Just Being Brutally Honest

This post is being written from a Devils fan point of view because that is what I am but I want to make it known that some the content in this post affects all hockey fans.

The emotional roller coaster ride that Devils fans have been on over the last 4 months has been pretty exhausting.  Last Spring was an amazing run towards what could have been our 4^th Stanley Cup but unfortunately the Devils came up 2 games short. I still say the 2001 loss was a lot more devastating than the 2012 loss but that’s really not the point. We as Devils fans were riding high on this team going into the offseason but then things started to happen.

First, Adam Oates left the Devils for the head coaching position in Washington. Then Larry Robinson decided to take a “not an everyday kind of coach” coaching job with San Jose to be closer to his family. Also playing the family card, Zach Parise signed a ridiculous contract with a ridiculous organization so he could be near his. Days before Parise left town, Marty Broduer dropped the bombshell that he was going to test the free-agency waters but ultimately resigned with the Devils. While he didn’t leave, the small window of the possibility of #30 not being in NJ was stressful. Rumors then began swirling about who the Devils would sign in order to replace Parise. The answer: NO ONE! On top of ALL THAT, there was the constant talk about the Devils financial problems leaving us fans wondering if the Devils would even exist in a few short years.

Guess what, the shit storm doesn’t stop there.

It’s September 6^th and with the CBA expiring in just a little over a week, we now get to really stress about a lockout (not like we haven’t been stressing about it for the last month or so).

This will be the third lockout that most of us have lived through and I’ve often wondered if it will be too much for some to deal with. The NHL rebounded for the cancellation of the 2005 season but I know a number of fans that didn’t really come back after that. On the surface, its people how make more money than I could ever dream fighting with people who make even more money than I could ever dream. Lost in that fight are the people who work in and around that sport, that need a paycheck to survive, that have a lot to lose should a lockout happen.

And then there are the fans.

Three lockouts in a relatively short amount of time scream to me that we don’t really matter. Yes, they need our money but we’ve done this song and dance before and you’ve always come back, so obviously you will come back again. Are they right? Probably but seriously it’s annoying as shit. The owners, the players, the world revolves around money and you can never have enough but seriously, can’t the owners give a little, take a little? I should be posting about the start of training camp, not about what a bunch of assholes the NHL and NHLPA are and how I feel they treat the fans.

Bottom line is that I know whenever this dispute ends, I’ll be right back in front of the TV cheering on the Devils but it’s frustrating as hell to know I have to wait because of greedy people.