To greed is human. To forgive is divine.
So divinity goes to beleaguered National Hockey League fans, who have returned to watch the game and cheer their favourite team despite a money-fuelled lockout that cancelled more than 500 regular-season games.
The puck dropped Jan. 19 on a shortened 48-game season, down from the usual 82 per team. Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers fans turned up at Ducks on the Roof sports bar in Cochrane Jan. 20 to reintroduce themselves to the novelty of televised NHL games.
“It probably was unnecessary,” says Ducks daytime bartender Sharon Nolen, wearing her Flames gear, at a table with her friends at Ducks. “But I’m glad it’s back. Business wasn’t down that much, but people might be staying longer to watch the games now.”
As far as Sally Curnow is concerned, hockey never went away.
“We’ve got the (Cochrane) Generals,” she states. “I take the kids to Generals games all the time.
“The whole family gets in for $5. Where else can you do that?”
And the Flames fan is just as enthusiastic about her chosen NHL squad now that it’s back in action.
“It’s what I grew up with. A huge Flames supporter,” she says. “It’s an exciting game. Let the games go on.”
Diane Snoxell, whose son Cody plays Tier 2 midget hockey and played football for the 2012 Tier 3 high school provincial-champion Cochrane High School Cobras, believes the NHL lockout was over the top.
“The owners have plenty of money,” she observes as her tablemates listen in. The league generated an estimated $3.3 billion revenues last season.
“The players have plenty of money. The fans suffer.”
But she’s back watching with her pals, anyway.
“This is Canada. It’s what we do. We rally around hockey.”
Jacquie McCormack, whose son Jason Labelle is captain of the aforementioned Generals, understands the game as well as any hockey mom.
“It’s something they want to do,” the Oilers fan observes of the players. “Imagine growing up as a kid loving hockey and that’s what you get to do for your job.”
Definitely a good gig if you can get it – before or after the 119-day lockout.
