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economist sunsuntribune sports saturday july 16 2005 nhlers anxious to get back on ice jason monger hockey fans prepared to forgive forget after year off by roy green staff writer for some nhl hockey fans its as if last years nonseason never happened a group of fans approached at a newmarket watering hole on a scorching afternoon werent even considering a boycott of the professional game and say they cant wait for the first puck to drop im a canadian i love hockey said jason monger of barrie as he and a few friends enjoyed some cool ones at the hound friday afternoon i wouldnt even consider not watching hockey last season i was forced to watch junior hockey and as much as i love the game its not the same thing i need to see a little darcy tucker the return of the nhl is good news from an economic sense according to cory roach also of barrie we will be saving a lot of money by staying home saturday nights and watching the game on tv he said it was awful last year when nfl football was over and the only thing left to watch was basketball ironically enough it took an american to help explain why most canadians will likely for give and forget all the controversy and the loss of an entire nhl season hockey is in every canadians blood said nathan neal a michi gan resident they couldnt stop watching or going to hockey games if they wanted to the players greed overwhelmed them and they didnt think of the fans but canadians dont care they just want to see the games added mr neal who admits when it comes to hockey hes getting into it more but even in canada there are those for whom the resumption of the puck wars doesnt mean a thing ive never watched a full hockey game in my life i couldnt care less shrugged wayne olliff of river drive park in east gwillimbury i prefer extreme games his companion chad west of lindsay agreed i never played and dont even know how to skate cory roach wayne oliff well have to work hard to win fans back by mike hayakawa and john cudmore staff writers after joe bowen finished his weekly slopitch game wednes day he brought his teammates back to his unionville house for a little celebrating tentative as it was not because they won they were toasting a tenta tive agreement reached that day between the nhl and its play ers association ratification votes are expected next week maybe well break open the champagne said the longtime voice of the toronto maple leafs who like the players sat out the entire 200405 season due to the lockout were very excited hopefully no one will screw this up if they dont take this one then the next proposal might be worse but you never know he said he thinks clubs have time to get their marketing in gear if they regroup now they can heal any wounds and sell tickets you cant do it during the season and beforehand teams can get to companies before their budgets are locked up both sides realized some preparation time would be requued he said anyone who has been in a strike situation knows its not a lot of fun youve got to bite the bullet the negative is that they missed a year and over what wes jarvis exnhler mr bowens contract will be pushed back one year and he is ready to get back to work calling weekend games on talk 640 radio and midweek games on the sports network and sport- snet television the list of york region play ers in the nhl when it last played included then detroit red wings steve thomas and curtis joseph raffi torres edmonton oilers jeff oneill carolina hurricanes and brad may vancouver canucks mr torres a 23yearold markham native and left winger with edmonton oilers was optimistic something would be worked out before the 200506 season its great its about time now i can start focusing on the job at hand to do now he said ill just regroup and try to go out and have a big year the lost season stings i came off a strong first year and i was looking forward to having a big second year to jumpstart my career he said now ive got to look at myself when i first came into the nhl and have to prove myself again leafs assistant coach keith acton was watching prospects for the nhl team work out in toronto when he got the news its been a long process but all of us in the business are thrilled said the stouffville res ident who has played or coached in the nhl for 25 years what about the fans we all have to be diligent to rebuild the game becausthe lockout has not been the dest joe bowen voice of the leafs says teams will have time to market them selves if deal is ratified next week i think both sides were happy just to get back its some thing that had to get done from both sides there was probably a lot of give and take from both sides i dont think any side could let thisjtwng go past this seasont thing for itut we beuihourdgt crnighthave most cases i think l- raffi torres edmonton oiler forward has to prove himself again after lost season of hockey onice officials to be scouted and trained and all manner of behindthescenes chores req uiring attention we want the game to come back with a totally refreshed game that everybody will enjoy shfsaid itthe players got what they unionvilles anton tkui0 a fea fasmchfswxfmtlyaribl think thatsgood player agent for seyeraknhl odd gamepn tvjsuicegengie players may be taking an stars including milce ricjfclfnd from tmstedisi hit in the bank nickboyntonsaidkev4fde dics mmlrfcanrdalunbut points out mr surprised if the agreemlt be as advselypted be fine in the ratified 3 w the united states wlongjun after all of trif wprmatfm i thfnk th1we4the imuying stock at 10 been put into eyenthe mall wsj centres rfhay persme and watching it rise to players want founded he said from li vhmmmmwormk bad fn carth hfxstfcaf wps tarvte likp thp once the agreenfenisfifti- m fied he anticipatesworkmgflfe met wmmm m or fourthline seven days a eajtttehffeathink tee players himself and his dents ontheflfei jom fmpjrhcular team svedonteu in this deal mini- intricacies of the newllecavegy toundaryis up free agency wim bargaining agreement wjtdiiieigewopds bejunger and its cut and dned what the media knowsiis makes nttomiefinal round just the tip of the icebefllsdhasia theres a lot more to it than what tournament theresmterest might be put out in public he said mr thun doesnt think either side stands to gain in the six- year pact since it includes earli er free agency a 24percent rollback of salaries and a salary cap it will have a significant impact on the players he said by the end of the 2008 sea son players who are 27 years old can become unrestricted free agents down from the cur rent age of 31 syl apps a unionville resi dent who played with the new york rangers pittsburgh pen guins and los angeles kings agrees neither side won tournament people will watch it he said were extremely excited since it looks like well be back to work in september said nhl vicepresident of operations mike murphy its been a long year more than a year since nhl hockey was last played its been a very difficult time for fans players and everyone involved its like we pushed the pause button after the world cup and havent pushed it back on in fact it has been business as usual for nhl officials such as mr murphy an aurora resi dent for the league never really sleeps not with rule changes to be designed and implemented players can take a team and teams can take a player said the newmarket resident who played 237 games in the nhl youll no longer have the 10million player but average salaries are up hopefully this will keep 30 teams going and keep 700 jobs but there was a price paid if the business isnt going well you have to readjust it theres many businesses out there that have done that but not many have missed an entire year of work he said a if i was still playing i might view it differently but i look at the positives they really want a foolproof system so the gener al managers cant hurt them selves the negative is that they missed a year and over what with files from jim mason forklregfox wmffl mm 24 mimuv ymhmt rdier finals saturday september 10 newmarket theatre 505 pickering crescentnewmarket tickets 1500 each box office hours monday to friday 100 530 pm saturday noon 400 pm t siticiio lime it the levies titisic academy rd liccoidiwj slmiio tjtifsn thank you to our bursary sponsors 1 don cousens charitable foundation region of york wav foundation town of ttliiicluirdistouffuik lowiihip of vauhan hilton suites conference centre markham irene ilic m ggggsgg yk makoul 1 i i rvvrf rmm h9 s8i1 irb vfflrj9w mikm teymart71 1 m ijbvrl 1 ta if m fei ii ii to find out how you can contribute to this years bursary program -ji- email pnicholsyrngcom for more details ii