With the hockey season officially coming to an end on February 16, 2005, I sat in my dorm room at college and watched the press conference with Gary Bettman. When I heard him speak, I felt like climbing into a hole: The first major professional sport to cancel a season and the first time since 1919 (flu) the Stanley Cup will not be awarded. Having played hockey for around 17 years now and basically living for the game, I nearly got sick to my stomach after watching Bettman speak.

My opinions for Bettman are very strong, as he not only disrupted the NHL for the year, but also disrupted many young players' climb to the professional ranks.

My opinions toward the game will never change, I will stand by hockey forever. I am embarassed by the way things were handled and overall it put a dent in the game. I have confidence that this "dent" will go away and hockey on a national scale will be prevail with pride.

I will always be proud and fortunate to have played and been around the greatest game to ever grace the earth. Skating, shooting, and hitting are important things I took away from the game, but the most important thing I took away from the game were the roots and traditions from which the game was created. No one can understand this except the players themselves.

Therefore what happened yesterday was embarassing. Maybe not for fans, but more specifically for the players who know the hidden secret behind the game of hockey that interlocks hockey players in a fraternal bond that can never, ever be broken.