How many times have you heard that the NHL regular season is too long? Well, that certainly won’t be an issue when the 2012-13 season begins Saturday, three plus months later than scheduled.

I am not advocating for a lockout each season, in fact we know there will be labor peace for the next eight years of their 10-year deal, but let’s be realistic in that there are many benefits to having 48 games instead of 82.

Every game is more meaningful. Part of the NFL’s success is that each of the 16 games usually is important. The NHL will still play three times as many games as the NFL; however, it’s normally five times as much. That’s a significant difference, and the fewer games should provide more excitement near the end of the season, in mid and late April.

Secondly, the cost to watch the games is much more affordable. As an example, season ticket holders only have to pay for 24 games instead of 41, without attending those nonsense and meaningless pre-season games. In other words, there is a “bigger bang for the buck”.

 

In addition, in an 82 game schedule, what happens on the ice in the first 1/3 of the season rarely has an impact about who wins the Stanley Cup. On this date last season the L.A. Kings were 7^th in the West. They eventually just snuck into the playoffs with an 8^th place finish and eventually became the first team to lead 3-0 in all four post-season series. Need I say more?

I realize hockey fans are angry at the work stoppage and it will take time south of the border to regain support, but in the spring this unnecessary lockout will be nearly forgotten.

There will be no asterisk to the champions because it’s all about the playoffs which have not been affected. The Miami Heat won last year’s NBA title after a lockout shortened regular season and no one has suggested that diminished Lebron’s first ring.

 

In 1994-95, the last time the NHL played a 48-game schedule because of a labor disruption, the Stars earned the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with 42 points, just one more than the Kings, two more than the Jets, three more than the Oilers and four more than the Ducks. In other words, all 12 teams were in the hunt until the very end.

 

As we prepare for games on January 19^th, the Columbus Blue Jackets in the west and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the east are among the teams tied for first place. This may never happen again on this date so everyone just enjoy the moment, forget about the past, and get ready for a mad scramble to the finish. Yes, there are times that less can be best.

 

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Sometimes a potential story is not quite what it appears. On January 8th, Drew Czerwonka sent out a tweet that read: “Officially a Cougar #greatnews”. Czerwonka was in his 5^th season with the Kootenay Ice when he relayed his transaction.

Understandably, some media members jumped to conclusions that Czerwonka had been traded to the Prince George Cougars. After all, the WHL trade deadline was just two days later on January 10th, so it made sense to believe the 20-year-old winger was headed to P.G.

As it turns out, Czerwonka did become a “Cougar”, a Regina Cougar as he made the jump to Canada West (CWUAA) to finish the season playing University hockey near his hometown of Glenavon, SASK.

The moral of the story, never ASSUME anything, because we all know what that means.

 

 

Alex Rodriguez underwent successful hip surgery. With an average 6-month recovery time the Yankees slugger expects to be back in plenty of time to do nothing in the playoffs.

 

 

GM Theo Epstein says the Chicago Cubs don’t want to be known as "loveable losers." So he’s going
to have them stop being loveable?

 

 

 

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, Californiawww.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

 

 

Lance Wrongwrong apparently has resorted to back-PEDaling.

 

 

In an effort to gain a TV deal, The Lingerie Football League is rebranding itself as The Legends Football League. The girls will have their lingerie stripped and replaced with traditional non-revealing football gear. The latter is just in case Brent Musberger becomes an announcer.

 

 

Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)

 

 

 

A spokesman for Notre Dame said he believes Manti Te’o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax. The perpetrators had reportedly also pulled a similar hoax on Howard of ‘The Big Bang Theory’.

A long-suspected bombshell was dropped during the Lance Armstrong-Oprah Winfrey interview—-Oprah finally confessed to liposuction.

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

Lance Armstrong surprised all in his interview with Oprah when, in an attempt to get the public back on his side, he opened the interview with “Do you know I only have one ball?”

At the end of NC State’s win over No. 1 Duke a child in a wheelchair was rolled out onto the floor and almost trampled by the crowd. This is the second incident in recent weeks where someone was wheeled out onto the playing field with near catastrophic results. The last time the Washington Redskins nearly lost the services of RG3 for good.

Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgaryhttp://smacksport.blogspot.com

 

 

Once again, Kevin Garnett is being criticized for a personal attack on an opponent, as he told Carmelo Anthony that his wife tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios during a recent game. I think its pretty obvious that Garnett is a cereal offender.

 

 

Comedy writer Marc Ragovin of New York

 

 

What do you call Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec’s impaired driving conviction and licence suspension in Kladno, west of Prague? A Czechstop program.

 

Bumbum is the name of:

a) A Brazilian derriere contest won by Carine Felizardo;
b) The Tebow-Sanchez quarterback controversy.

 

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com      

Attention, track-and-field buffs: The Nude Olympics begin Jan. 20 at Maslin Beach near Adelaide, Australia.
Events include sack races, Frisbee throwing and — everyone’s favorite — the picket-fence hurdles.

 

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Timeshttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sidelinechatter/

 

 

Golfer Annika Sorenstam cut off the tip of her finger in a kitchen accident. She looked at the other fingers on her hand and yelled “Four!”

 

Comedy writer Jim Barach  (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/) 

 

 

 

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com.