Scrooge McJacobs

With the season on the brink of destruction, and the loyalty of the fans wavering, the NHL is going to need to come up with some very creative marketing schemes to get fans back in the stands. I, along with many others, am fed up with the game of chicken that is going on in the negotiating room, and am particularly fed up with Jeremy Jacobs and his all-or-nothing tactics.

Don’t get me wrong, both sides are to blame for this mess, but it’s the owners and the league as a whole that will need to come up with ways to get back in the stands. Right now they assume we will all be back if and when the puck drops, and I pray that I am not the only one that will boycott and not spend a cent of my own money on the NHL.

Side note: I say I won’t spend a cent of my own money, but if someone wants to buy me tickets, I’ll gladly go. It’s not my money at that point. See? I can make loopholes too.

But back on point, what will it take for you to begin to trust this league again? For me, I would require at least some of the following concessions:

  1. Replace Jeremy Jacobs with as chairman of the Board of Governors. His time has run it’s course, and one man should never have the power to cripple a league like this.
  2. Fire Gary Bettman. I’m aware that Bettman’s job is to please the owners, and he is doing his job fairly well in that regard. However, we have seen three work stoppages in his reign. Replace him, and I will at least try to believe that the league won’t do this to us again.
  3. Ensure the new CBA lasts more than five years, and have it expire before free agency. We can’t have this situation again where owners (Craig Leipold) sign players to contracts that they never intended to fully honor.
  4. Free NHL Center Ice for whatever is left of this season and all of next season

That’s all I can think of for now. What would it take for you to get back in the stands?

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