Hopeful rumors of a save of the 2004-05 NHL hockey season began almost immediately after NHL Commissioner Bettman got on stage and announced the termination of the season following failed negotiations between the players and the league. It won't happen. The league cannot afford it.
More information has come out about why the lock-out happened and how badly the NHL has done in the last ten years, going $1.8 billion into the red. It's astounding that the NHL hasn't folded after running deficits of at least $200 million per season.
The Edmonton Oilers were said to be on the verge of requesting that the NHL suspend its franchise or move the team as it was on the verge of a financial meltdown. In fact, every Canadian NHL team (except Toronto) is in major financial trouble, as are the American NHL teams in Atlanta, Anaheim, Nashville, and to a lesser extent in nine other American cities. Several teams have declared bankruptcy in recent years, including Buffalo, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Those teams were all acquired by people who kept the clubs running and reorganized them, but now those turnarounds are all imperiled.
The simple fact is that the NHL is too fat; salary caps won't save the league or the teams that are in trouble. It needs to lose about a dozen teams, which is very unfortunate, but it's the only way the entire thing can be salvaged. They need to do business a lot smarter, stop expanding into markets that won't support a NHL team, and make nice with the fans that are supporting their teams. One sports writer suggested that the NHL itself should file for bankruptcy, reorganize, and start anew. That might be a very good start.
So don't hold your breath waiting for the NHL to call another press conference and announce that an abbreviated season will be played following a breakthrough in negotiations. It would be irresponsible for the league to do so until it fixes the major financial problems that it has.
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