Hockey stadiums empty on the day they should have been flooded with people on opening of new season
12 October 2012 was the day when new National Hockey League (NHL) season should have started at Joe Louis Arena, the home of Detroit Red Wings, where they should have hosted Nashville Predators to kick off the season.
Everybody of would have expected the stadium to be flooded with people on this day because the three month’s wait would have come to an end and people should have been very excited like they always are on the first day of the season.
But story is not same this time. This time the stadium, seats and rinks are empty. There is no one to play or watch game because of the NHL lockout.
The lockout that began on 15th September on the dispute on salaries and money has already resulted in cancellation of pre-season and the first three weeks of the regular season but fans/supporters are still hoping for the best and praying that
the problem is solved as soon as possible.
One thing that nobody wants is a lockout like last time when there no NHL season in 2004-2005 as whole season was cancelled because of a lockout. There is a better situation now, as there are meetings going on between the both parties, NHL and NHL Players’
Association.
Swedish hockey player and the alternate captain if Detroit Red Wings, Henrik Zetterberg, who recently signed for a Swiss team, is disappointed because of what NHL officials are saying. He believes that the deal which are already being signed should be honoured,
as he said,
“They don't want to honor the contracts that we have now. We are not ready to give up that. We believe that the deals that are already signed should be left alone and we should focus on what we can do in the future instead."
Niklas Kronwall, also a Swedish player from Red Wings, is not happy as well as he said,
"We're players. We love to play the game. You come to play the games. It's fun to practice once in a while, but you want to be playing at the Joe, and have all the fans surrounding you and the support behind you. Believe me, none of us are happy with the
way the situation is."
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