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December 16, 2004
Wayne Scanlan
The Ottawa Citizen
Legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell had a pet description for a batter at
the plate, staring helplessly at a called third strike.
"He just stood there," Ernie would say, "like the house by the side of the
road."
It's a mental image NHL fans can appreciate. A feeling of frozen
helplessness, mixed with disappointment. The difference in this case is
that, unlike that hitter who can only tip his hat to the pitcher and be
angry at his own inability to react, the hockey fan is angry in an almost
scatter gun fashion.
He or she is ticked at the hardline positions of both camps, management and
union, each of which has left so little room for legitimate negotiation.
Management refuses to entertain the possibility that a luxury tax, even a
tax with teeth, could effectively rein in the handful of owners who abuse
the system with ridiculous player contracts.
And the players refuse to consider any form of salary cap, despite the fact
the NHL ranks so far below the NFL and NBA in the hearts and minds and
wallets of the American public that it is to laugh. Those leagues function
rather well with a cap, but to the hockey player and his collective group,
who have had it so good for so long, the word itself is poison to the lips.
Though fans are guilty of one sin -- willingly buying tickets over the years
to feed the beast -- they are innocent bystanders, house-like, in this
lockout process.
Unempowered.
Unimpressed.
Still hopeful, a little naive perhaps, fans were tuned in to the
developments of this week's meeting in Toronto, believing there might be
something from the two camps on which to build a negotiation.
From bar stools, car radios and from their own living rooms, they turned
away from the media conferences in disgust.
There was nothing declared on Terrible Tuesday beyond the ongoing dug-in
positions. Both sides looked bitter, angry and were guilty of schoolyard
cheap shots; sentiments that fans themselves were engaged in at that moment.
Pockets of fans have tried to arm themselves, even delude themselves into
thinking they might play a role in the process.
Some of the ideas are misguided.
Some are inspired.
Some just soldier on in obscurity.
The NHL Fans' Association headed by Jim Boone in Ottawa continues to fight
in vain for a voice in the proceedings. Formed in 1998, the NHLFA now has
26,000 members who share their frustration on a website.
More recently, a local lawyers group is suggesting fans withhold their
season-ticket money to pressure NHL clubs into a solution.
Why is it that antennae always go up when a legal group is drawing attention
to itself with a grand ploy?
Fred Seller is one of the lawyers inviting fans to punish NHL teams by
withholding their money. Seller was the man who represented Alexei Yashin
against a class-action fan lawsuit four years ago, when Yashin skipped out
on the final year of his Ottawa Senators contract.
About 11,000 Ottawa season- ticket holders were represented in a suit
seeking damages of $27.5 million because they bought tickets believing
Yashin would be in the Senators' lineup. Seller won his case, but now those
same fans who battled him in court are supposed to line up behind him while
he fights on behalf of the little guy?
Perhaps Seller has seen the light, having been converted to rational thought
the day Yashin signed with the New York Islanders for $87.5 million U.S.,
becoming a shining symbol for all that is wrong in the hockey business.
My personal favourite among the fan initiatives is the Free Stanley movement
started by a trio of fans in Edmonton.
One of them called their idea "a lark, but a serious lark." It's a lark with
some merit -- the notion of temporarily returning the Stanley Cup to its
place as a challenge trophy. There is no greater tragedy to this labour war
than the fact the Cup will not be awarded next spring if the NHL season is
cancelled.
Not since 1919, when an influenza outbreak ended the Cup series between
Montreal and Seattle, has the Cup gone uncontested.
If any of the fan movements sees the light of day, I hope this one does,
daring to see that some joy and fun emerge from the NHL darkness. The
proponents would have a hockey icon such as Jean Beliveau, or maybe
broadcaster Don Cherry, determine two worthy Cup challengers, perhaps out of
the amateur hockey ranks.
The NHL, which has been custodian of the Cup since 1927, has already
pooh-poohed the idea, but that's no surprise.
Think of the fun we could have building up to an east-west Cup challenge
series.
Organizers could stage it in March or April, when the Cup games used to
played. Teams could travel by train.
An outdoor venue, on artificial ice, would be a nice touch.
As the Edmonton fan said, it's "a lark," a daydream.
Today, the idle dream sure beats reality.
Maybe they should let two women's teams compete for the Cup.
That would shock the boys back to work.
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