Robert-Tampa

One of my earliest memories, at five years old, was
seeing the highlights and celebration surrounding the
1980 Miracle on Ice.

This event turned me on to hockey, and as I grew
older, I came to appreciate the politics of the time
and the magnatude of the upset.

As a Tampa Bay Lightning fan who suffered through four
consecutive 50 loss seasons. Last year's playoff run
was a second "Miracle on Ice."

It was a miracle that a team from Tampa Bay could win
hockey's greatest trophy, and it was beautiful to see
Ruslan Fedotenko from The Ukraine, and Pavel Kubina
from Checkoslovakia, two players born into the
oppressive Soviet Socialist Eastern Bloc, embrace on
the cover of the following days St. Petersburg Times.

The NHL (players and owners) need to take
responsibility for the fact that they represent a
beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. No league
is as diverse in nationality and language as the NHL.

Arguably these cultural issues, and the fact that so
many young stars leave home without an education,
allow the union to negotiate against the best interest
of their rank and file, while the owners promote a
NFL-style salary cap, sans NFL-style revenue sharing.

Both sides think they can get away with it. If this
hockey season comes and goes without a single game
played it will be because Bettman and Goodenow have
the players, and each other, pegged as fools.

It will be a shame if the NHL is destroyed by two
lawyers who fail to have perspective of the importance
of the game in North America.

Without the NHL, the greatest non-political
repercussion of the Miracle on Ice, loses all of it's
meaning for hockey players around the world. The dream
of hockey players, their families and thier fans, to
live free in Canada and the U.S.

Without the NHL, there will be no million dollar
contracts, no 200 Million dollar franchises. The
league will not stand a chance to start over in the
US.

The NHL inherited a lot from those college kids who
played over their heads in Lake Placid, NY.
Bettman and Goodenow will never be forgiven if they
fail the game.

NFL-Style Cap, NFL-Style Revenue Sharing. Keep the
Miracle alive.


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Robert