The Wait Grows Lonely

I gathered with the usual set of rogues for our annual hockey round table. The setting was Shorty's on Ninth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the part of Manhattan you hope you never have to spend too much time in unless you are pounding alcohol.

But once you have reached altitude, count yourself among the feeling no pain crowd that calls this block, between 42nd and 41st Street, home.

The round table covered a number of topics -- how to reduce the boring shot blocking that sucked the life out of the Rangers-Capitals playoff series, how to get both sides back to the bargaining table in the NHL lockout, how to reduce the overall amount of time it takes to play a game and how to pay for all this food and beer.

The next morning, the hangover came. Not from beer, but from the realization that there would be no NHL hockey coming in the next week. The group had talked a good game, but there was nothing from the NHL coming down the pipe.

And that left me wondering why there are not more players walking outside arenas, saying in effect to "let us in." Perhaps they could organize some street hockey games with children to allow the NHLPA members to get their word out.

Hand out free NHLPA practice jerseys, T-shirts and caps to get those who follow the game to develop an emotional investment in the cause of the players.

But there is very little of that. The league and the players have a large gap between them, and the gap they have maintained between themselves and the fans is even larger.

The KHL, the minors, the juniors and the colleges will help with the visuals of hockey: I get to see a game and I feel somewhat better.

But they remain, for those of a certain age, a case of blank-label generic beer. The buzz is there, but it isn't quite as satisfying. I spent too much time in college trying to guess just which brewery made this no-label beer. My thoughts only grew more murky as the night wore on and the cans in the case dwindled to single digits.

The round table hangover led to weekend blackout. I hit empty, about as empty as Seattle's Smith Tower, which Benjamin Gibbard was singing about at the start of this post. I feel bad about the blackout, but who can blame me. I should be looking forward to the Kings-Rangers game on Thursday. Instead, I am looking forward to the college games on Friday.

Should be fun, but they are not the same. OK, got that out of my system. And now, here is my lost weekend of hockey.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN
Nonconference
Friday
No games
Saturday
Quinnipiac 2, at Maine 1
Bowling Green 2, at Niagara 2 OT
Merrimack 4, at Union 1
Sunday
No games

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday
At Indiana 3, USNDP 2
Youngstown 9, at Waterloo 6
Dubuque 3, at Green Bay 2 SO
At Lincoln 5, Des Moines 2
At Sioux Falls 5, Omaha 3
At Cedar Rapids 5, Fargo 2
At Tri-City 4, Sioux City 3
Muskegon 3, at Chicago 1
Saturday
At Muskegon 4, Indiana 1
At Chicago 4, Green Bay 3 OT
Omaha 3, at Sioux City 2 SO
Youngstown 5, at Cedar Rapids 1
Sioux Falls 2, at Des Moines 1
At Dubuque 2, Fargo 0
Sunday
No games
Standings are here

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday
Halifax 4, at Saint John 3
At Quebec 4, Victoriaville 3 OT
At Baie-Comeau 5, Acadie-Bathurst 2
At Blainville-Boisbriand 6, Prince Edward Island 2
At Chicoutimi 1, Moncton 0
Shawinigan 4, at Drummondville 3
At Gatineau 7, Sherbrooke 4
Cape Breton 4, at Rouyn-Noranda 3
Saturday
Moncton 7, at Baie-Comeau 4
Acadie-Bathurst 2, at Chicoutimi 1
Prince Edward Island 6, at Shawinigan 1
At Halifax 11, Saint John 2
At Drummondville 2, Victoriaville 1 OT
At Gatineau 2, Blainville-Boisbriand 1
At Quebec 7, Rimouski 2
Cape Breton 5, at Val-d'Or 3
Sunday
At Blainville-Boisbriand 4, Quebec 2
Rimouski 2, at Shawinigan 1
Prince Edward Island 5, at Sherbrooke 4 SO
At Val-d'Or 7, Cape Breton 3
Standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday
At Erie 5, Brampton 1
Owen Sound 4, at Sarnia 3
At Sault Ste. Marie 4, Kitchener 2
Niagara 4, at Sarnia 0
At Guelph 5, Plymouth 4
At London 8, Windsor 2
Barrie 4, at Mississauga 3 SO
At Oshawa 6, Kingston 4
Saturday
London 4, at Erie 3 SO
Sudbury 3, at Kingston 2
At Belleville 5, Ottawa 3
At Plymouth 6, Niagara 3
Sarnia 6, at Sault Ste. Marie 3
At Saginaw 2, Kitchener 1 SO
At Barrie 4, Peterborough 3
At Owen Sound 4, Guelph 3 SO
Sunday
Sudbury 6, at Ottawa 4
Standings are here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday
Portland 2, at Brandon 1
Prince Albert 5, at Calgary 4 SO
At Regina 3, Red Deer 2
Swift Current 10, at Saskatoon 1
At Kamloops 7, Seattle 2
At Prince George 6, Kelowna 3
At Spokane 5, Victoria 3
At Tri-City 4, Lethbridge 1
At Vancouver 6, Medicine Hat 1
Saturday
At Brandon 2, Red Deer 1
At Edmonton 4, Saskatoon 1
At Moose Jaw 4, Portland 2
At Swift Current 2, Regina 1
At Kamloops 4, Medicine Hat 1
Kelowna 7, at Prince George 5
At Seattle 5, Everett 2
At Spokane 4, Lethbridge 2
Victoria 4, at Tri-City 3 SO
Sunday
At Calgary 6, Edmonton 5 OT
Victoria 2, at Vancouver 1
Prince Albert 5, at Kootenay 3
Red Deer 4, at Moose Jaw 3 SO
Tri-City 5, at Everett 3
Standings are here.

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Saturday
At Amur 2, Traktor 1
At Metallurg Novokuznetsk 4, Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1
At Sibir 3, Avtomobilist 2
Avangard 5, at Lokomotiv 2
Barys 3, at Atlant 1
SKA 4, at Lev 3
Sunday
Salavat Yulaev 4, at Ak Bars 3 SO
At Spartak 4, Dinamo Minsk 1
Vityaz 2, at Donbass 1
Severstal 1 at Dinamo Riga 0
Dynamo Moscow 3, at Slovan 2
Standings are here.