and save the sport from this crushing blow. I still hold on to a small glimmer of hope, but its fading fast.

If people think the last baseball strike hurt the game, imagine what this does to a sport that's already hurting for fans.

Anybody know of any cable channels that carry lacrosse games?