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Yearning for the Old Days

Copyright Jon Thomas Mayer, 2002

The years 1942-1967 are commonly referred to as the �Golden Era� of professional hockey. Hockey�s �Golden Era� has been described as being some of the best hockey ever played.

The National Hockey League, North America�s most elite professional hockey circuit, consisted of just six teams during this time. Competition was fierce during this era with teams playing one another a total of 14 times per season. Rivalries were intense and grudges were carried over for years. Teams known as the �Original Six� played a consistent brand of world-class hockey, which has exceeded any level of play that we will ever see again.

These were the days before multi-million-dollar contracts. Men played the game for the love of the sport and the competition it brings. These days hockey is fueled by big money contracts and television revenue. Everything that is good about the game has been diluted and continues to be diluted. Why should a player give 110% if he is guaranteed millions of dollars whether he competes hard or not? Respect for the game and its establishment has been lost. Corporate ideologies and inflated egos now seek to destroy our great game. Commercialization has taken over professional hockey as it has every other facet of life in North America, particularly in the United States.

There are many reasons why the game was better off during the �Golden Era�. Fans knew the players better at that time because there were only 120 roster spots available throughout the entire league. Competition was at a premium because players had to work very hard to make it into the league and even harder to stay in it because coaches and managers didn�t hesitate to bring in someone new if a player lacked the drive required. Today�s game is made up of rampant commercialism and vulgar salaries.

Research that has been done on this era agrees that it was a good time for hockey. It is widely accepted that fans could more easily identify with the players .The few teams and limited roster availability made this possible. Teams were together for long periods of time. Free agency had not reared its ugly head and players were not free to move around from team to team looking for the highest paying contract they would be offered. Players were brought up in the system of their respective teams and were brought in to the NHL when they were deemed ready for the �big time�. It was easy for fans to monitor their favorite team�s �farm system� and see who was being developed for the NHL. By the time these youngsters reached their parent club, fans knew who they were and were already familiar with them. There weren�t any players seeking bigger contracts after a few good years in the league. They would gladly play for their teams and would be happy that they were getting paid to play their favorite game. If a player ever went into a slump or didn�t give his all, he would be sent back to the minor leagues and another player would be brought in to take his place. This philosophy helped to set a higher standard of play.

It isn�t hard to see why rivalries were more fierce during this time due to playing each other so many times and there being only six teams. Today�s NHL consists of 30 teams spread all across the United States and Canada. Schedules must be revised to make sure that teams have an opportunity to play each of the other 29 clubs. This dilutes rivalries and makes it nearly impossible to develop new ones.

There are those that would suggest that today�s game is better. Some would argue that the �Golden Era� was more violent than today. Stick swinging, known as slashing, was common and often led to injuries. Tempers ran high between the six teams and altercations such as these were not so uncommon. Teams and players simply hated each other and seeing each other so many times during the season often led to dangerous situations. However, rules are in place to prevent this sort of thing and it has worked its way out of the game for the most part.

Others would suggest that the talent pool is much better today because of the influx on international players. In the �old days� only North American athletes played in the NHL. Now, the best players the world has to offer compete in the league. European players began coming over in bunches during the early 1990�s and it continues to this day. While providing us with a very skillful game, Europeans have altered our great game in many aspects. Players are �softer� today than that of yesteryear and this has led many people to suggest that hockey just isn�t what it used to be. North America has watched these players change the way hockey is played and it simply doesn�t represent what hockey is about.

Individuals do not decide the outcome of a game. Hockey is a team-first sport and always has been. The new generation of hockey has introduced us to players who consider individual achievements more important that hockey�s most coveted prize, the Stanley Cup. Showing off stick handling skills and trying to beat your opponent one on one can be exciting and often quite thrilling, but it doesn�t represent the fundamentals of a team sport.

There are several ways to solve the problems of today�s game. First, we must bring salaries back down to earth. Free agency was introduced in the 1970�s and although not necessarily a bad thing, has led to ego problems and conflicts between players and management. Agents now represent players in contract discussions where players will often sit out a full season if dissatisfied with the money being offered. Alan Eagleson started much of the damage done in the way of negotiating contracts. Eagleson, a lawyer turned agent, lobbied hard for better payment of hockey players. This is not to say, that players aren�t worth the money that they bring in to their respective teams, but it has gotten way out of hand. It is true that hockey players were under-compensated for their great play and contributions to their respective teams and cities for which they played, but multi-million-dollar contract negotiations have gotten to the point of being ridiculous. Unhappy players who refuse to play for being underpaid or under-appreciated is bad for the game and worse for its fans.

Expansion must cease if hockey is ever going to stabilize. Competition isn�t nearly what it used to be. The talent pool will continue to be diluted terribly with so many teams playing in the world�s most elite professional league. Before an expansion team can even be competitive, they are being pushed out of the league due to financial problems. Small market teams cannot compete with the likes of cities such as New York and Detroit. These newcomers are being put in hopeless situations from the very dawn of their existence. A team such as the Minnesota Wild will not ever be able to compete with the larger markets given their 18 million dollar payroll. Compare the Wild�s payroll with that of the Detroit Red Wings, whose payroll exceeds 64 million. If the goal for the league is to have every team in contention for he Stanley Cup at the beginning of the season, the number of teams must be decreased and any further mention of expansion must be squashed.

The league should stop buying into the commercialization of sport and quit making it a �corporate� game. The blue-collar fan has already been lost. With the average ticket price exceeding 45 dollars, it is next to impossible for a middle class family to make it out o the rink and watch their favorite teams. Hockey was not built upon corporate ideology and it must stop its current way of thinking. It isn�t the million dollar corporations that got hockey to where it is and they certainly will not keep it there. If the league seeks to expand its current fan base and bring in a new generation of fans, it must make the game affordable and not continue to drive away its existing fans. Professional hockey was built upon athletes who played with a high level of commitment and love of the sport itself, not million-dollar businessman who will continue to pervert the current status of hockey to build upon their already outrageous salaries.

Players competed harder for less money in the �Golden Era� and the fans rewarded them for it by filling the arenas to 94% capacity throughout these golden years. Can the fans be won back at this point? The answer is yes they can. However, action must be taken soon or the NHL will fall into the same dismal trap that Major League Baseball fell into during the past decade. Does the NHL and its executives care what their fans think? The question remains to be answered.

Minor league hockey is becoming a better alternative to the NHL. Players compete hard every night because they can�t afford not to. The action at a minor pro hockey game can be more intense and exciting to watch than the NHL. The biggest reason that minor league hockey is winning fans, however, is the fact that you don�t have to earn a six-digit salary to take your family out to a game. Perhaps the NHL can learn a thing or two from this and bring fans back as well a foster a new generation of fans into the sport.

If escalating salaries can be put under control and good old-fashioned ethics brought back, the NHL will survive and even thrive. Ideals that were established during the �Golden Era� need to be reintroduced to this new generation of greed and self-promotion. Hockey officials and players alike need to take a look at the past and discover what has been lost. By examining the overall corrosion of the NHL and how it has destroyed itself, maybe something can be done to restore the game to its former glory known as hockey�s �Golden Era�. Let us revert back to when hockey was a game and not a business. Professional hockey at its highest level cannot be repaired until we do so.