Hockey fans have taken a beating this past year.

A hockey fan myself, this time has been the hardest to deal with: playoff time.

Usually this time of the year I’d wake up, re-read the stats from last night’s games in the morning paper, then spend the next hour figuring out who the Colorado Avalanche have to beat next to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. I’d spend the rest of the day with hockey on the brain, and around six I’d watch all the pre-game build up, prepare all the necessary snack food, and kick back and watch sports history unfold.

Nowadays, I wake up to baseball and basketball scores, which, don’t get me wrong, I love, but they don’t quite fill the appetite that hockey creates. I click on ESPN, only to find some poker tournament, and I feel like I‘ve been dealt as bad a hand as the guy who’s illuminating the television screen.

I love to follow the NBA finals, but for me they don’t get exciting until after the first predictable round. In hockey, the number eight seed has as good a chance if not better than the number one seed to get to the finals.

This should’ve been the time where the true nature of the game shines through. Teams have come together, individual players are showcasing their skills, the bone crunching body checks, and the relentless drive for that one moment, to hold the Stanley Cup above your head and give it a victorious kiss.

The Stanley Cup itself is one of the oldest trophies in sports today dating back to 1893, when the first championship game was held in Canada. The most unique thing about this trophy is that the names of the championship teams along with the players are engraved into the trophy itself, and each player and management member gets to take the cup home to share with friends and family. This year, no one will get their name engraved in Lord Stanley’s cup, and no one will be sharing this icon in sports with their family.
And no one seems to care.

Part of the reason that hockey is not as popular as, say, basketball or football, is that it’s simply hard to watch. I’ll admit, I’ve found it hard to follow sometimes. It’s hard to see where the puck is going, and the fore-checking is so tight that minutes could pass before there is a shot on goal. To truly experience hockey, you have to see it live. To move with the crowd, to hear that slap shot, and there’s nothing like the thrill of a goal scored. Too bad the only live games one could see now are at the minor league level.

Who do I blame for this tragedy? The players. This whole mess is due to the players not being able to agree with their managers in their compensation. What they need to understand is that the sport of hockey doesn’t profit enough for the kind of player salaries that they were asking. It’s not that the players don’t deserve to get paid, it’s just unreasonable what they’re asking. So quit your whining and just be grateful that you get a chance to compete for the greatest trophy in all of sports. That should be enough compensation.