Canadiens Lockout Grades

Usually about this time of year, Lions in Winter takes a look at the first 41 games of the season and tries to assign some relative grades to the team members to express how we think they are doing.

Obviously, we have been without NHL hockey, but that doesn't mean we don't have opinions about how the Habs have done in this unusual circumstance. In the spirit of the season, we plan to keep the tradition going and hand out grades to each member of the big club for their lockout activities.

Lockout: Part 2: Will Paying Fans Play Their Cards Now?

In this lockout of owners vs. players, or most often owners vs. other owners, the silent (even disenfranchised) party has been the fans.

Yet when all is said and done, all that money they were arguing over is 100% dependent on fans forking it over for the greedy buggers to share out.

Happy New Year

Hello readers and friends. I wanted to wish you all a very Happy 2013.

With a fiscal cliff averted, the year may get a little better for us hockey fans if a deal can be reached between the two sides in the NHL labour dispute. As Habs fans, i think we have to hope for play, as a random draw might rob the team of their solid chance at another high pick this year.

A Tale of Two Habs

Yesterday, we were treated to a most unusual event, hockey players competing with each other. In this case, it was two players familiar to recent Habs fans: Roman Hamrlik and Erik Cole.

The episode began with a now-very-familiar interview emerging from an Eastern European news report. In it, Roman Hamrlik was reported to be critical of an approach that he deemed to be going down the wrong path and voiced a desire to get back to play before any more money is lost by the industry and players alike.

The Skate Is Not Enough

A full month into an NHL lockout, and nearly 2 months since what was supposed to be the beginning of training camp, it's interesting to see where the players have landed and what they are up to.

Tomas Plekanec is in the process of showing just how much of a short-sighted fool Pierre Gauthier really was as he weaves magic with Jaromir Jagr every step of the way. At the other extreme, a guy like Scott Gomez, content to maintain his own program of training (we know how well that works) after briefly skating with a Tier-4 team in Alaska.

Advantage NHL

Tennis is my analogy for this lockout and negotiation today. The side in the server's court has changed a few times, and points have been gained here and there. For the most part the teams have been playing a tight defensive set with long, concerted fights for the upper hand and advantage in public opinion.

I thought there were some good strokes in the past (players' proposal), but we have not seen anything close to the shot delivered by the NHL's owners yesterday. If the game was stuck at deuce in discussion of irrelevant detail, this was the baseline rocket that set up a break point.

Dealing With the Lockout

People have different ways of dealing with the lockout. Personally, I think my way of taking the time off to do something other than the all-consuming Canadiens coverage is a breath of fresh air. I certainly think its better than some of the other things out there.

For example, is anyone following the Canadiens fantasy progress on NHL13, complete with banal reports and invented quotes?

Hockey's Standard Bearers Careless

I have to say I am a little sick of hearing that fans will have to do without hockey this fall. It's a pervasive arrogance that would allow player and owner alike to believe that one league equates to an entire sport with worldwide participation.

That said, the NHL is still the unquestioned standard bearer of the sport. The best players in the world ply their trade in NHL arenas (usually) and the game at its highest level is normally found in one of 30 North American cities.