End of the World on Wednesday?
Life as we know it could end on Wednesday.
Wenesday, September 15th is the day the NHL contract expires. With the latest proposal on the table from the NHLPA and the NHL owners rejecting it everyone says a lockout is inevitable.
The players will not accept a salary cap, and owners say they won't sign unless there is a salary cap.
Everyone I have talked to is not optimistic about a season this year, at all. Nope no Hockey the entire year, some say it could last into next years season.
It's not just the NHL players and owners that will lose. The bar owners will be the big losers in a lockout. Metro Detroit bars and business are estimated to lose between $52-$75 million dollars, because fans will not be going to Detroit to watch the games, spending money in bars and hotels.
The biggest losers are the fans. You might not know this but Detroit has a pretty good hockey team (coughthebestcough) and we take our hockey very seriously here. The thought of not being able to watch hockey for even a couple weeks has a lot of people here conteplating suicide. The NHL should take a look at what happened to Baseball after their last strike. I know people who still refuse to watch baseball because of it and a lot of hockey fans say they will feel bitter for a long time if the strike happens, I know I will. You see, I'm a huge hockey fan. I was a fan before it was popular to be a hockey fan. My office walls are decorated with pictures, newspaper clippings and posters of my Red Wings.
I think the players and owners really need to take a look at who really pays their paychecks and fills their arenas and sit down and don't leave the table until this is settled.