Reverberating across the magical land of hockey world (Narnia, without the annoying chattering beavers), was the death knell of the beloved game as the piercing words that shot from Gary Bettman's lips announced the cancellation of the Winter Classic. With those verbal bullets, he not only canceled the NHL's most exciting event outside of the Stanley Cup, he basically took away from us the beleaguered 2012-2013 season. With his apathetic attitude toward the players and fans, he gave up his one last piece of leverage and negotiation tactic. The Winter Classic would have been a perfect starting point, a clean slate between the owners and players, taking place on New Year's, the renewed CBA and year representing the symbolic refreshment of the novel calendar and hockey's new direction. This season is now nothing more than a sports metaphor the sinking of the Titanic (where clearly Filip Forsberg in DiCaprio and Scott Gomez is that little foreign dude).
The WC was to take place at the Big House, which houses somewhere between 100,000 and 10 million people, making it one of the biggest arenas where an NHL game took place. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings would have assuredly sold every seat available. Hell, they could have sold every seat in Ann Arbor to those fanbases just to see the Toldeo Walleye take on the Reading Royals. I would pay money just to see the players from the Reading Royals sing a karaoke version of Reading Rainbow. This event would have made a ton of money. It would have made the 1997 World Series look like the 2012 World Series.
In its stead, we are treated to the false hope that there may be superstar hockey in America next year. Gone as well is this year's treatment of 24/7, which has given us a behind-the-scenes look into what these weaponized men do in their spare time. In 2010, during the Caps-Pens iteration, we saw that most Caps players are like Caps fans. They drink and cuss and complain about how terrible the Caps are doing. And we are being denied the Canadian version of that.
Gary Bettman, you are a disappointment as a league commissioner. And I play fantasy football with a cheating scoundrel.
The WC was to take place at the Big House, which houses somewhere between 100,000 and 10 million people, making it one of the biggest arenas where an NHL game took place. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings would have assuredly sold every seat available. Hell, they could have sold every seat in Ann Arbor to those fanbases just to see the Toldeo Walleye take on the Reading Royals. I would pay money just to see the players from the Reading Royals sing a karaoke version of Reading Rainbow. This event would have made a ton of money. It would have made the 1997 World Series look like the 2012 World Series.
In its stead, we are treated to the false hope that there may be superstar hockey in America next year. Gone as well is this year's treatment of 24/7, which has given us a behind-the-scenes look into what these weaponized men do in their spare time. In 2010, during the Caps-Pens iteration, we saw that most Caps players are like Caps fans. They drink and cuss and complain about how terrible the Caps are doing. And we are being denied the Canadian version of that.
Gary Bettman, you are a disappointment as a league commissioner. And I play fantasy football with a cheating scoundrel.
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