While the American presidential election and Enbridge seem to be the topics of conversation on the news programs these days, there is also much about the current National Hockey League (NHL) lockout.
Hockey fans across Canada are expressing their anger, dismay and how agonizing it is not to have NHL hockey.
I’m a hockey fan and I love the Vancouver Canucks but there hasn’t been a hockey void in my life, even though the NHL season was supposed to start weeks ago.
Maybe it’s because I’ve seen this song and dance four times since 1992, maybe it’s because work and the various other sports I follow have my attention at the moment.
Regardless of the reason, I’m not missing big-league hockey.
Hockey has been called a religion in Canada and you need only go to various Canadian sports websites, such as www.tsn.ca and read the comments for every hockey-related story or listen to the sports call-in radio shows to see the rabid fervour that hockey fans in this country have.
Still, I often think other Canadians sports fans as being too one-dimensional, with the NHL being the be-all and end-all.
Go out and support minor hockey, take up another hobby or follow another sport. One that doesn’t decide to have a work stoppage every time a collective bargaining agreement expires.
Stop supporting owners who say they lose money at one part of the season, only to break open the bank during the free-agency period.
While it varies on who fans blame for the current stoppage – some say owners, some say players – the blame can probably be laid on both sides, although pundits do suggest that the owners “won” the 2004/2005 lockout and had the current system they wanted implemented.
That is not to say that I hope the season is cancelled because I don’t and if the season is saved, I’ll watch the NHL as I have other seasons.
I just am currently not craving professional hockey and if the season is cancelled, I won’t be lamenting how cruel life is.
I’ll just go about my life as per usual.
– Karl Yu is editor of the Grand Forks Gazette