Can the NHL Save Itself?

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As bad as this season has been, at least there were games. Next year there may not be. The players' contract with the owners expires on Sept. 15, and the two sides are nowhere close to an agreement. "The league has been preparing to trigger a lockout for many years now," says Ted Saskin, senior director at the NHL Players' Association. The owners are looking for wage cuts (according to the Levitt study, NHL players take 75% of league revenue, compared with 58% in the NBA), although they don't seem eager to cut the jobs of all those goons by eliminating fighting. Still, Davidson hopes the "black eye to the sport" will force the league to confront its precarious situation and "avoid the work stoppage before we lose more people than we can afford."

Despite the dangers that the Bertuzzi attack illuminates--like getting killed--players still want to enforce their own game. Which means that next season, when and if Bertuzzi gets back on the ice against the Avs, someone from Denver will be headhunting him. It's what happens in a game that is frustrated and allows the frustration to get turned to violence. You should have seen the last days of roller derby. --Reported by Kate Novack