COMMENTARY

By Kara Yorio

updated 1:40 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2004

This is it, everybody. In the next two weeks, the NHL and NHL Players' Association either will get a deal done, or the season will be canceled. A self-fulfilling prophecy if there ever was one.

So here we sit. What has become most aggravating about this frustrating situation is the arrogance -- on both sides -- and their assumption that the fans are ignorant.

Commissioner Gary Bettman makes the rounds and talks about saving "the game." Commissioner, you don't own the game, and you are not its keeper or caretaker. The game is alive and well and being played at all levels around the world. What you are trying to "save" is your league, your owners and, in all likelihood, your job. In a situation that has become all semantics, please make this change. The game goes on, sir; your league is dying.

And that brings to light the next most galling issue: The league seems to believe it doesn't matter how long the lockout goes. It won't be worth solving quickly, league officials say, if they don't get their way. But it does matter. It matters a great deal. While on paper it might make the most sense to hold out as long as possible to get the deal the league wants, in reality it doesn't work at all. In reality, more fans are lost every day. In reality, more media outlets permanently pull NHL travel money, making NHL beat writing a part-time position. And, just to be clear, this is not just in small, Southern cities. This is at major metropolitan papers covering Original Six teams. If this destruction is repairable over time, and that's a big if, it'll be measured in five- and 10-year increments.

After spending months talking about how the fans will benefit in the end -- Bettman said outright that ticket prices will go down and many other plans are in place for the fans when this is over -- Bill Daly, the NHL's No. 2 man, told me in a recent interview on Sporting News Radio he couldn't go into details about what will be done, but ticket prices will go down or "stabilize." Stabilize? Is that a joke? Suddenly stabilizing these ridiculously overpriced tickets is doing the fans a favor? How stupid do they think the paying public is?

OK, let's move on to the players. To be fair, they offered concessions, including an across-the-board salary cut, and appear to be ready to offer another proposal, but the players need to be more realistic. They must realize they might need to accept a connection between revenue and player costs to get their league going again. They need to realize that if only 5,000, 6,000 or 7,000 fans show up for games and fewer people are buying their jerseys and bobbleheads, their income will go down. They need to know the fan base will take a hit, and the longer this goes, the bigger that hit will be.

The league and the union need to get this done in the next couple of weeks -- or it's game over for the NHL in ways their galling arrogance won't even acknowledge.

MORE FROM NHL

NHL Section Front

Gift goal helps Wild end Pens' 6-game streak Panthers send Lightning to their fifth straight loss Khabibulin leads Blackhawks in shootout win Live odds Game matchups Injuries SCORES, STANDINGS, SCHEDULES, STATS Rotoworld: Latest NHL player news, rumors, more Latest NHL videos Full coverage of every team NHL Section Front   Add NHL headlines to your news reader: