NHL Lockout Ramble: Barack Obama, the Winter Classic and a Solution?

(Christinne Muschi/Reuters/Files)

Are we all not a little tired that there is still no hockey to tune into on a Saturday night, or any day of the week for that matter?

This lockout business has gone on for way to long, especially considering this is not the first time it has happened.

If it happened to be a one time deal, where the players and owners had to sit out a season to make sure everything was in place for the next 50 years, then maybe I would not be complaining as much.

But, this is the third lockout in less than 20 years.

That is pushing it a little bit.

As fans, we seem to be thrown right into the middle of it all too.

Not only are the owners trying to vie for our support but so to are the players. Would it not be more beneficial to use the time spent trying to garner fan support to hammer out a new deal?

When things like this happen why not lock both sides in a room until they figure something out?
There has to be middle ground somewhere, but both sides are not willing to get there.

The last proposal the NHL sent to the NHLPA was a good start. The counter proposals by the NHLPA should have allowed for a better start to some serious negotiations.

Surely there had to be something in those three proposals created by the NHLPA that the NHL would have found intriguing.

I guess not.

So here we are, stuck again and out of hockey. Even Barack Obama put in his two sense about the situation, and for the most part he was right on the money with his thoughts (click the video below to view).

If the NHL and NHLPA can not come together soon, and get a new CBA settled, then this season will be hanging on by a thread.

The tipping point, the Winter Classic.

It seems as soon as the Winter Classic, a game of epic monetary proportions between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings, is called off, then so too will the season.

My own thoughts on the situation; get an arbitrator into the meetings and make sure the two sides are being productive and negotiating. Not just throwing out their own ideas.

There has to be two sides in the process. Having the league present an idea and then the players present theirs is only mimicking the idea that something is actually being done.

Just like a player goes to arbitration and a deal is set for him, why not do the same between the league and the players?

Maybe they can do this and maybe they can not. As good as an idea it may sound, there may be some legal issues involved. However, if both sides wanted to get a deal done and agreed to go with this route, I do not see why there would be a problem.

Do you?

Nonetheless, if something does not get settled soon then we could all be enjoying more AHL and junior hockey games this season, which realistically is not that bad when push comes to shove. But nothing compares to cheering for your favourite NHL team.