By Andrew Thomson
By this time next year, the only Ottawa Senators patrolling local ice could be the ones who toil for the Jr. Sens in the Central Junior Hockey League, or parliamentarians out for a skating party at Christmas.
That’s because the National Hockey League’s Senators could be out of work once the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires next September. And while the NHL powers that be have already kick-started negotiations to forge a new agreement, enough disagreement remains between owners and players that another strike (see 1992) or lockout (see 1994) is entirely possible.
So for now, savour every hook, hold and grab. Cherish the ugly mascots, the overpriced food and price-gouging parking rates. This season could be our last taste of the NHL for some time, and it’s worth taking in even the worst parts of the game.
Stretching from early-October to mid-June, an 82-game NHL season plus playoffs can feel longer than the Hundred Years’ War to even the sport’s most ardent followers. But with the possibility of no hockey in 2004-05, fans need to realize what they’d miss.
This list goes beyond the usual Saturday night cramming of local sports bars or lining up four time zones away to snag playoff tickets.
There’s the fantasy pool junkies who toss and turn at night agonizing over why they thought that anonymous fourth-line journeyman would be a good sleeper pick.
There’s the pleasure derived from watching a 2-1 snoozefest from the West Coast in the wee hours of the morning without feeling the least bit strange. This is Canada after all.
There’s wondering what vote garnered more turnout in our provincial capital: the recent provincial election or the Maple Leafs’ fan referendum on what type and colour of protective netting to install above the end glass at the Air Canada Centre.
There’s putting up with the hair-pulling traffic jams on the way to and from the Corel Centre on game nights.
There’s explaining to a casual fan for the 58th time that, yes, the Columbus Blue Jackets are a hockey team and not a bunch of Civil War re-enactors.
There’s the feeling of relief in April when the playoffs finally begin and you can throw out your social calendar for the next eight weeks.
To be fair though, Senators fans have more reason to feel secure than other cities around the league if there is a strike. If it does happen, their talented roster is likely to stay mostly together.
The average age of Ottawa’s opening night roster was 26.8, and they have a young core of talent headed by Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Marian Hossa, Wade Redden and Anton Volchenkov to name a few.
Contrast this with older, higher-paid teams like the Detroit Red Wings — who feature a core of veterans perhaps unrivalled since Toronto’s “over-the-hill” gang that won the 1967 Stanley Cup — or the Colorado Avalanche, who are loaded with high-priced players in their prime, and the Senators seem to be in pretty good shape.
In all likelihood, the team could pick up right where it left off and supply a high-flying brand of hockey that will continue to draw fans. Everyone likes a winner.
Major League Baseball teetered on the edge of a strike last summer before saner heads prevailed to reach an agreement. A strike would have destroyed years of effort to win back those fans turned off by the 1994 strike.
Hockey fans may not be so forgiving either, so enjoy things before the owners and players dig in their heels for a labour showdown that will supposedly protect “the good of the game.”
And try not to lose sleep over your fantasy team.