This week, the NHL collective agreement will expire and it could mean no hockey for this season. If so...I feel that the NHL should just divide its League since it has had a lot of problems.

Because if there's no hockey...there should be a smaller NHL Franchise, like 24 Teams and let 6 teams temporarily fold until further notice.

I doubt the entire season will be lost.

However, I don't expect hockey for a while.

they need to get it together FAST - that last lockout killed the sport and it is just barely recovering now.

they don't need to mess with reducing the number of teams, just move the couple of ones that are complete failures.

they need to get it together FAST - that last lockout killed the sport and it is just barely recovering now.

I agree 100%, the NHL players need to pull their heads out of their butts shut up and play hockey !!!!

If you feel (as I do) that the fans should have a voice in all this join the NHLNFA. That's the National Hockey League National Fans Association. Just visit the NHLNFA page on Facebook and request to join. The more who join the louder our voice will be!!

I'm actually okay with the season starting later.

I'm not getting too worked up over this. With all the labour disruptions in sports, you become immune to them.

The 2012-2013 Season is put on Ice...it may even be cancelled!

After being heartbroken by the Flyers one-too many times, I gave up on the NHL.

Then, just as I was willing to let them back into my sports heart, they shut down the season.

And here we go again.

Just as I was warming up to get back into hockey, another lockout looms.

I honestly think this is a sign - I should never watch hockey again.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/september/ideas-for-nbc-to-replace-the-nhl.html

The NHL is in a lockout... again. After missing the entire 2004 season and seeing hockey fade into the shadows of the American sporting culture, the NHL's comeback has been impressive. The league divorced with ESPN and has built a fruitful partnership with NBC. In recent years, the NHL has seen some of the best Stanley Cup ratings in over a generation and stars and teams the league can build around.

So, NHL owners did the sensible thing and locked out their players. Why? I haven't quite figured that out yet. Because they want to suck every penny they can out of players and fans? Because they loathe themselves and their own success? Because Gary Bettman and the league's owners are actually evil vampires? If you read the post-lockout statement from the NHL, things have never been better for the league... which makes the timing of the latest NHL lockout an awesome idea.

The lockout is terrible for the NHL and equally as bad for NBC Sports. NBC and NBCSN have over 100 regular season games scheduled for the 2012-2013 season. Beyond Sunday Night Football, the NHL is NBC's only footprint in the four major pro sports. The league forms the backbone of NBCSN as well.

But while pessimism abounds once again, we're here to provide sporting alternatives to the NHL for NBC to get them through those cold, depressing winter months. There are actually several leagues and compettions around the globe just waiting for NBC to show them to an American audience. Who knows, maybe one of these leagues will surpass the NHL in popularity...

10. Monkey Tennis.

9. Roller-Blade Football

I actually had this idea for almost 20 years, I saw my brother and sister play football with rollerskates, so I thought...why not Roller-Blade Football? It'll be like Football and Roller-Derby and it might get better ratings than the XFL.

NBC sports - who cares?
During the playoffs, they give hockey the worse time slots.
They only schedule hockey when they don't have some stupid reality show to show.

i used to play roller hockey - its pretty intense, the RHI league did very well for a couple of years.

i used to play roller hockey - its pretty intense, the RHI league did very well for a couple of years.

That's cool. Too bad they folded.

I tend to agree with what Tiger Woods said a few years ago when he said "No one cares about hockey anymore". Maybe someone else should've said it so it doesn't sound racial but just take race out of it.

Hockey is BORRRRRRRRING! And I was a HUGE hockey fan in the Lemieux/Gretzky days and yet even both of them have commented on how much the game has changed since they left. I've talked to Canadians who feel the same way!

Yet I'll be fair. Baseball is FAR more boring yet doing quite well. Must be because they have a monopoly on summer sports since no one watches MLS soccer garbage! :lol:

I do feel the WHA should reform and here would be the line-up...

East

New England Whalers
Brooklyn Lions
Baltimore Blades
Orlando Solar Bears
Cleveland Crusaders
Quebec Nordquines

West

Atlanta Knights
Kansas City Scouts
Las Vegas Thunder
San Diego Mariners
San Francisco Spiders
Saskatchewan Cowboys

This would be the debut Season, later there'll be an expansion to cities such as Portland, Seattle, Hamilton Ontario, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Houston, Victoria British Columbia, and New Orleans.

It's funny that the striking refs in the NFL have gotten TONS more publicity than the locked out players in the NHL!

No one seems to care about the missing NHL players on a national scale.

Big3sCompany fan -
The lockout is getting coverage in Canada. I don't want to hear about it. I am avoiding the TV stations/websites/papers that talk about it.

Big3sCompany fan -
The lockout is getting coverage in Canada. I don't want to hear about it. I am avoiding the TV stations/websites/papers that talk about it.

Yeah, I'm sure it's coverage in Canada since you guys live in igloos. :lol:

But I've not heard a single national story here. No one cares about the icemen!