POST-LOCKOUT BLUES

So you've decided to boycott the NHL now that it's back. Well, that's nice. How very nice for you. Why don't you give yourself a nice pat on the back? That's such a wonderful idea, I can't believe that you are the first disgruntled sports fan who has ever though of doing such a thing (not to mention stuck to your guns!) GIVE ME A BREAK. The second Chara throws down a questionable hit on a Habs player, you'll be back in the mix, arguing whether or not Shanahan should ban him from hockey forever. The second Lars Eller nets another 4 goal night, you'll be chanting "Ole Ole Ole" with the rest of us. The moment Carey Price puts up back-to-back shutouts, you'll be crying for the Vezina. The SECOND the Habs string together a decent winning streak, you'll be planning your vacation for late June, in the event of the inevitable 7 day bender surrounding the Stanley Cup parade. 

I hope that you realize just how utterly ridiculous it is that you think that you boycotting the NHL will have any effect whatsoever. ESPECIALLY in a market like Montreal. There are THOUSANDS of people who will gladly fill your seat at the Bell Centre. If you really think you can "hurt" the NHL and the players the way that they hurt you by depriving yourself of something that clearly makes you happy, you're only fooling yourself (and being stupid, to be honest).

Look, I understand that you're mad. I'm mad too. But I'm trying to focus on the positives, such as HAVING HOCKEY TO WATCH. I don't see how being a stubborn ass will do anything. It's not going to deter "them" from putting us through the exact same thing in 8-10 years when this CBA expires. 

At the end of the day, the NHL is a business, and businesses exist to make money. Perhaps you'll feel very pleased with yourself that they're not getting your money, but they'll get theirs in the end. You came back the last time, and you'll come around eventually this time. The only person that loses by boycotting the NHL is you. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can shut your self-righteous trap and go back to chirping opposing fan bases about how much cooler your team is.

It's baaaaaaaaaaack...

Decertification of the NHLPA

This doesn't seem like the worst thing. Now hear me out. The purpose of sports is entertainment (in my case, it's my life, my career, my true love, blah blah blah). Thus far, the CBA negotiations have been painfully boring, and forcing myself to read articles and blog posts speculating about what Donald Fehr's facial expressions yesterday mean, and what the ramifications of twenty Gary Bettman head bobs could possibly be. It's PAINFUL. Mainly because I can't just tune it out, ignore it, and ask to be told when it's all said and done like I did the last time around. The last time the NHL was locked out, I was just starting my first year of CEGEP, and quite frankly, had no time for anything other than school. Not to mention, there was no social media (*gasp*) to remind me incessantly about a conference call that may or may not be scheduled in the coming days, or that it's day 70 of the NHL lockout. This time around, the plethora of NOTHINGNESS is everywhere I look. And it's frustrating because I can't escape it. I tried to fill the void with fantasy football which, while lots of fun, doesn't even come CLOSE to filling the time or energy which otherwise would have been devoted to the National Hockey League. 

Now, when I first read about the possible threat of the NHLPA decertifying, I actually laughed out loud. It's just so utterly insane, so completely ridiculous, that it's come to this. I saw TSN's Gino Reda tweet yesterday that "the next 2 week cancellation of games will cost owners $266M, players $126M. Yet they're only $182M apart." It's becoming a pissing contest, a test of testicular fortitude, a show of whose is bigger. IT'S ENOUGH. Gary, I'm sure you're well endowed, despite the fact that you're height challenged. Don, you're very tough, despite the fact that you look like Alan Alda. WE GET IT. You're all big, tough men. Now can you just get back to proving how tough you are on the ice instead of in the board room? I'd give anything to be complaining about whatever questionable hit Lucic just laid on some poor, unsuspecting miniature Hab player. Seriously. DO SOMETHING. Decertification sounds like it could, at the very least, provide me with even the smallest faction of entertainment. Not to mention something new to talk about. I'm bored to tears with what's going on with your negotiations, NHL. And apathy could very well be your worst enemy.

PUCK GARY

You know what? Puck Gary. Puck Donald. Puck Bill. I hate the players, I hate the owners, I hate the city of Glendale, Arizona for the ridiculousness that is the Phoenix Coyotes. I hate stupid small market teams watering down the league. I hate ridiculous contracts for underachieving players. I hate that this is the second lockout in eight years, and third work stoppage in twenty. I hate that my way of living, my favourite thing in the whole wide world, has been taken away from me YET AGAIN. I want to watch hockey. Not having Habs to watch on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights is harder to suffer through than quitting smoking was. So PUCK ALL OF YOU. I just want to watch hockey, and you're ruining it for me.

Potential NHL Lockout Could Affect More Than Just Fans

The last time the National Hockey League locked out its players, I was 17 years old. I had just graduated from high school, and was beginning my first semester at Dawson College. As someone who watches upwards of 120 NHL games each season, a year “off” was probably the best thing that could have happened to my GPA. At least, that was how I looked at it. I was young and had no grasp of how the lockout affected anyone but myself. When it was all said and done, and a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached, I did a happy dance, oblivious to the fact that this was apt to happen all over again in just seven years. After all, seven years was awfully far away, right?

