LOCKOUT: Day 44 – Is Mother Nature a Hockey Fan?

Oct 29, 2012; Scituate, MA, USA; The marquee sign in front of Kennedy

Well, for the moment, I’ve got power up in my neck of New England.  I’ve lived here on and off for thirty years and it gives you a feel for how bad a certain disaster is going to be. So here I am, going through hockey sites on my iPhone when this little gem caught my eye. This is a report coming in from Katie Strang of ESPNNewYork.com regarding the current state of the Winter Classic.

"“Since rejecting the union’s trio of proposals, the league has made two rounds of game cancellations. The latest, announced on Friday, wiped out the regular-season schedule for the month of November. A source familiar with the league’s plan told ESPNNewYork.com that the league is expected to cancel the Winter Classic on Thursday.” the source said."

It was actually expected that the Classic would be canceled today, but Mother Nature has sort of delayed things. Presently, Hurricane Sandy is wreaking havoc on the East Coast and New York City. Now, this could give both the union and the players’ union a few extra days to try to salvage the Classic and perhaps save the season. Unfortunately, it is  highly unlikely that the two sides are going to find any form of common ground(other than agreeing that they play hockey on ice) in time to prevent the Winter Classic from being canceled.

Now one has to wonder which side will use a natural disaster as a pretext for a smear campaign first?

So, here goes the biggest regular season game of the year. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 Winter Classic. I’ve been saying for the last few weeks that if the Winter Classic goes, so does the season. I guess I can live watching the AHL Providence Bruins who play down the road from where I live. No offense to those AHL players, they have just as much drive and dedication as their NHL brethren.

So, if the storm actually buys us enough time for certain parties to remove their heads from their posteriors and make a compromise to save the season… does this mean I need to become a Carolina fan?