IT HAPPENED - NHL LOCKED OUT, BUT RICHELIEU CUP IS ON!!

By IRA PODELL

NEW YORK (AP) - The clock struck midnight, and the NHL turned into another sports league closed for business.  Fortunately, however, hockey fans will still be able to enjoy the sport's premier competition as the Morning Hockey Club was quick to announce the NHL lockout will have no effect on the Richelieu Cup playoff commencing tomorrow.

Unable to reach agreement on a new labor deal, the National Hockey League locked out its players at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the third major pro sport to impose a work stoppage in the last 18 months, behind the NFL and NBA.

Meanwhile, the MHC Gold Honey Badgers and Blue Dogs were preparing for the long awaited start of the best of seven playoff for the coveted Cardinal Richelieu Cup.  The Honey Badgers (f/k/a Gold Weasels) are defending champs.

This is the fourth shutdown for the NHL since 1992, including a year-long dispute that forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season when the league successfully held out for a salary cap.  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman followed through on his longstanding pledge to lock out the players if no deal was in place.

Morning Hockey Club Commissioner Gerry Nadeau commented, "We tried to help the two sides out by suggesting the NHL adopt our compensation plan (MHC pays nothing and only imposes harsh player fines), but it didn't fly." 

"We have been suggesting our players apply for permission to play in the Richelieu Cup playoff," player association representative Steve Fehr said Saturday in a written statement. "Don Fehr, myself and several players on the Negotiating Committee were in the City of Portland and prepared to meet. The MHC said that it saw no purpose in having a meeting."

MHC director of player/personnel JJ Mokarzel said, "The NHL guys are great but we really don't need them.  Besides, our fans expect a higher caliber of play and we do not want to water down the product."

"It's a sad situation for everybody. Nobody wants to be in this spot," Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We couldn't agree on a deal with them [Morning Hockey]. We see it one way, and they another way unfortunately."

On Friday, the Quebec labor relations board rejected a request from the players' association for a temporary injunction to require the Morning Hockey Club to accept NHL players. The board ruled that it had no jurisdiction over playoffs in the United States.

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