I’m sure it came as no surprise to any hockey fan in this country when the self-imposed NHL deadline came and went without a deal being struck.

For the third time in Gary Bettman’s reign the fans are getting a frozen boot to the nether regions. Now the PR campaign will start with both sides explaining to the people they have made sick to their stomachs why their side is right.

In markets like Miami and Tampa Bay, maybe Dallas and Carolina, fans will get mad for a week, then turn their focus to other sports. But north of the 54th parallel, this wound goes very deep and you would be hard pressed to find a fan in support of either the millionaires or the billionaires.

The fact these two sides are battling tooth and nail over money raised by the people they are punishing is harder to figure out than why the Kardashians are famous.

For the average hockey fan, it is mind-boggling to know their favourite player will be dropping on average about $50,000 per game not played until a deal is reached.

You can hear the violin playing already as the tears well up in the eyes of fans who look at that number as a decent yearly wage and not a daily deposit into the bank account. Not likely!

If you are looking for another head scratcher then look no further than the deals struck between players and teams for some mind-numbing numbers. The Oilers signing both Eberle and Hall, the Jets deal for Evander Kane and of course the Weber, Sutter and Parise contracts are all examples of what can only be described as the NHL version of ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’.

I thought part of the problem was the owners saying the players were making way too much money with the players saying they need more and they do this?

Even Dr. Seuss would look at this as being way past sensible!

Snookie and the gang from Jersey Shore show more common sense than this bunch.

We will hear over the next little while how the players love the game and just want to play. I understand that and believe it to be true but it is not going to generate any sympathy from the fans in my opinion. As for the owners, I know it’s their business but when their business causes such strain on fans of the game it’s time to get real about what it is you do and make sure this doesn’t happen again.

sports@reddeerexpress.com