WRONG. On September 15^th 2012, the CBA comes to an end, and Gary Bettman has made it clear that if a new agreement is not reached by that date, the NHL will lock out its players once again (despite the fact that Donald Fehr, the executive director of the NHLPA, stated that the players were willing to continue playing under the current CBA beyond the September 15^th expiration date, while continuing negotiations, as long as it meant the hockey season would start on time.

Being that there was a lockout just seven years ago, one would think that Gary Bettman and the owners must be out of their minds to resort to losing an entire season’s profits, just to stick a few extra bucks in their already fat wallets. However, the owners have little to fear. The NHL’s annual revenue increased by 52% after the last lockout, going from $2.1 billion a year, to $3.2 billion a year.

My next idea was that perhaps a lost or shortened season would be financially beneficial to smaller market teams, like the Phoenix Coyotes (who, we all know, Gary Bettman loves so much). So I decided to do some research on the operating costs of an NHL arena. Fortunately for me, the city of Glendale, Arizona had already commissioned someone to do the research earlier this year. Based on their report, it’s reasonable to assume that the annual gross operating cost of an NHL arena falls somewhere between $15-$20 million (Comparison of Operating Costs for SimilarArenas, TL Hocking and Associates, January 2012, p. 6).

Then you need to factor in the annual revenue amassed (different for each organization). The sample season I used was 2002-03. That season, 19 teams reported operating losses for a combined $273 million (the largest loss by a single franchise was $40.9 million). That same season, 11 teams reported operating profits for a combined $1.996 billion (the largest profit reported by a single franchise was $14.6 million). The average profit margin of the 11 profitable teams was $6.4 million, and the average losses of the 19 other teams was $18 million. (Levitt Report, February 2004, p. 2-21). Based on this information, my conclusion is that it isn’t in the NHL’s best interests to lose a season, however a shortened season would likely be beneficial to smaller market teams, particularly given the revenue sharing agreement. This further supports the theory of a January 1^st 2013 start date (not to mention that dramatic and exciting story line of commencing a new season with the Winter Classic).

So that’s all well in good, but then I decided to look into how a lockout would affect everyone who doesn’t own an NHL franchise or play hockey professionally, such as waiters, waitresses, and bartenders. Anyone who has ever gone to a bar to watch a hockey game on a Saturday night knows how busy it can get. If your local team embarks on a playoff run, you’re apt to get turned away from over-capacity bars unless you arrive two to three hours before puck drop (I can personally attest to this, as during the Habs 2010 playoff run, I would arrive at an already crowded downtown sports bar between three and four o’clock in the afternoon in order to get a table for a seven o’clock game).

That being said, I spoke with Stuart Ashton, the general manager at McLean’s Pub on Peel (admittedly my favourite watering hole in Montreal) about the direct correlation between the NHL and their patronage. 

On an average Saturday night during the off-season, the bar will see approximately 500 patrons over the course of the evening. That number doubles during the hockey season if there’s a home game (the bar is located near the Bell Centre, so they get a rush of clientele for dinner before and after home games, however the post game rush is contingent on whether or not the Habs win). 

When asked if a lockout would affect the bar’s profit margin, Ashton said “the hockey season is a bonus.  We are a sports pub, but the sporting events are an entertainment that we have no say over.  It would be unwise as a business owner to depend on something we cannot control. That being said, we have to adapt, we have to be fluid, we cannot be stagnant.  We've gone through it all before and have done well regardless. Of course it will hurt, but it would hurt a lot more if we just depend on hockey for our success and we do not!” Ashton does not foresee any layoffs in the event of a lockout, however there will be fewer shifts available for his employees.

A Montreal waitress (who chose to remain anonymous), disclosed that she would easily earn $300 in tips during a four hour shift on game nights at the sports bar she works at. “The customers tend to be in a better mood [on game nights]. A lot more generous. They also buy a lot more booze. If the game night fell on a Saturday night, the place would be packed from the entrance to the back. Even when we’d have an afternoon game, there would still be a sizable crowd.” On nights when there was no game, there would be a significant drop off in crowd size. “The only other event that would even compare was UFC,” she said. When asked if her livelihood would be affected by an NHL lockout, she said “definitely! There's absolutely no comparison between a regular night and game night.”

So my message to Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr is simple. Get a deal done, and get it done quick. Your greed affects the little guys, and the fans who put the dollars in your pockets. Perhaps revenue increased after the last lockout. Maybe fans won’t be so forgiving this time around. Is that a chance you're willing to take?

Post script: In the event of a lockout, my advice would be to choose a QMJHL team to follow. Ticket prices are reasonable, and you won’t pay $10.75 for a beer at the Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau (home of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada).