WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.759 The deep dive. The 2012 -13 NHL season lockout 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:07.139 shortened schedule. and historic streaks. Join 00:00:07.139 --> 00:00:09.580 us for a fascinating deep dive into the 2012 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:14.419 -13 NHL season. We explore the bitter 119 -day 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:17.359 NHL lockout that threatened the sport, the intense 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.719 48 -game shortened hockey season that followed, 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.320 and the historic milestones achieved by the Chicago 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.140 Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Discover 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.460 the ripple effects of the new salary cap, sudden 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:30.179 rule changes, and the cancellation of major events 00:00:30.179 --> 00:00:32.740 like the Winter Classic. Whether you are a diehard 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:35.280 fan brushing up on NHL history or just love a 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.439 story of high stakes negotiations and incredible 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.380 athletic resilience, this deep dive extracts 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:42.179 the most important insights from one of the most 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:44.340 unusual years in professional sports. Imagine 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:47.119 gearing up for an exhausting, physically punishing 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:50.780 82 game marathon. You spent your entire offseason 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:52.979 preparing. The fans are ready. The ice is fresh. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.280 Right. You're totally dialed in. Exactly. And 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.380 then suddenly you show up to the arena and find 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.200 the doors literally padlocked. A complete standstill. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.880 Yeah. And when you finally are allowed back in 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.280 months later, the schedule has been slashed nearly 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.579 in half. And on top of that, the very rules of 00:01:08.579 --> 00:01:10.540 the game you play have been quietly rewritten. 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:12.519 It's a logistical nightmare. OK, let's unpack 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:14.739 this. Yeah. Because today our mission is to explore 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:25.019 one of the most chaotic. The 2012 -2013 NHL season. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.319 It really is a year unlike any other. We are 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:29.719 pulling all our insights today directly from 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.159 Wikipedia's comprehensive breakdown of this incredibly 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.879 bizarre year in professional hockey. We're going 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:36.879 to guide you through the boardroom brawls of 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:39.439 a bitter lockout, the strange realities of a 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.340 48 -game shortened schedule. And the real -world 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:44.760 tragedies that force the game to pause. Exactly. 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:47.950 Plus... The historic streaks forged in this high 00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:50.230 -pressure cooker by teams like the Chicago Blackhawks 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:52.469 and the Pittsburgh Penguins. What's fascinating 00:01:52.469 --> 00:01:55.370 here is how extreme constraints, like a sudden 00:01:55.370 --> 00:01:58.510 lockout and a drastically altered timeline, forced 00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:01.469 both the league and the players to adapt in unprecedented 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:05.109 ways. When you take the traditional grind of 00:02:05.109 --> 00:02:07.769 a pro sports season and compress it, you don't 00:02:07.769 --> 00:02:10.270 just get less hockey. You get a completely different 00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:12.509 psychological environment. I mean, every single 00:02:12.509 --> 00:02:14.770 night suddenly carries the weight of a playoff 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:17.139 elimination game. But before we get to the on 00:02:17.139 --> 00:02:19.659 -ice magic, we have to start in the boardroom. 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:22.759 Because the grim reality is that on September 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:26.280 15, 2012, the season didn't start with a puck 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.479 drop. It started with a work stoppage. A massive 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:32.400 one. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, backed by 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.439 all 29 league ownership groups, plus the league 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:37.620 itself, which collectively owned the Phoenix 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.389 Coyotes at the time, officially locked out the 00:02:40.389 --> 00:02:42.169 players. And we should point out, this was the 00:02:42.169 --> 00:02:45.370 NHL's fifth labor dispute in 20 years. Fifth. 00:02:45.669 --> 00:02:48.310 That is just wild. That statistic is staggering 00:02:48.310 --> 00:02:50.469 when you put it in perspective. Between the strike 00:02:50.469 --> 00:02:54.550 in 1992, lockouts in 1994 to 95, and 2004 to 00:02:54.550 --> 00:02:58.150 05, and even a referees lockout in 1993. I'm 00:02:58.150 --> 00:03:00.210 afraid about the referees. Yeah. The NHL had 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:02.530 more labor disputes than any other major professional 00:03:02.530 --> 00:03:04.650 sports league in the United States and Canada 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:07.069 during that same period. So what were they actually 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:10.030 fighting over this time? The core conflict in 00:03:10.030 --> 00:03:12.530 2012 really came down to revenue sharing and 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:15.289 contract limitations. The owners were demanding 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:17.990 a significant drop in the player's share of hockey 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.349 -related revenues. They wanted to pull it from 00:03:20.349 --> 00:03:24.469 57 % down to 46%. That's a huge cut. Massive. 00:03:24.969 --> 00:03:27.310 Furthermore, they wanted to cap player contracts 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:30.330 at a maximum of five years, eliminate salary 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:33.569 arbitration entirely, and extend entry -level 00:03:33.569 --> 00:03:36.250 deals. Which, you know, from the player's perspective, 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:39.050 looks like a severe rollback of their earning 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:41.169 potential and their freedom of movement. But 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:43.050 what always stands out to me in the source material 00:03:43.050 --> 00:03:46.750 is the paradox. of Bettman's argument. The Great 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:49.310 Recession argument. Yes. He openly acknowledged 00:03:49.310 --> 00:03:51.090 that the previous collective bargaining agreement 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:53.590 was fair, but he argued that the owners needed 00:03:53.590 --> 00:03:55.729 these new concessions because of the Great Recession. 00:03:55.789 --> 00:03:58.210 Right. The contradiction there, which the players 00:03:58.210 --> 00:04:00.969 and media heavily pointed out, was that the league 00:04:00.969 --> 00:04:03.129 had actually experienced significant financial 00:04:03.129 --> 00:04:06.969 growth during that exact same time frame. And... 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.280 We obviously aren't taking sides here, but looking 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.740 purely at the historical record, that contradiction 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:13.979 was the primary roadblock in the negotiations. 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:16.980 You had ownership claiming economic hardship 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.579 while the league was simultaneously reporting 00:04:19.579 --> 00:04:22.439 record revenues. It just didn't add up for the 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.899 players. No, it didn't. And this fundamental 00:04:24.899 --> 00:04:28.120 disagreement completely stalled the sport. It 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:30.519 stalled the NHL, sure, but it didn't stall the 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:32.480 players. They didn't just sit on their couches 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:34.740 waiting for a phone call. Locked out players 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:37.579 immediately started fleeing to European leagues. 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:39.980 That was such a smart move on their part. We 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:42.540 saw a massive wave of NHL talent signing with 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.579 the KHL, the Czech Astrologa, and the SM Liga. 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:48.019 Fans over in Europe were suddenly getting to 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:50.759 watch North American superstars in their local 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.680 ranks. This was a highly strategic leverage play. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:56.160 By heading overseas, the players proved they 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.480 had alternative revenue streams and could stay 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.959 in game shape. It fundamentally threatened the 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.560 NHL's monopoly on top tier talent. While the 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:05.920 NHL was stuck canceling regular season games 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.180 block by block. Exactly. watching their leverage 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:12.560 slowly dwindle as the weeks dragged on. Well, 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:15.860 it dragged on for months until January 6, 2013, 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:19.560 when the two sides finally sat down for a grueling 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:23.399 16 -hour negotiating session. 16 straight hours. 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:25.680 You can only imagine the sheer exhaustion in 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.620 that room. But they birthed a tentative 10 -year 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:31.920 deal. The owners ratified it, the players followed, 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.860 and they established a stark new financial reality. 00:05:35.520 --> 00:05:39.259 The team's salary cap was set at $64 .3 million. 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.579 And the strategic impact of that specific number 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:45.339 cannot be overstated. Prior to the lockout, the 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:48.420 league had projected a salary cap of $70 .2 million. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.860 Oh, so general managers were already spending 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:53.139 based on that higher number. Precisely. They 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:55.220 had been signing players and building their rosters 00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:58.360 for a $70 million cap. When the new CBA suddenly 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.800 dropped it to $64 .3 million, with a floor of 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.560 $44 million, by the way, it instantly forced 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:06.220 teams to dismantle their debt. There must have 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:07.839 been chaos in the front office. Total chaos. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.100 You saw general managers scrambling to trade 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:12.540 away key third and fourth line players just to 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:15.019 become cap compliant before the puck even dropped. