With a complete season lockout looking all but inevitable for the National Hockey League, Post sports staff writers Mark Shugar and Katie Carrera debate the future of hockey in America and in the hearts of diehard fans as well.
Mark Shugar: What are the chances of hockey finding a way back into the interests of American fans after this lockout?
Katie Carrera: If there's a season next year -with NHLers, not replacement players -the league can regain some of its American fan base. If the league reopens with replacement players, then no way. You'd lose a large chunk of hardcore fans.
Shugar: I agree, I wouldn't care as much about the hockey if Joe Schmoe was getting in fights with Tie Domi. I want Lemieux, I want Modano, and I want the next Gretzkys on the ice. People want to see big names, not no-names.
Carrera: Do you feel betrayed because more than half (300) of big name NHLers already signed contracts in Europe because of the lockout?
Shugar: No, you can't blame people for continuing to want to make money and keep up with their skills. That's like saying unemployed people should never pursue a new job.
Carrera: In all fairness, the league and owners didn't give the players much of an option. With no civilized talks and no sign of either side wanting to compromise, who'd blame the players for taking off?
Shugar: That's the problem with the whole situation; neither side is willing to compromise. It happened during the 1994-1995 season, and it's happening again 10 years later. The league compromised then to salvage a half-season, and look at the mess that's been created. The players need to bend this time, and that means a salary cap.
Carrera: Exactly. Without a salary cap, any new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be nothing more than a Band-Aid that offers no help to the 20 teams losing money or the watered-down NHL talent pool.
Shugar: The thing is, when I listen to American fans talk about hockey, the sport doesn't need a Band-Aid; it needs major surgery. Fewer teams may be the answer; rule changes may be another. Something needs to jump start interest from fans and usually that means more offense, not 0-0 goaltending extravaganzas. Something needs to change.
Carrera: Contraction, although not desirable, is inevitable. If contraction doesn't happen when the next season starts, then it will sometime down the road. The problem is deciding what teams would go and what teams would stay. I believe the first 12 teams and Canadian teams should stay.
Shugar: All I can say is it's a good thing that there's hockey here in Athens, and there will be the Frozen Four in the spring. We were also allowed a peek at the World Juniors and full World Cup coverage last year before the season officially locked out.
Carrera: Yeah, it will still be sad, though, to have no playoffs in the spring. I'm going to go crazy without the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Shugar: There's always curling ...
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Mark Shugar
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Katie Carrera
