The National Hockey League is starting to feel the pressure. With its players playing in games in all parts of the globe, Commissioner Gary Bettman, his staff, and the owners have put together a new proposal for the NHL Players Association to chew on. The goal for the NHL is to find a way to reach a resolution in time to cram all 82 games of the schedule into the 2012-2013 calendar year, which was expected to run from October 11 to April 13.

The latest proposal features a 50/50 split in revenue sharing between the players and the league. The league originally wanted a 57/43 split in their favor. Contracts would be capped at five years. Players would reach free agency at 28 years old or eight years of service time. The salary cap for the 2012-13 season would be $59.9 million, which, 16 of the league’s 30 teams are currently exceeding that number. Teams would be allowed to exceed the cap for this season.

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Monday morning, I get up at 4 AM to get on my plane. As if my week wasn’t starting out crappy enough, when I get to my connection city, I have that all-too-familiar feeling come over me: I am sick. Fantastic.

Sickness hits me in the same way opening the Ark of the Covenant hits Nazi leaders. My entire face starts to melt, I overheat, and I turn into a puddle of worthless protoplasm. This is an especially convenient effect when I have another flight ahead of me, followed by a full day of meetings, followed by one of the most important meetings of my life (this week version) the next day followed by another full day of work and more travel. Somehow I need to figure out a way to make it happen.

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The National Hockey League’s lockout definitely sours the month of October for hockey fans, but not everyone is going to be upset with what’s going on at the NHL level. Fans in American Hockey League cities are thrilled at the opportunity the lockout has presented. The quality of the product is sure to go up this season as several of the NHL’s top young players will be participating in hockey’s top minor league level. Like so many teams in the AHL, the Lake Erie Monsters will benefit from their parent club, the Colorado Avalanche, not starting the season on time.

After making the playoffs during the 2010-11 season, the Lake Erie Monsters fell short last season, finishing two points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dealing with a rash of injuries, both in Cleveland and in Colorado, and having players called up to the NHL, the Monsters leading scorer, Evan Brophey, had a measly 39 points. Five different goaltenders split the 76-game schedule. Forty-nine different players put on Monsters sweaters and it led to a lack of continuity on the team.

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October 11 was supposed to be a joyous day for hockey fans. It was supposed to be opening night of the league they love dearly. Instead, it’s a reminder of how far away the NHL season might be. The league is in its second lockout in less than 10 years. With a lack of foresight in the last collective bargaining agreement, the league is right back where it started, after steadily gaining popularity and ratings over the last six years, despite not having a major television deal. Fans, players, and everyone else involved are hoping that this is not a repeat of the 2004-05 lockout, which lasted the entire season.

As it always is, the league and its owners are butting heads with the players association. Revenue sharing, player safety, and salary rollbacks are the hot button issues, things that should have been solved back in 2005 but concessions from both sides to end the labor stoppage left a lot of loose ends. The NHL instituted a salary cap in its new CBA in 2005, but that proved to be a fruitless endeavor. Back then, both sides agreed to a hard cap of $39 million dollars. Like clockwork, the salary cap has risen every season since the agreement, climbing above $60 million for the 2011-12 season.

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