1) Many are coming to the correct conclusion that there simply is nothing they can do or say that will have ANY effect what so ever on the current CBA negotiations. There is a definite difference this time around. Last Bettman lockout the NHL was heavily trying to persuade the public that the players were overpaid, the balance of power among teams was out of whack, and ticket prices were going higher due to uncontrolled salaries, etc
2) We were given the discredited Levitt report, which if it was true would have meant all 30 teams were close to Chapter 11. Of course that was never the case and clearly while there were several teams in desperate financial straits, it was NO a league wide issue and more importantly the players salaries were NOT the cause. Then as now its financial/team mismanagement that causes financial distress. Despite that the NHL was very successful in demonizing the players
3) Fast forward to now and the NHL Bettman isn't even going to try to make believe that the current CBA is about ticket prices. They are making little effort either to try to persuade the public that the league as a whole's financial health is in the balance. Instead taking their lead from the NFL, which despite making record profits, wanted to decrease the players % because, well, they could (and did). Therefore when Bettman was recently pressed why they gave the proposal they did he responded that they wanted to decrease the players share. Simple as that.
4) I don't care what fan union you may want to form. They are all well and good, but will have ZERO impact on the proceedings. The ONLY thing the owners will EVER "listen" to is the fans NOT buying tickets/merchandise, etc. They look to the last lockout when an entire season was lost only to see fans return in droves to feel invulnerable. Therefore despite the players bluster that hey are not afraid of another lockout, the owners WILL get what they want in time, and we can belly ache all we want about it while there is no hockey. Its Pointless to Complain!
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