Detroit News column
February 17, 2005
by Bob Wojnowski
In the end, it was there for everyone to see, televised coast to coast, the stunning result of stubbornness, arrogance, stupidity and mistrust. The National Hockey League collapsed under the weight of its own vices Wednesday, and that’s the really sad part.
This is the really scary part: No one knows when it will return, and what it will look like when it does.
What we witnessed was unprecedented in North American sports history, the cancellation of a major pro league’s entire season. But even today, it’s hard to know exactly what we saw, and what it all means.
Death of the NHL as we know it, and Hockeytown as we know it, and the high-flying Red Wings as we know them? Yep. Incalculable devastation to a sport? Probably. Demise of high-profile careers, including that of Wings captain Steve Yzerman? Possibly.
Yzerman, whose career now may have ended with a horrific eye injury in last year’s playoffs, was uniquely struck by commissioner Gary Bettman’s move, and unsure of the ramifications.
He said he’s no closer to deciding whether to retire.
“I’m not setting anything in stone,” Yzerman, 39, said. “I’ve never retired before, so I don’t know the process. I know I’m not coming back for some farewell tour. If we’re able to get it going next September, and it made sense for the organization, and I believed I was in good enough shape to play, I’d see. I’m not coming back just so I can say thanks and goodbye.”
Across the league, across the city, from ancient hockey bars to NHL board rooms, uncertainty spread the past few days, and will only spiral now. There’s no way to calculate the damage to the game, and those connected to it, because nothing like this has ever happened. By most accounts, and according to many polls, it could be staggering, as fans find other options.
Heck, Yzerman isn’t even convinced the season is dead for good, despite the dual news conferences from Bettman and union executive director Bob Goodenow confirming it. Both sides are getting hammered and both deserve it for the labor dispute that blew apart a $2.1 billion league.
“I’m just disappointed there’s no trust whatsoever, no good faith between the NHL and the players association,” Yzerman said. “Our suspicion all along has been that (the owners) just want to break the union, and time will tell if that’s true. Based on the last couple of days, it doesn’t appear they were serious about having a season. A lot of people were played throughout this whole thing, used as pawns — fans, players, media. I think we’ve all been played.”
For a moment, Yzerman’s anger rose, and he caught himself. He admitted he was surprised — as many players were — by the union’s late proposal of a salary cap, which was supposed to be the biggest obstacle. That came after owners belatedly dropped their demand that salaries be tied to a percentage of the league’s revenue.
Momentum appeared to be building, with Bettman offering a $42.5 million cap and Goodenow countering with a $49 million cap. And then, in the dark hours of Tuesday night, talks ended, hope died, and a season vanished. For the first time since 1919, when the Spanish flu wiped out the playoffs, the Stanley Cup won’t be awarded.
It’s an ending so cruel, Yzerman wasn’t sure it was real.
“I wouldn’t be surprised by anything now,” he said. “I haven’t talked to anyone behind the scenes, but I still think, seeing where we left off, there’s a deal to be made. I think there’s still an opportunity to reach an agreement. I just think we should wait and see what transpires over the next day or two. Maybe I’m completely wrong and this thing is totally done.”
If it’s wishful thinking, it’s understandable. Players knew a cancellation was possible, but when it finally hit, it hit hard, as Bettman stood at a New York news conference and began by publicly apologizing to fans.
That’s not enough, not nearly enough. Everyone should be disgusted by such a tragedy. In the end, everyone in hockey failed the fans miserably
“The shame of this is, our fans deserve better,” Bettman said. “People who earn their livelihoods off hockey deserve better. We will have to re-earn the trust of fans, but I do think the game will come back better than ever. There is a better way, and we have to have a partnership with the players.”
Goodenow’s response?
“The players sincerely wanted a fair deal and pushed hard to get one,” he said. “Unfortunately, we never really had a negotiating partner. The owners don’t want to be true partners with each other, let alone with the players.”
Ouch. And you wonder why we sit where we sit today?
Hockey always has been a fascinating mix of grace and brutality, of skating and fighting. This was the brutal, thick-headed side of it, as players and owners and their clueless leaders fought so desperately to win the negotiation, they lost sight of the game.
The owners created the mess with reckless spending and expanding, and I contend they deserve most of the blame. The theory that Bettman always planned to declare an impasse and invite replacement players next season now gains weight. With all offers yanked, Bettman admitted it would be one of many options explored.
But my goodness, the players erred almost as badly. If the owners arrogantly wanted to extract complete financial retribution, the players foolishly underestimated the fight.
Bettman and Goodenow failed so spectacularly, you wonder how they possibly can keep their jobs. Their one objective should have been to build a working relationship, a partnership, and instead, neither side trusted the other. Each tried to dupe the other, waiting until the end to cave on key philosophical issues.
And now it’s too late, landing the NHL in the annals of sports infamy. It hits especially hard in Detroit, where the Wings spent as much (last year’s payroll of $77.8 million topped the league) and won as much as anyone. You don’t have to look long at the salary-cap proposals to know all that changes.
“It’s terrible and it’s going to kill hockey,” said Chris Chelios, 43, who also may be forced into retirement. “The damage is done. What Bettman’s done to the players, what he’s done to the league, it’s not fixable. I’ll go so far as to say (the owners) purposely ran the league into the ground the last few years, without trying to promote it, to put us in this position.”
You listen to both sides, you hear the anger and distrust, and you know the game is broken. You see the paltry TV ratings and detect the fan apathy and you know something had to be done.
But what was done on this dark, dangerous day has never been done before. For everyone, from the renowned captain of the Red Wings, to the average fan, to those owners who legitimately love the sport, to players in Nashville and Canada and beyond, there is nothing left but somber uncertainty.
What did we witness Wednesday, beyond the demise of a season and the disintegration of Hockeytown? It will be years before we truly know.
