Armchair Quarterback: Lockout can help in long run
Sure, they’re locking horns with the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but still the Nashville Predators are in the NHL playoffs after five opening years of disappointment.
For a time it seemed like the Preds were never going anywhere as they kept their wallet tightly closed in a league where the salary cap is nonexistent. Each year they’d make a mini-run and then choke, trading away their better players down the stretch to save cash. Even last year, their million-dollar guarantee backfired, making the franchise refund the season ticket increase to its fans.
Then finally, this year it happened. The Preds made the step in year six of the five-year plan. Of course, it wasn’t pretty. I was at the arena last week when they froze against the Blues and were on the bad end of a 4-1 beating. However, a loss by the Edmonton Oilers allowed the Preds to step through the playoff gates and into a fight with the Red Wings.
As far as matchups, the Wings aren’t too bad of a stretch in an eight-versus-one series. The Preds have had the Wings’ number for a few years, beating them on a much more regular basis than the Preds have beaten lesser teams like the Chicago Blackhawks. They opened nicely in game one Wednesday in Detroit, holding a shutout until it came apart in the final period. Let’s remember, the Wings can be vulnerable as they fell to eighth-seed Anaheim last year in the first round. Add this to the Preds generally winning the season series and you’re not looking at a bad first-round playoff matchup.
I plan to be there Tuesday night as the Preds host their second ever playoff game. The first game in Nashville will be played today. When I go I’m sure I’ll be surrounded by red since the Red Wings seem to have fans all around the country. During regular season games, it always amazes me when the Wings are in town because the Predators’ home ice is flooded with Detroit supports. We jokingly call these folks “PredWings” because they are Pred fans until the Wings come to town, then they put on their Russian-Olympic looking Red Wings jerseys.
While this season is ending on an up note with the Predators making the playoffs, and who knows, possibly even advancing a round or two, hockey fans know in the back of their minds this could be it for hockey for a while. Negotiations between the player’s association and the NHL are at a stalemate and it appears, barring a major move, there will be a lockout next season. Like football and baseball strikes of the past, this one is coming down to the salary cap issue as many of the NHL teams are reporting multi-million dollar losses each season. Some teams have even admitted it would be better financially if the players did sit out next season.
While it may seem crazy, I think such a scenario would help hockey in the long run if such a lockout brings a salary cap. Sure, fans are bitter for a while, but they come back. And, when they do come back they will be treated to a more level playing field, or ice as it may be. Just look at parity in the NFL brought by the salary cap and compare it to baseball where the Yankees have bought up every big player in the league.
Lack of a cap is one reason it took the Preds six years to get to the playoffs since they were competing with teams like the Wings, Avalanche and Stars who had big money to spend. Put on level ice, a team like the Preds, who have concentrated on bringing up young players at a lower cost, will have a great advantage in a capped system since they already have a base of players and room under such a cap to sign major impact stars.
I’ll hate not going to hockey next year, if the lockout happens, but the end result, I believe, will make smaller market teams like the Preds more competitive on a regular basis. Maybe then we won’t have to wait six more years for playoff hockey in Nashville.