The game is over - and both sides have lost. The National Hockey League (NHL) and its players have managed between them to squander the 2004-2005 season.
We won't dwell on who's responsible - the few hundred spoiled millionaires on skates or the few dozen hare-brained billionaires who created them. As far as we're concerned, they can share the blame - and when hockey finally takes to the ice next October (or even later, if the madness continues), they'll bear the consequences of their collective idiocy. Hundreds of thousands of fans have been turned off the game and won't come back - particularly in the United States, where hockey is already the fourth or even fifth sport in many cities where the game is (allegedly) played.
In Canada, hockey fans will come back - but the injury is more psychological. For the first time in living memory, no one will stand at centre ice of a rink and hoist the Stanley Cup over his head.
The Stanley Cup is more than just a trophy - it's entwined in our history. Unlike the trophies awarded in any other professional sport, the Stanley Cup predates the NHL itself. It was commissioned by Canada's Governor General, Lord Stanley, in 1893 as a challenge cup for the best amateur hockey team in Canada.
As the oldest trophy in professional sports, its rich history gives it a magic that no other sport can march. Every wide-eyed player who lifts it to the sky makes a connection to the gods of hockey history - Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux - who lifted it before him.
That magic moment when the cup is raised is what brings the fans back, no matter how boring and painfully the game is played, no matter how long the season drags out. And now it's gone.
Or is it?
This season the NHL has the chance to do something incredibly unique - return Lord Stanley's cup to its original roots.
We challenge the NHL to award the Stanley Cup to Canada's top minor league hockey team. Figure out a format - a tournament, a vote-in ballot, a traveling road show, whatever. They've got the time to dedicate to it now.
Make sure the players are involved. It's a chance to work together for the good of the game - and if it brings some sanity to the negotiating table when the time comes to return to it, so much the better.
The NHL and its players have a chance to make some good come out of this mess - and God knows they need to.Let's see Lord Stanley's mug lifted this year like never before.
