The National Hockey League holds several dubious
distinctions. Among them are that it is the only major professional sports
league that has had four work stoppages (all since 1992); and it the only one
to have lost an entire season.
The 2004-2005 season was lost, in its entirety, due to a
lockout. When play resumed with all 30 teams playing in 15 games on October 15th,
2005, there were eleven sell-outs. That season, attendance figures were the
highest ever. I was one fan who sat out that season... not because of the
lockout or the lost season; but because of the insulting marketing slogan the
NHL used to bring fans back. Do you remember it? It was in a whole series of
hockey commercials that played repeatedly. The slogan was: The Hockey That
Matters Is Back.
As the father of three boys who have played a combined 32
years of non-professional minor league hockey, starting at age seven, and as
someone who still plays hockey in my fifties, just for the fun of it, I was and
remain deeply offended. Think about it... saying that the NHL is the hockey
that matters more than insinuates that all other hockey doesn’t. I beg to
differ. My youngest son continued to play hockey all through the NHL lockout
this time, a star player on a very weak Midget team that has struggled all
season in a highly competitive league. That team has only three wins in the 26
games they’ve played so far. They’ve been blown out as badly as 10-0 and 8-2.
They give their all every game, and often do very well for a period or two,
before being completely overtaken in the third period. In three tournaments
they’ve played, they’ve won only one game. And yet last night, at a late evening
practice, every single player but one (who was working) showed up. Moreover, as
I watched them along with several other parents, I noticed that they were
having fun... pumping their fists, slapping teammates on the back, and tapping their
goalies’ pads after each goal, assist or save. And their coaches were their
encouraging them and guiding them, all without being paid a cent.
THAT, Canada, is the hockey that REALLY matters... NOT the
NHL. For this hockey will always be there, no
matter what happens to the NHL. This hockey is more about friendship than about
winning and losing. These teams will not relocate when another town offers them
a tax break or a sweeter deal on rink revenue. And this hockey is absolutely
essential for the NHL to even exist. Let’s
remember all this, this time around. And instead of rushing off to an NHL game
or sitting down to vegetate in front of a long string of them on TV, get up and
go to see those who play every day at your local rink down the street or around
the corner. You don’t have to pay these players anything to play. You don’t pay
their coaches anything to coach. They all do it solely because they love the
game.
Kevin White, MD, PhD
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