With today's word that the NHL has cancelled games through December 30 due to the lockout, it seems as if any season, if there is a season, will begin in January 2013.
The first NHL lockout of commissioner Gary Bettman's tenure occured in 1994, and the 1994-95 NHL season was truncated to 48 games with a schedule that began on January 20, 1995.
That's the night the New York Rangers raised their first banner in 54 years.
The Los Angeles Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup five months ago and are anxiously waiting to raise their first Stanley Cup banner ever, the first in their 45 years of existence. Will they get to do it in 2013?
Time's running out ... but here's one prediction: This lockout, despite the breakdown last week, and despite the enmity between the sides, is going to be settled in time to save the season.
I have no inside information, no sources telling me so. I just have a gut feeling, a hunch, that the intelligent people on both sides of the issue understand the consequences of cancelling an entire season in this economic climate.
There's a deal to be struck that enables both sides to benefit financially ... if they work quickly.
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