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:17.279 It completely shifted team building strategies 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.939 overnight. OK, here's where it gets really interesting, 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.639 though. Because they didn't sign this deal until 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.459 January. The season officially kicked off on 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:30.079 January 19, 2013. The NHL announced a 48 -game 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.779 sprint, and the entire structure of the schedule 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:35.819 was radically altered. The bubble effect. Yes. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.319 There was absolutely zero inter -conference play. 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.199 Think about that for a second. If you were a 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:44.819 team in the Eastern Conference, you never saw 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:47.480 a team from the Western Conference. Each team 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:50.959 played 18 games within its own division and 30 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.560 games against the rest of their conference. The 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:56.560 league created a structural bubble. It completely 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.019 isolated the two halves of the league from one 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:01.639 another until the Stanley Cup final. You say 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:03.839 it isolated them, but didn't that also mean teams 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:06.209 got incredibly sick of each other? If you were 00:07:06.209 --> 00:07:08.649 only playing the same handful of regional rivals 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:11.149 over and over again in a compressed time frame, 00:07:11.329 --> 00:07:13.589 the bad blood must have escalated exponentially. 00:07:13.930 --> 00:07:16.589 Oh, the animosity was palpable on the ice. You 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.209 were seeing the same enforcers, the same agitators 00:07:19.209 --> 00:07:21.790 multiple times a month. The localized rivalries 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:23.910 became intense. But the fans missed out on some 00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:26.389 big stuff, too. They did. The league suffered 00:07:26.389 --> 00:07:29.029 significant casualties due to the delayed start. 00:07:29.230 --> 00:07:32.519 The 2013 winter classic. which was supposed to 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:34.560 feature the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.199 Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium, was pushed to 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.639 2014. Such a bummer. And the 2013 NHL All -Star 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.420 Game in Columbus was also canceled. The league 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:47.139 lost its major midseason marketing tentpoles. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:49.500 They didn't just change the schedule and cancel 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:51.379 events, they actually changed the rules of the 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:55.680 game on the fly. Sneaky but vital changes. Exactly. 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:59.000 When the new CBA was ratified, several rule changes 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.170 took effect immediately. For example, on faceoffs, 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:05.529 any attempt by a center to win the draw by batting 00:08:05.529 --> 00:08:07.870 the puck with their hand resulted in an automatic 00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:10.610 minor penalty for delay of game. To understand 00:08:10.610 --> 00:08:12.629 why that matters, you have to look at the tactic 00:08:12.629 --> 00:08:15.129 centers we're using. Prior to this, players would 00:08:15.129 --> 00:08:17.189 intentionally tie up their opponent's stick and 00:08:17.189 --> 00:08:19.069 just paw the puck backward with their glove. 00:08:19.269 --> 00:08:21.189 Right, turning faceoffs into wrestling matches. 00:08:21.490 --> 00:08:24.310 Exactly. Banning the hand pass forced players 00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:26.930 to actually use their stick skills, which significantly 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:29.670 sped up the resumption of play. They also cracked 00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:33.210 down on players intentionally sawing. A minor 00:08:33.210 --> 00:08:35.429 penalty was introduced for any player who put 00:08:35.429 --> 00:08:37.730 their glove on the puck anywhere on the ice and 00:08:37.730 --> 00:08:40.029 closed their hand on it to force a stoppage. 00:08:40.210 --> 00:08:42.110 That was a direct attack on fatigue management. 00:08:42.470 --> 00:08:45.110 In previous years, a tired defender who was trapped 00:08:45.110 --> 00:08:48.070 on the ice for a long shift could just fall on 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:50.110 the puck, smother it, and take the whistle to 00:08:50.110 --> 00:08:52.409 get a line change. Removing that safety valve 00:08:52.409 --> 00:08:55.250 forced the pace of play to stay high, even when 00:08:55.250 --> 00:08:57.720 players were completely gassed. It made the game 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:00.120 faster and definitely more punishing. They also 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.000 tweaked player safety rules. Officials no longer 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.580 had to be certain that a stick made contact with 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:07.960 a player's hands to call a slashing penalty. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:11.100 Furthermore, making contact with an opponent's 00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:13.600 face mask became an automatic minor penalty. 00:09:14.110 --> 00:09:16.549 The margin of error for defenders got a lot smaller. 