I’m a Fan
To be clear I am a fan of hockey in general, but specifically the National Hockey League. It is the greatest sport around in my opinion. But before I rant about the current dispute between the NHL and the NHLPA, let me be clear that in all likely hood my alliance or rather my wallet is going to do something different whether the NHL resumes this year for a half season or sits out the full year and returns in the fall of 2013.

The NHL and NHLPA Are Both Wrong
I will never understand millionaires fighting with millionaires who will both be millionaires when the fight is over. Both sides are at fault!

The NHL owners are at fault because it is their ridiculous long-term contracts that they signed players to and then they allowed their dumb ass (yeah I said it) commissioner Gary Bettman to expand into small southern US markets that have no business having an NHL hockey team. Of course Florida/Phoenix/Dallas etc. are going to struggle to make money. They are NFL cities not NHL cities!

The NHLPA is at fault, in my opinion, for thinking that they have the right to tell business owners how to run their businesses. The owners pay you millions of dollars, of which you will still be paid after the lockout ends, so quit your whining and go play hockey. The owners are in business to make money! I do hope the players are enjoying some golf right now.

My Personal Protest of the NHL
As I said at the top of this blog I am an NHL hockey fan and will be a fan when NHL hockey returns. As much as I’d like to close the door on both the NHL and NHLPA, I know I won’t or can’t do that. So to personally protest the NHL, the players and the owners I’m going to do what they are doing. I’m going to sit out a year and make more money!

Great plan right? How am I going to do this? To start I am not going to purchase the NHL Centre Ice package, nor will I purchase my usual 5 games worth of tickets (10 in total) and finally for one year I will not purchase any NHL (mostly Vancouver Canucks) merchandise.

I know this doesn’t mean much to the millionaires (NHL and NHLPA) but to me it means something. Here is my breakdown…

  • NHL Centre Ice package = $220
  • 5 pairs of Vancouver Canucks game tickets at $130 per ticket = $1,300
  • NHL merchandise for one year = $300

So not supporting the NHL for one year for me will save me approximately $1,820 which doesn’t mean much to the millionaires, but it means something to me! And Tara is a happy because it means an extra week of vacation with the savings.
 

Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs on their website, one is their 19th Hole Blog where they share personal experiences and the Biz Blog where they share business best practices and golf industry related opinions. They have owned CK Golf Solutions for 5 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. 

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