NHL Lockout: Blame... Who?

A collective cry was heard across the nation earlier this year as hockey fans found out the devastating NHL news: a lockout. For players, this means striking against employers to get the money they feel they deserve. Before the start of the season, owners banned players from using training facilities and have suspended pay for players. For fans, NHL Lockout 2012 means no cheering on our favorite teams, no nail-biting overtime, no punch-throwing rivalry, no bloody noses or missing teeth until December, when the season is set to start almost two months late. The main issue in the players’ strike is, no surprise, money. But who should we blame -owners, players, or NHL commissioner Gary Bettman?

As commissioner of the NHL for the past 19 years, Gary Bettman has been in office for the last two NHL lockouts; the 1994-5 season and the 2004-5 season lockouts (Gary Bettman’s Legacy). The latter lockout cancelled the entire season, forcing fans all over the world to go without their NHL dosage. But how much of this is actually Bettman’s fault? Although an important cog in the hockey machinery, Bettman really has little power over the wishes of team owners. At the start of the 2004 season, Bettman attempted but failed to help players and owners reach an agreement in a dispute similar to that of this year. In the end, he cannot control what the players want or what the owners decide to give.

Players are on strike because their salary is being cut. Some people might think that this is out of greed, but think about it this way: If your boss cut your salary even though your performance has gotten better, you’d be pretty pissed as well. This is how NHL players see things. Hockey is not a dying sport; on the contrary, hockey has become much more popular over the last five years, especially here in Boston. More and more sports fans are tuning into the Canadian-born sport throughout the season. Tickets to Bruins games have been getting more expensive and sold out more often (trust me, I’ve tried and failed to get tickets for years). So, why should players get paid less when they are efficiently doing their job?

Owners want to cut the players’ share of hockey related revenue (the money earned from ticket sales and other aspects of the game) to 46-43%, when players currently receive 57% of the revenue (Lockout On After Day Without Talks). NHL players currently average $2.4 million, which isn’t exactly poverty level wages. Some may see this as players being selfish and craving more money. On the other hand, NHL players have actually agreed to cut some of their revenue, proving that they are not greedy. However, the amount they had agreed to give up was not as large as what the owners are now demanding; players offered to cut their share of the revenue from 57% to about 52%. Instead of taking this offer, owners wanted even more.

So while we wait impatiently for the lockout to end in December, remember that it is the avarice of the owners who deprive us of our precious Boston Bruins.