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:19.289 So imagine your workplace suddenly cutting your 00:09:19.289 --> 00:09:21.769 project timeline in half while simultaneously 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:24.190 changing the fundamental day -to -day rules of 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:26.509 how you operate and telling you that you can 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:28.870 only communicate with a fraction of your colleagues. 00:09:29.269 --> 00:09:31.669 It sounds like a nightmare. That is the pressure 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:33.690 cooker environment these athletes walked into 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:37.529 on January 19th. I remember Chicago came out 00:09:37.529 --> 00:09:40.549 swinging in that environment, but how anomalous 00:09:40.549 --> 00:09:43.919 was their start mathematically? The Chicago Blackhawks 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:47.100 start to the 2012 -13 season is a statistical 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.059 anomaly we may never see repeated. They set an 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.759 NHL record by earning at least one point in their 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:56.000 first 24 games of the season. 24 games. Yes. 00:09:56.100 --> 00:09:59.080 In a 48 -game sprint, they went exactly half 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.860 the year without a regulation loss. Their record 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:05.460 was 21 wins, zero regulation losses, and three 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:07.700 overtime or shootout losses. Half the season 00:10:07.700 --> 00:10:10.279 without a regulation loss is unfathomable. And 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:12.730 their goaltender, Ray Emery... became the first 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:14.889 goalie in league history to start a season with 00:10:14.889 --> 00:10:17.710 12 straight wins. If you look at the locker room 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:19.769 psychology of that streak, it speaks volumes 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:21.830 about the constraints of the season. Because 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:23.710 the schedule was so short, there was no safety 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:26.409 net. Every point was magnified. Exactly. The 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:28.669 Blackhawks treated every single game in January 00:10:28.669 --> 00:10:31.509 and February like a Game 7. There was zero time 00:10:31.509 --> 00:10:34.490 for a slump, and that urgency forged a historic 00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:36.889 level of consistency. They weren't the only ones 00:10:36.889 --> 00:10:39.460 making history, though. Over in the Eastern Conference, 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:42.039 the Pittsburgh Penguins had a run that was equally 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.039 mesmerizing. The Penguins orchestrated a perfect 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.460 calendar month. From March 2nd to March 30th, 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:51.860 they won 15 consecutive games. Wow. They became 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:55.179 the first NHL franchise to win every single game 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:57.700 they played during a calendar month, sealing 00:10:57.700 --> 00:11:00.720 that streak with a 2 -0 shutout against the Islanders. 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:03.100 Winning 15 games in a row against professional 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:05.840 competition, especially against division rivals 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.120 who are learning your tactics inside and out, 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:11.120 is phenomenal. It really is. The intensity of 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.500 the season reached an absolute fever pitch in 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:16.299 April. The playoff pictures were finalizing, 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:19.360 the localized rivalries were boiling over, and 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.759 the momentum was unrelenting. And then the real 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.399 world abruptly stepped in and paused the entire 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:27.700 machine. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:30.740 we have to talk about April 15th, the day of 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.220 the Boston Marathon bombing. It was a horrifying 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:36.700 tragedy that brought an entire city and the nation 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:40.639 to a standstill. And the NHL naturally had to 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.320 pivot immediately. The Boston Bruins were scheduled 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:46.220 to play the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden the 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:48.759 very night of the bombing. That game was postponed, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.179 obviously, and eventually rescheduled to April 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:53.460 28th. Which was actually the day after the regular 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:55.639 season was originally supposed to end. Right. 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.220 And the disruptions continued as that harrowing 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.899 week unfolded. The Bruins had another game scheduled 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.600 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 19th. 