"Us older guys who have been around a while, we recognize what the game has given us, which is a heck of a living and heck of a life. There comes a time when you’re afraid for the game. The thing that is unique about hockey players is that they’re like the kid next door. They play the game for the right reason. They put everything on the line for two months to compete for the Cup when their salaries are finished. They compete for the right reasons. You never want to destroy that. It’s unique to our sport. Every spring is about that charm. We don’t ever want to see that get lost. That’s the fear about reading about a lockout every day, that becomes more dominant than the reasons why the boys really play hockey. Now we have to earn it all back."

-Ken Hitchcock, head coach of the St. Louis Blues. More from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN in an article titled, Lockout damage will take a long time to fix.