Well yeah, that is a given. I'm saying that the consequences of that are almost impossible to predict. Replacement players, new leagues springing up, clubs folding, and so on are all in the cards if the players decertify.
I think the NHL is the only sport that is dysfunctional enough that the players will go beyond just decertifying as a bargaining tactic.
Wonder if it has anything to do with most NHL players barely graduating high school, vs. most other pro athletes in North America being (ostensibly) college educated? Some of the comments you hear from the players make you wonder how fucking stupid they are.
Not a bash at all, it's just a fact that the Canadian youth hockey system pretty much yanks kids out of school and from their parent's homes at 15 or 16. Even if major junior teams make a big deal about ensuring all their kids finish high school and such, most of them are not exactly excelling in academics. I had half a dozen classes with Jamie Lundmark in grade 10, and dude was dumb as fuck. Mike Comrie was a year older, and from what I know he was actually pretty smart, went to college for a couple years etc. His bro Paul was as well. But they're the exception, not the rule.
Yea, I was just joking because the yahoo hockey writer Ryan Lambert loves to bash the Canadian hockey culture when it comes to the lack of education at the high school and college age levels.
No urgency now because they are going to court. The court decision will really determine how the whole things progresses from here.
No, they aren't. Again, the court cases are mostly posturing. It would take a year or two for the legal argument to be settled, and neither side wants to wait that long. It would result in probably half a dozen teams folding, and that means 140 less players. I hope they're not that stupid. But who knows at this point.
I fear the KHL might gain some traction too and I would hate for that to happen. I'm surprised the league hasn't entertained any European expansion(or move some failing franchises) to try and thwart the KHL a little. Put a team in London, Paris, and a couple other big European cities. I think you would have better shot of hockey catching on there than in the US South. Yes, those European cities aren't hotbeds for hockey but it can't fail any worse than the failure of the Southern expansion. I'm not sure how they would work out a schedule with European teams in the league. That would be a nightmare to schedule and might be too much to overcome.
Dude, the season is lost. I have zero faith they're going to get it together in time. And, at this point, what would it be, a 30 game season?
If they have a deal by early to mid January, a 48 game season is still possible. January 15 is the drop dead date.
I'll cling to the hope they can still pull off a deal until they actually cancel the season, but my optimism for it is about down to nil at this point.