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:06.919 But due to the citywide lockdown and the intense 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:09.799 manhunt for the bombing suspects, that game was 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.600 also postponed. pushed back to April 20th once 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.200 the lockdown was finally lifted. Exactly, which 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.539 created a domino effect that altered the schedules 00:12:17.539 --> 00:12:19.720 of other teams, like the Sabres, later in the 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:22.220 week. We get so caught up in the stats, the streaks, 00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:24.539 and the lockout drama, but moments like that 00:12:24.539 --> 00:12:26.740 are a sobering reminder that at the end of the 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.679 day, it's just a game. It reminds us that sports 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:33.100 schedules, which normally seem so rigid and uncompromising, 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:36.139 dictated by television contracts, travel logistics 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:39.480 and arena availability, must immediately bow 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.279 to the gravity of real world events. Absolutely. 00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:45.019 The resilience of the city of Boston during that 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:47.679 time became a profound emotional undercurrent 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.379 for the rest of the NHL season, heavily impacting 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.600 the narrative surrounding the Bruins as they 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.940 pushed into the playoffs. Speaking of resilience, 00:12:55.259 --> 00:12:58.750 we really should talk about the fans. After a 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:02.309 bitter 119 -day lockout where ownership and players 00:13:02.309 --> 00:13:04.570 fought over revenue percentages while canceling 00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:07.090 half the season, you might expect the fans to 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.110 be completely alienated. You would think so. 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:12.049 You might expect empty arenas as a form of protest 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:14.350 against the business side of the sport. But the 00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:16.429 source material shows the exact opposite happened. 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:19.169 The loyalty of hockey fans proved to be remarkably 00:13:19.169 --> 00:13:21.990 steadfast. Despite the frustration of the lockout, 00:13:22.070 --> 00:13:24.289 total attendance for this shortened 48 -game 00:13:24.289 --> 00:13:27.600 season hit over 12 .7 million. If you look at 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.720 the Chicago Blackhawks, the numbers are almost 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:34.320 comical. They average 21 ,755 fans per game. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.860 The stated capacity of the United Center for 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:40.539 Hockey is around 19 ,700. So they were operating 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:44.620 at 110 .4 % capacity. Yes. Which tells us that 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:46.940 standing room only tickets were selling out every 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:49.940 single night. The fans were so starved for hockey 00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:52.340 and the team was playing at such an elite historic 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:55.399 level that the building was literally overflowing. 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:57.720 The players certainly delivered for those fans 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.460 when it came to individual performances. Let's 00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:02.179 look at the hardware handed out at the end of 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:05.440 this cloudy sprint. Martin St. Louis of the Tampa 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.200 Bay Lightning took home the Art Ross Trophy as 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.139 the league's top scorer. Racking up 60 points 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:14.500 in just 48 games. Incredible pace. And over in 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:16.679 Washington, Alexander Ovechkin had a phenomenal 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.450 bounce back year. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy 00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:21.309 as the league's most valuable player, and he 00:14:21.309 --> 00:14:23.769 also took home the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy 00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:26.750 for being the top goal scorer, netting 32 goals 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:28.889 in that incredibly tight window. But the voting 00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:31.169 for Ovechkin, that was something else. I have 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:33.250 to bring up this ridiculous quirk of the season, 00:14:33.350 --> 00:14:36.590 because it involves Ovechkin's postseason accolades. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.080 When it came time for the Professional Hockey 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.860 Writers Association to vote for the end -of -season 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:44.580 All -Star teams, there was total confusion among 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:47.600 the voters. Total chaos. Ovechkin was officially 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.100 listed on the ballot as a left wing, but he had 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:52.100 actually played the majority of his games that 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:54.539 season at right wing under his new head coach, 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.929 Adam Oates. So the voters completely fractured 00:14:57.929 --> 00:15:00.429 their ballots. Some members diligently voted 00:15:00.429 --> 00:15:02.990 for him as a left wing based on the printed ballot, 00:15:03.149 --> 00:15:05.649 while others voted for him as a right wing based 00:15:05.649 --> 00:15:08.070 on where he actually played on the ice. Because 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:11.090 of that split, Alexander Ovechkin was officially 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:14.090 named to the NHL first all -star team as the 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.970 right wing, and he was named to the NHL second 00:15:16.970 --> 00:15:19.759 all -star team as the left wing. He literally 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.179 occupied two different