You too can get over the owners' lockout

A new season is nigh upon us after indisputably the most disgusting, greed-fueled owners’ lockout in sports history. And just as NHL players prepare to jump right into a shortened fluke of a season, I too am trying to find some mid-season blogging form. I’ll admit this has been a challenge due to residual resentment and anger leftover from the owners’ lockout. But a few things have helped me to start to get past that.

No, I’m not talking about Gary Bettman’s supremely generous offer to give fans a discount for the Center Ice TV/online package (Gee, you mean I really don’t have to pay full price for a 48 game season? What a guy!). Here is what has actually helped me stoke my hockey passions anew.

I went to see a hockey game and oh yeah, it’s awesome!

A couple weeks ago I took in a WHL game between the Everett Silvertips and the Spokane Chiefs. It was a pretty fantastic tilt that involved two third period penalty shots. There is nothing as fast as hockey. The frenetic pace almost never lets up and in a good game the tension doesn’t either. The sport is in my DNA, so there was no way I was going to stop watching, even if an entire year had been scrubbed.

I can wear hockey shwag again

I don’t have a ton of hockey gear (something I would like to eventually change), but I’ve got a couple of T-shirts, a sweater, a long-sleever, a couple hats. And as part of my silent protest, I did not wear these during the lockout. With the lockout over, I can now rock the winged wheel without guilt. I didn’t even pop in NHL 12 to win another virtual cup, since it was an officially licensed NHL product. (Yeah, I said 12. No way was I buying 13 during a lockout)

My first chance at fantasy hockey vengeance

Remember last year when my fantasy team was clearly destined for the championship and I was somehow robbed in the last week of the playoffs? Of course you don’t! No one cares about anyone else’s fantasy team. But participating in a draft is a quick way to get sucked back into the belly of the beast. I will prove that I’m smartest with my unknown AHLer future star pick in round 23!

I’ve found more ways to protest

One thing that you know if you’re reading this is that we hockey fans are kind of like our own little cult. We’re on the fringe of sports society. ESPN covers the sport less than The Onion (and half as well). One thing I saw mentioned very rarely during the lockout was just how embarrassing this whole thing was, and not just for the ones doing the negotiating.

Seriously, the NHL owners nearly destroyed themselves by canceling a season. Then after coming back with a new generation of stars leading to higher and higher revenue ($3.3 billion a year by the end of the CBA) the owners turned around and said they were willing to risk destroying the league again in order to get an extra billion back from the players (you know, those guys we actually pay to see?). All that dysfunction really makes it hard to be an NHL fan without permanently hanging your head.

Hockey fans love to boast that theirs is the best sport around (Yes, you actually have to argue that point outside of Canada). But what’s your comeback against football fans when they can simply point out that their sport is playing games and yours is not? You feel like Ralph Wiggum with a set of plastic scissors while the teacher says the other children are right to laugh at you.

The NHL owners completely take their fans for granted, and rightly so. We will always come back, our love of the game is too deep. But still, I’ve struggled with feeling kind of dirty for being associated with a league that features so many scumbag owners. So I’ve decided to continue some of my protests.

Yes, I popped NHL 12 into the old Xbox, dusted off my Wings shirts, and I might even break out my Datsyuk sweater this weekend. But here are a few things I will not be doing until the puck drops for the 2013-2014 season.

• I will not be paying $59.99 for the Center Ice package to catch the 28 or so Red Wings games that I wouldn’t otherwise see. Sorry, Gary, not even with your generous discount that is totally not insulting at all.
• I will not be driving up to Vancouver when the Wings come to town, or to see any other NHL games.
• I will not be buying any new hats, hilarious custom shirts, or any other NHL gear.

I know that none of this will make any difference in 8 years when the owners opt out of the CBA and lockout the players again. But at least this makes me feel just a little less helpless and able to start moving past the bitter lockout pill.