The owners have always been a huge concern for me, because they’re so RANDOM. For example, you’ve got a team with dream ownership like the Pens: A HOF ex-player (Mario) and an eccentric weirdo bazillionaire (Burkle) who genuinely loves hockey but doesn’t want to meddle in the day-to-day. TWO OWNERS. OSCAR & FELIX. That’s it. And that’s perfect. They have next to nothing in common EXCEPT their love for the game and that’s more than enough for me. They know how to find each other when they need to meet and confer. It’s just the two of them, after all.

On the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got the Sharks ownership group, for example. Nobody’s exactly sure who these jokers are, but one of them for sure is Larry Ellison, who could care less about hockey because he’s too busy going shopping for crap that might cost him $4 billion dollars. Y’know, crap like the LA Lakers? Because they’re his favorite team? And remember cray-cray Harold Ballard, who certainly did not make matters any better for the Leafs back in the day? And Charley Finley, who made the Golden Seals paint their skates white?

This divergence scares me because how are these people supposed to reach an intelligent consensus when they have such wildly different backgrounds and experience with the game itself? When a chunk of the owners barely pay attention to their ownership and might not be taking their prescription meds besides viagra? Yes, it’s a business but it’s a specialized business after all. If I was a player and Larry Ellison even partly-owned my team, I would FREAK.

I’m with ya, though. I’d risk breaking and entering charges if it meant finding out what Mario’s really thinking. I just hope he’s one of the owners who’s *really* involved in the talks. Like you, because he was a player first, I’m hoping he’s more level-headed about things and trying to convince the owners they need to budge of the HRR.

I know both sides are at fault here, but that initial proposal from the owners was no starting point and they have to know that.