NHL: toast

Well, there was some hope for a couple days but that seems to be gone now. I generally side with the owners on this one, as some sort of cost certainty is probably the only way to save hockey in places like Edmonton, Ottawa, and Calgary, and I don't want an NHL with Canadian franchises in Toronto, Montreal, and maybe Vancouver. The NFL and NBA PAs both agreed to take a percentage of the revenue and they're doing just fine, thank you. Baseball doesn't and it's a complete and total wreck.

As far as this goes for Michigan hockey, well, if there's no season there can be no draft, which certainly throws a monkey wrench into things. Assuming that the NHL won't deep six two seasons, they're faced with an interesting dilemma for the '06 draft, especially because it could hypothetically contain an even-older Sydney Crosby, the most hyped prospect since Lindros. What will the NHL do move the age back a year? Throw everyone in the same draft?

How retarded is it that I'm seriously asking these questions because I expect them to be relevant? Very.