from Bruce Dowbiggin at the Globe and Mail,

For the locked-out NHL, it’s damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Start a portion of a season soon and absorb the scorn of fans and the indifference of sponsors, or wait until next fall to resume play and absorb the inevitable backlash then over misreading the public mood.

It’s the nightmare scenario of the NHL. The fans and clients the NHL so meticulously assembled are headed for the door.

“My clients are beyond frustration with what’s happened, “ says Brian Cooper, president and CEO of S&E Sponsorship Group which handles significant NHL sponsors. “The public has soured on them. Better to wait till the brand is forgiven. By then, it’s probably next summer at the earliest before people will consider the NHL brand again.”

“As a brand or sponsor there’s no time to do whiz-bang plans for half a season. We have back-to-business plans in place in case they settle, but they’re diminishing by the day. You can’t replace the dollars taken away, even if the NHL comes back tomorrow.”

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