Memo to the NHL: Don't Hurry Back

It's February 1, the very dead of winter. If you're not playing hockey by now, there's no point in starting. Same goes for the NHL.

The idea that the boneheads running the NHL and NHL Players' Association can find a miracle compromise and suddenly end the lockout is absurd. But even if it happens, does it serve anyone's interests to open a truncated 2005 NHL season in mid-February?

There are plenty of convincing reasons not to play:

• Media types are already grumbling about the legitimacy of a 15 or 20-game regular season followed by the usual marathon playoff run. The NHL could argue, correctly, that such notions of legitimacy are arbitrary, and there's no reason why a short season can't be just as "real" as a long one. But that wouldn't stop the grumbling or the perception that the 2005 Stanley Cup is somehow tainted.

• Many NHL players are staying in shape by cruising through half-speed workouts at neighborhood rinks a couple of times a week. A quickie training camp leading directly into the heat of a playoff race? Sounds like a perfect recipe for serious injury. Who needs it?

• The payroll wicket is closing. In a normal season, players earn their entire salaries during the regular season, and teams reap all the profit at playoff time. The NHLPA won't agree to that arrangement this year. Players will demand a cut of the playoff cash, and you can imagine the owners' enthusiasm for that idea.

• Aside from filling the building a few times, many teams have little to look forward to in a short season.

  The Boston Bruins have 11 players. If the season is saved, they have to sign half a roster between now and Valentine's Day. You think they want to play?

  Ilya Kovalchuk is in Russia for the rest of the winter. There is no escape clause in his contract. Without him, do the Atlanta Thrashers care if there's an NHL season?

  Jarome Iginla has not played a competitive hockey game since September. Do the Calgary Flames like their chances of returning to the Stanley Cup Final this spring?

• Is it fair to base the 2005 draft order on a six-week schedule? If I was an NHL general manager, I'd be tempted to dump players and go into the tank with an eye towards grabbing Sidney Crosby first overall at June's entry draft. With only 15 home games, the box office punishment for running a last-place team would be minimal, and the media vultures would barely have time to sharpen their claws.

So by all means, keep talking. If you can settle this thing without going to court, calling in the scabs and busting heads on a picket line, please do so.

But do it for next season. True hockey fans are willing to wait, and a fresh start after a long layoff is a good way to renew your courtship of all those folks who never watched the game in the first place.