Longing for Canada’s game

It’s hockey season.

We should be dusting off our favourite jerseys, laying out the season schedule and circling the crucial Saturday night clashes between archrivals.

We should be scouting the rookies coming into the league. We should be building up hope that this could be the year that our team goes all the way and wins the Cup. We should be getting ready for the start of the 2012-13 NHL season.

But we’re not.

Instead fans are forced to endure countless hours of hockey talk without the hockey.

Never-ending columns of who is right, who is wrong, who is losing, who is winning, whether or not Gary Bettman ate a sandwich today, who he ate it with, what Donald Fehr did with his afternoon, where Bill Daly had dinner, why he wasn’t in a meeting, what that means about the negotiations, why the two sides aren’t meeting and what they are talking about when they actually sit down and talk.

We can expect more of the same this week and most likely for months to come.

Last minute meetings will occur to “save” the season, attempting to give fans that last gasp of hope that all might be okay. We will wait for news, any news really that this season could maybe actually start on time.

We will wait, because that’s all we can do.

We need to throw a stink like some fans did. (Check out the video here.) The video is impressively cut and it will actually make you want to sign the petition after watching it. It’ll get any hockey fan revved up.

But will it do anything? Will Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr jump up from their desks, see this video and all of a sudden change their tune and agree to some concessions in order for hockey to be played? Hell no.

We fans have zero power. None. Nada. Zip. Short of banding together and boycotting an entire season, but I’d put my life savings on that not happening. Heck, I’ll be in the stands when the puck drops again.

I, like every other hockey fan out there, just want hockey back.

But, like I said before, all we can do is wait and hold out hope that the two sides can come to an agreement.

However, being a Flames fan I have learned one thing about hope.

It’s a horrible thing.

Derrick Newman is The Reflector’s signature hockey analyst. If you would like to read more of his work go to thecheckingline.com