NHL Lockout: Both Sides Fiddle While the Game Burns

The president of the NHL Players' Association made his case in the New York Times on Sunday. A column by Trevor Linden (registration required) defends the players' position in the NHL lockout.

For its part, the NHL is inviting fans to an online chat with commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday.

But hockey fans have just about had their fill of such lame public relations gambits. Rather than choose sides, an increasing number are flipping the middle finger to everyone involved in this shameful standoff. In his column, Linden outlines the now-familiar players' offer as a "proposed framework with a view toward finding a compromise." He also explains why players doubt the massive financial losses reported by many NHL teams, noting that even the filthy rich New York Rangers are crying poor:

"Bill Daly, Bettman's chief lieutenant and the league's lead negotiator, made some revealing comments during a recent interview on ESPN radio," writes Linden. "When challenged about how the Rangers, of all clubs, could be reporting some of the largest losses in the league, Daly asserted that Cablevision, their parent company, may lose money intentionally as part of a broader corporate philosophy that raises the value of Cablevision as a whole."

"Daly's comments illustrate the problem players have with the clubs' financial representations. They highlight the impracticality of negotiating an agreement based on the self-reported results of the 30 N.H.L. clubs."

Not a bad point. But the captain of the Vancouver Canucks shows little awareness of the public mood.

Hockey fans have their ideas on who is to blame, who is in the right and who needs to compromise. Recent public opinion polls show most Canadians side with the owners, though this could shift as the lockout grinds on.

But many see no point in picking favorites, or in trying to follow the trail of half-truths, evasions and self-serving arguments used to justify the standoff. It is obvious that neither side is interested in what the fans think. So an increasing number are turning away, reminding themselves that they don't have a stake in this mess.

Unless he has something new to say about attempts to get the NHL back on the ice, Linden is wasting his time. The same goes for Bettman, who will undoubtedly use his online appearance to pound away at the same rhetorical refrains he's been spouting for several months.

From a fan's perspective, the two sides in this dispute are not the NHL and the NHLPA. The two sides are the fans and the rich folks who live off the fat of the professional game. Those rich boys - a group encompassing team owners, executives, players, lawyers, and assorted boring guys in suits - are dragging the NHL into purgatory.

In that context, the public relations war is little more than white noise.