Top Reasons Why The NHL Should Cancel The Season

I never thought it would happen, I was naive enough to believe that the National Hockey League would not allow another labor dispute damage a season. The league is still suffering from the fallout of their last work stoppage, now they are in the midst of another. Perhaps they subscribe to the theory that "all publicity is good publicity", someone needs to tell them that is not always true.

Maybe the NHL has not noticed that their sport is not as popular as the other sports leagues in North America. They talk about wanting to grow the league, yet continue to shoot themselves in the foot with frequent work stoppages. With the current management of the league, they may soon find themselves competing with Jousting for television viewership.

I have been a lifelong lover of the sport of ice hockey and have promoted the sport to friends who would rather watch baseball or football, but with the current status of the league, I no longer have the desire. They are cancelling games left and right and showing no sign of actually negotiating with each other.

The league I have always loved is becoming a joke and with each passing day, becoming less relevant with the sports community. With that in mind, I have put together my list of the best reasons for cancelling the entire NHL season.

The owners and players are far apart in how to divide league revenue, if they cancel the entire season there will be less revenue to fight over.

Those tough negotiations with ESPN and other networks over broadcast rights can be quite difficult. Cancelling another season will certainly smooth things over, as the league will simply accept the first offer they receive.

The NHL has always had to compete with football and basketball for viewers in the United States. The league has struggled to gain popularity in the country and currently rank as the 4th most watched team sport. Cancelling the season will remove them from the equation and they will only be in competition with other sports that nobody pays attention to. Perhaps that is their goal, to be the greatest sport Americans do not follow.

Once the league is driven into the ground with another cancelled season, perhaps the owners will realize that Gary Betteman is not the man to lead the NHL. Betteman took over a league that was thriving and has turned it into a league that is dying.

Yes, it is true, hockey fans have a tendency to fall out of touch with world events during hockey season. Cancelling the season would allow those fans to catch up on all the interesting events taking place around the globe. There are enough scandals taking place in Washington right now to keep most fans entertained through next summer.

The world is in the midst of an economic struggle, Europe has not been immune to this. As the NHL sits idle, many of the top hockey players are now playing in European leagues, which has no doubt helped bring money into those local economies. I know it is a relatively small amount of money, but it could be North America's contribution to saving a continent.

As fans, we are always waiting for that talented young prospect to make it onto the roster of the big club. If there is no NHL season, those minor league teams will become the top leagues and we will be able to watch those prospects become stars before our eyes.

As stated, I love the sport of hockey and miss watching it. It seems so unfair that those who suffer the most by these work stoppages have no input on the situation. I am not sure if those who are in charge even care what we fans think, but there is hope. Hockey is a great sport and with the right leadership, the NHL can return stronger than before. All we can do is wait and hope.