My silent protest (has now ended), but I will be just glad to see hockey.

I do apologize for my absence.  I was rather upset with the fact that the NHL lockout went on as long as it did.    It was truly unnecessary and could have been handled a lot quicker had egos been checked a the door  MONTHS ago.  I even got unfriended and blocked by the Capitals owner Ted Leonsis by voicing my displeasure about something too.  I guess he cannot take a criticism even if it wasn't even about him.  It was about the choices made about the season tickets themselves.  *shaking my head...even more still*

On a calmer note,  back to the lovely time being off from hockey we had the holidays that went well and all of the family in town is well and happy.  Those out of town are doing good as well and are very much missed this time of year.

Finally on January 19th the hockey gods answered our prayers and brought us back HOCKEY!!!!

The Capitals first HOME game was LAST night Tuesday February 22, vs the Winnepeg Jets.  ummmmm

yeah....they lost.  But to be perfectly honest, I really didn't care.  I was just glad to see hockey.

Granted it was sad that people actually "Boo"-ed the team last night was not a good thing.  But those must be the ones who are not used to this team usually starting out this way.  But I'll say it again.  I was just glad to  see hockey.  

With all that happened with the owners and players is between them and I'm sure we will pay for it again as long as Bettman is commissioner.  How many more times must this happen before people actually see this pattern to the problem? 

On a positive note I will end with this; 

I woke up happy this morning about this fact:  HOCKEY is really BACK (atleast for me). I missed it.

NHL Lockout Imminent...oh flipping great

Tick tock, tick tock all of us have heard the deafing noise of the CBA expiration clock. UGH.  As most of the fans roll their eyes, most of the band wagoners have already packed their bags and left. 

The NHL after last season is in a position it has never been in before to progress to a phenomenal state of fandom.  It has finally reached out so far that it is surpassing other past favorite American sports.  If and when this awful event [the lockout] occurs it will do terrible damage and who is to know if the sport will be able to recover. 

Donald Fehr (NHLPA) and Gary Bettman (NHL) have made many different statements over the past few days, some extremely vague and other stubborn to a fault.  Some of the many things said for a fact about all of this arguing from the owners side is that it’s NOT about revenue sharing it’s about what the players can be paid.  A quote that was rather interesting in reference to both sides is that ‘the players need to take a haircut and the owners need to ante up with some revenue sharing.” 

In a rare moment as well with all of these interviews and talks Gary Bettman admitted that he made mistakes with the last CBA.  Knowing at the time that 57% is too much and never would be re-agreed upon 7 years later.  Many commentators were taken back by the admission for sure and quick to report on it, which now make them all wonder in another 8 years what will he admit to then?  But after leaving the recent board of governors meeting on Thursday he stated that the “Owners unanimously agree to lockout without a new CBA”.  As an immediate response Donald Fehr said the players want to keep negotiating until an agreement is made and that they want to avoid a lockout.  But as of this morning [Friday] no additional meeting have been made.

The owners have asked players to cut their share of hockey-related revenue during a six-year proposal.  The current industry revenue is pegged at $3.3 billion annually (yeah, we said BILLION).  The owners sough to drop the percentage given to players to 43% from the current 57%.  They have since amended that six-year proposal that starts at 49% and drops to 47%.  However, the NHLPA countered by offering a package that starts at 54.3% and ends at 52.7%. 

Fehr says the players have made a responsible proposal offering what he calls “shared sacrifice”.  Under the league offer, the players’ share would be reduced “only 17.5 percent” said Fehr.  That equals to $330 million per year. 

“What would your reaction be in similar circumstances?” Fehr asked of everyone as he ended his statement.

In my opinion my view of Bettman:

In less than 2 hours this will be the new NHL Logo thanks to THAT man!