"I was looking forward to a great, great season, with Rick Nash coming over here complementing a couple of the others like (Marian) Gaborik and (Brad) Richards." It took seven years to obtain the kind of status that we have now in hockey. We have NBC's sports channel, they had L.A. winning (last season), they had the Rangers going far in the playoffs. Seven different teams won the Stanley Cup the last seven years. I mean, think about that.

"And now there's a chill. It's a chill the fans don't like, and I hope the (league and players' association) don't too much damage. But the longer they wait, the (sadder) the fans get and the more disappointed. We keep our fingers crossed."

-Rod Gilbert, HHOF member. More from Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News.