Let's call the whole thing off: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Photograph: Bruce Bennett/Getty
BudBlog's ice hockey site sums up the Canadian mood in one pathetic sob: the lonely word "sad" centered in small letters on a blank, black page.
The poor little poppet is, like so many others in Canada, heartbroken and outraged that the entire National Hockey League season has been cancelled do to an ongoing dispute between management and the players' union. The NHL's official site carries video of a press conference with commissioner Gary Bettman explaining his decision, after five months of suspended games, to just call the whole thing off.
Jordan Cooper at Hockey Pundits predicts the demise of ice hockey as a viable league game.
Hockey will never be the same. A lot of older players will retire. Other European stars will stay permenantly in Europe. Familiar journalists and play by play people will move onto different phases in life and people will drift away from the game. Fans will find other things to do on a Saturday night ... Congratulations on doing the impossible, you wrecked the National Hockey League and a nation's passion.
But Damien Cox in the Toronto Star (registration required) sees an even better NHL waiting in the wings: "Blowing up the whole damn thing, this entire blighted, corrupt hockey structure at least has the potential of delivering far more to the average fan than the old one." But for fans used to the world's fastest game, they're in for a long wait.
