Dear Mr. Bettman,
Or should I refer to you as Mr. Betting Man? Because the way you're handling the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Player Associations negotiations is making me feel as though you're a gambling man. With a little over two weeks until the deadline to put a new Collective Bargaining Agreement together very little, if any, progress has been made. If we remember back to the last time a new CBA had to be made, the result was the loss in an entire NHL season. I must say we can not let that happen again. The NHL is now the fifth most profitable league in professional sports after dropping behind Major League Soccer just recently. The loss of another season could be devastating to the league to the point of collapse.
With the loss of profitability though I can understand that you are not purely to blame for the reasons the negotiations aren't getting done. The NHLPA must also realize the loss and be able to take some cuts in the money the players are going to make. Which is why I completely agree with the lowering of the salary cap. Sacrifices need to be made for the success of the NHL's future. Flex needs to happen on both sides and negotiations need to get serious to avoid the loss of the NHL altogether.
If I was a believer in conspiracies like the NBA making sure the Knicks won the draft lottery so they could draft Patrick Ewing, then I would say quit putting Flyers players on the cover of EA sports NHL games because the last time that happened an entire season was lost. NHL 2004 Flyers Left Winger Petr Forsberg formerly of the Colorado Avalanche graced the cover and this year for NHL 13 Flyers Right Winger Claude Giroux was the cover winner. Ok, maybe that example isn't exactly a "conspiracy theory" but it sure is quite the coincidence if the entire season is lost like it was in 2004.
All I'm saying is don't let the true fans of hockey lose the sport twice in less than ten years because it will be a sad winter for all of us if we have to watch David "the crook" Stern's run NBA. A sad winter it would be indeed.
Sincerely,
Zack Hayes
