Anyone who watches "The Casino Rama Grill Room" with regularity knows that I am an Oilers fan. Of course, that comes from the fact that I worked for the team, first as a freelancer and later as the team's Publications Coordinator (meaning that I edited the team's game magazine, newsletters, etc.) from 1997 until the lockout of 2004. Whenever people ask me about the Oilers, I smile and say that I wish the team the best.

I worked with a lot of great people. And when the lockout came, a lot of us couldn't hold out for the year - and had to find work elsewhere. The staff members weren't like players or owners. We needed regular paycheques. No sportswriters bothered to write about the thousands of us around the NHL whose livelihood was cut off or altered by the lockout. We were the real victims of the power struggle between the union and the players. But, for the most part, we all swallowed it because we believed a new economic model for the NHL was part of a greater good. When the NHL resumed, many of the old staffers, from the people who sold season-ticket packages to sponsorship people to administrators, didn't come back. My department was folded. It didn't survive the lockout.

But, I was enthusiastic about the new NHL. I really believed that change was necessary. And I believed what the brass in the Oilers organization, as well as the other owners, were telling staff and fans.

Man, I was stupid enough to buy the Brooklyn Bridge. Yesterday, when the free-agent frenzy began, and I saw a plethora of teams spending millions upon million on No. 4 defencemen and third liners, it became apparent that the lockout did not solve anything. In fact, the next time an owner cries poor, it's the responsibility of fans and people whose livelihoods depend on the NHL to cry, "B.S.!" This spending spree is all on the owners and GMs, people. They are the ones who create the buyers' market. These were the same people (for the most part), who in 2004 decided to scrub a season because the economics didn't work. Now, journeymen players are worth $3 million a season ... and more.

So, I can no longer deny the resentment that continues to build in me regarding the National Hockey League. And, for once, I'm not willing to smile and talk about my NHL past in cliches. Maybe I was worried about burning bridges. Well, when you have been lied to like my co-workers and I were, well, after a while it's hard to deal with the resentment.

The spending foolery of the owners has only proved that the lockout was unnecessary, and we were all idiots to side with the owners. I won't believe the lies again.

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