As the NHL lockout has loomed for close to two months, people who depend on the NHL for a living has had to find alternate ways to make a living. For the players, this can range from playing in Europe, the AHL, or staying at home with their families and workout locally.
Things aren’t so easy for the support staff of NHL teams. While NHL arenas sit empty, team personnel such as ticket sales representatives, maintenance crew, radio and TV broadcasters, and temporary game day employees have either been laid off or have their work hours cut dramatically. Same goes for the people in the cities where these teams reside, who depend on the cold, harsh winter to keep their business in the black instead of the red. This goes for bar owners, who may have his business a few footsteps from the arena. Instead of counting on a game two-three times a week, he is only open when there’s the occasional concert or a game for those who are lucky to share a building with another sports team.
Which is why I was very irked when 20-year-old Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers went on a complaining rant to the Edmonton Sun about life in the minor leagues. Hall is currently playing for Edmonton’s affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. Mind you this is someone who was playing junior hockey in Windsor three years ago, where players have a life consisting of hockey, school, taking a bus to games and living with a billet family.
Hall told Robert Tychkowski:
“There’s not a lot of fans in Oklahoma,” sighed Hall, who played to 2,064 in his first game back.
“And in San Antonio we were pretty much playing on cement, the ice was so bad. Now, we get to come to Canada and be in front of a crowd that really does care about hockey.” When he mentioned going back to Canada, he was talking about playing against the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.
Well Taylor, you must have gotten so cozy and comfortable playing for 18,000+ fans every night in the NHL that you make it seem like you never played in small crowds like you did in the OHL. While I understand you might not have played for 2,064 fans since you were 14, those are still fans who are paying their hard-earned money to see the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick in the NHL play. This might be their only chance to play in Oklahoma City, so you should shut up and take what you can get.
If you don’t like the terrible ice conditions or the small crowds or the bus rides, you are more than welcome to leave the team, return to Edmonton and skate at the local ice rink with your teammates. You said you are thankful to be playing with the Barons, but when you complain about the life a minor league player has, please keep in mind the career minor-league player who has seen his playing time shrinking because of the influx of NHL players or the laid off waitress at Rexall Place and how their standard of living is because of the NHL lockout.
Stay positive… It’s not that bad