positions on the All -Star 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:24.620 roster simultaneously because the writers couldn't 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:26.779 coordinate their votes. Even the Writers Association 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.580 later released a statement basically admitting 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:33.120 they botched the process. It is the perfect absurd 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:36.320 cherry on top of a season where the normal rules 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.970 simply didn't apply. Eventually, though, the 00:15:38.970 --> 00:15:41.490 regular season did end, and the playoffs began 00:15:41.490 --> 00:15:44.129 on April 30th, much later than a traditional 00:15:44.129 --> 00:15:46.250 calendar year. And the playoff structure was 00:15:46.250 --> 00:15:48.629 different, too, right? It was. Because of the 00:15:48.629 --> 00:15:51.269 unique intra -conference regular season, the 00:15:51.269 --> 00:15:53.830 playoffs utilized a reseeding format instead 00:15:53.830 --> 00:15:56.610 of a fixed bracket. In the first three rounds, 00:15:56.809 --> 00:15:59.129 the highest remaining seed in each conference 00:15:59.129 --> 00:16:01.789 always played the lowest remaining seed. So there 00:16:01.789 --> 00:16:04.840 were no set paths. The matchups dynamically adjusted 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.820 after every round. This format ensured that the 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:10.259 top performing teams from that grueling sprint 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:13.559 were consistently rewarded. Ultimately, this 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.039 setup gave us a Stanley Cup final between the 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:18.360 two teams that arguably defined the season the 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.580 most, the historically dominant Chicago Blackhawks 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:24.259 and the emotionally resilient Boston Bruins. 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:27.120 Two original six franchises going head to head. 00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:29.720 In the end, The team that started the season 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:32.120 going 24 games without a regulation loss was 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:34.720 the team that lifted the cup. The Chicago Blackhawks 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.779 defeated the Boston Bruins in six games to win 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:39.580 the Stanley Cup. And Patrick Kane took home the 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:42.759 Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP. It proved 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:44.840 that the Blackhawks' historic start wasn't just 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:46.639 a flash in the pan due to a shortened schedule. 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:50.059 It was the true foundation of a legitimate championship 00:16:50.059 --> 00:16:53.600 run. So what does this all mean? We started this 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:55.879 deep dive looking at a season that began with 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:58.659 padlock doors and ownership fighting with players 00:16:58.659 --> 00:17:01.639 over revenue percentages. It was frustrating 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.900 and it risked alienating the fan base. But once 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:07.359 the puck finally dropped, the sheer constraints 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.660 of the situation ended up delivering some of 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:12.099 the most intense, fiercely competitive hockey 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:14.660 in the history of the sport. It synthesizes a 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:17.539 core truth about performance. Constraints breed 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:20.240 urgency. When you take away the luxury of time, 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.210 you remove the safety net. In a typical 82 -game 00:17:23.210 --> 00:17:25.009 season, teams know they can pace themselves. 00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:27.289 They can afford a sluggish two weeks in November. 00:17:27.589 --> 00:17:30.289 But in a 48 -game season against only your direct 00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:33.369 conference rivals, the margin for error was completely 00:17:33.369 --> 00:17:36.029 erased. Every single game mattered immensely. 00:17:36.369 --> 00:17:38.190 And the players responded by elevating their 00:17:38.190 --> 00:17:40.720 game to historic levels. It leaves you wondering, 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:43.720 as the NHL and other professional leagues constantly 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:47.000 look toward future expansions, potentially lengthening 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.400 the regular season even further to maximize revenue, 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:52.980 are they actually risking the very on -ice product 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:55.740 that makes the game great? Does physical preservation 00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:58.839 and a condensed high -stakes schedule eventually 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:01.440 outweigh the financial growth of an endless marathon? 00:18:02.009 --> 00:18:03.990 That's a great question. It's almost like scarcity 00:18:03.990 --> 00:18:07.309 created a better product. It is definitely something 00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:09.309 for you to mull over the next time you're watching 00:18:09.309 --> 00:18:11.910 a sluggish Tuesday night game in the middle of 00:18:11.910 --> 00:18:13.950 November. Thank you so much for joining us for 00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:15.950 this deep dive into one of the strangest and 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:18.549 most thrilling years in sports history. Keep 00:18:18.549 --> 00:18:21.130 questioning the consensus, keep looking for the 00:18:21.130 --> 00:18:23.710 stories behind the stats, and above all, keep 00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:24.150 exploring.