As an NHL lockout seems to grow in its inevitibility, I am forced to take stock on just what this might mean. I don't mean that in regards to hockey in general. There are the obvious issues. After all, the lockout means no money for anyone, owners, players, coaches, ice crews, trainers, etc, etc. No, while I will admit to having considered the farther reaching aspects of what this lockout could mean to the budding hockey world in general, right about now I am locked in on selfish reasons only.
I'll admit, I was not always the die hard fan I am today. I once considered reading through the fine print in the Seattle newspaper to find the Penguins games as keeping touch. Granted, they sucked back then, and a win was a painful rarity. I distinctly recall the last lock out, but not for the obvious reasons. I remember what happened in 2005 for what came after: Sidney Crosby. When you have a free subscription to Sports Illustrated, it is hard not to catch the bigger issues, and Sid the Kid was one. I began to slowly follow a little more, but living in the middle of nowhere with no satelite or cable, I was reduced to newspapers and dial up internet. It didn't mean much, but as time went on, it ceased to be enough. Luckily, we gained satelite in that time, and I began to watch a game or two. then that moment occured in my life that changed everything: my best friend's wedding. Now, most people would not consider their best friend's wedding as something to make a die hard hockey fan out of anyone, but it did just that for me. Reduced to wearing an orange dress with a pink sash amongst total strangers, I was desperate for something to take my mind off things. That something was hockey. The year? 2009.
I had been building to becoming a full fledged hockey nut over the long course of about five years, but it came into full bloom as Sid, Geno, Flower, and Max worked their way to that fateful Stanley Cup Final. I had watched them lose the year before, I had watched as they struggled to find their stride, but now I was watching as though my very life depended on it. In a way, it kind of did. I made a deal that if they could come from behind, being at a 0-2 defecit to the Red Wings in the Final, that I would suck it up, grin and bear it, and otherwise not complain about the dress, the reception, or the strangers. I chewed my nails off as the Pens rallied to win Games 3 and 4, was luckily busy elsewhere with wedding plans for the disasterous Game 5, and cheered until I was hoarse for Jordan Staal in Game 6. Then came Game 7. Unable to take it, both the leave from work and the stress, I went to my job. It was a busy day, and for a few blissful minutes I was too busy to realize that the Pens fate and my happiness was being decided. Then I checked, almost too rattled to read, but they had done it, they had won! That night, I watched highlights until one in the morning, basking in the happiness of Max's goals, Flower's last minute saves, Scudederi's amazing defense, and Geno's joy as he launched himself onto a pile of teammates with tears in his eyes. I'll never forget that day, those playoffs, or those players. Even if Scuds went to LA, even if Max did the unthinkable and became a Flyer. That team will stay with me, as it will with many Pens fans. They were my salvation, and what got me trhough.
Now, the obvious question arises of what this has to do with anything now, three and a half years later. As the lockout looms, it would seem not much, but for every true fan, there is a similar moment in their life, when they look at the Pens and think, they're MY team. True, Geno has agreed to play at his home town of Magnitogorsk should (when) the lockout happens. Rumor has it Sid is interested too. What a trip that would be if they played together. It would be enough to make me want to save up for a plane ticket, a hotel room, and a travel visa, just to make my way on trains that only run every other day in and out of the Pittsburgh of Russia to watch my favorite players play their favorite sport. If only the KHL teams offered package deals to frustrated NHL fans. Imagine, the WHL and AHL are bound to increase tickets sales this year. We fans are desperate, and if the NHL cannot deliver, well, we'll simply have to find another way. That is what hockey is to those of us who are more than bandwagon fans. We don't care if our team wins or loses, though we much prefer the wins. We just want to see them play, and that, above all else, is what will get us through the coming months. Our sense of optimism will have us chekcing the news every morning and again every night. For a league that is concerned for their players in regards to the Olympics, it seems a wanton waste to let them leave the country now just so they can continue to play. The NHL and NHLPA might say it's about finding common ground, but let's be honest, it's about the money, and that is something most fans have a hard time relating to. The difference between 57% and 43% might be astronomical to both sides, but to us, it's a number we will never see in our bank accounds. So, as I am forced to consider funneling my hard earned money into a plane ticket to Russia, I have to stop and wonder, just how many games at home would that be? Just imagine the money Magnitogorsk could make if they had Sid and Geno. Regardless of the number, its more than the Pens are looking to make right now, and that is a tradgedy.
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