Deal reached to end NHL lockout

The NHL lockout that has plagued this 2012-13 season, and has no doubt driven the sport further down on the popularity spectrum, is over.

It still took 113 days and 16 hours of meetings over the weekend before the NHL and the NHL Players' Association reached a deal for a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement. Well, a tentative deal, anyway. I picked out the word "tentative" right away because I almost don't believe the lockout's over until I see that first game taking place.

Jan. 11 was the deadline to get a deal done. If nothing would have happened then, another entire NHL season would have been banished from existence, just like in 2004-05. So, at least the two sides got something accomplished before the 11th hour, I guess.

Money, money, money
One change in the new agreement is a 50-50 split in revenues between the players and owners. I don't like to get into the specifics of money too much with sports, because I think it's all getting pretty ridiculous. I just try to ignore it sometimes and be a sports fan. Anyway, 50-50 sounds fair enough to me.

The other thing I noticed when reading about the deal was that there's a mutual opt-out clause after eight years. Here's to hoping the NHL won't be back in a lockout situation eight years from now. They should just do it right the first time, so they don't have to keep having these lockouts every few years. It does terrible things for the sport.

Salvaged season
I'm glad the lockout's over and that the NHL was able to stop the bleeding. But another part of me wishes the whole season would have been scrapped. Just start fresh next year. So many people have stopped caring with the lockout this year.

It's been tough to follow. A few times, I'd see or hear something positive about the negotiations, like maybe there was a ray of hope that a deal would be reached. The next thing I knew, I'd hear that instead of a deal, the sides were further apart than before. A one step forward, two steps back situation, basically.
Now, it will be quite interesting to see how this salvaged season goes. How many fans won't come back at all? Will the local businesses near arenas that rely on the NHL games for revenue be able to bounce back? I wouldn't be surprised if some cities have trouble supporting a professional hockey team. There are some that struggle already (I'm thinking places like Florida and Phoenix.), so only time will tell.

For the state of hockey here in Minnesota, the end of the lockout means we'll finally get to see Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in Wild sweaters on the ice for games. They were the two blockbuster signings made in July that got this state excited about the Wild again, only to have that stifled by the stubbornness of the lockout.

Games resume Jan. 19
The Wild's schedule is still being developed. The latest I've seen from hockey journo Michael Russo is that the Wild might open Jan. 19 on the road. That last part is key because that date is also Hockey Day Minnesota.

I understand what a cool tradition this day has been for the past few years, with various high school and college games being played all day, capping it off with the Wild. But at this point, I'm going to go with beggars can't be choosers. We're getting professional hockey back folks, so if we don't get a home game for Hockey Day this year, oh well.

We've already lost the Winter Classic and All-Star Game for this season anyway.

Overall, it's good the lockout is finally over. Now it's time to wait and see how it affected the sport.