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Hey NHL, what’s 51% of $0?

The NHL has publicly stated they are “working around the clock” to resolve negotiations regarding a new collective bargaining agreement.

Yet, as Aaron Portzline reports:

The NHL and NHLPA did not meet today. The NHL is waiting for the NHLPA to make a proposal, saying it really hasn’t made one since its original offer.

So which is it?

Losing a full training camp schedule is bad enough for a young team like the Blue Jackets. If this drags on to the point of losing regular season games… well.

Here are just a few of the things at stake:

Young players like Cam Atkinson and John Moore will, at best, get to dominate the AHL. At worst, they’ll regress in their development.

Older players like Vinny Prospal and Adrian Aucoin may be soon realizing they’ve already played their last game, as mentioned by Prospal in the article linked above.

Players with something to prove will get to prove themselves in Switzerland, or Russia, or a rec league. I’m looking at you, Steve Mason.

Players hoping to take the next step or rebound from poor seasons, such as Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Johansen, or Sergei Bobrovsky will have to come up with a different plan.

Not to mention the reality that Columbus will lose the All-Star game if this drags on for another couple months. What about the Blue Jackets staff that worked so hard to promote the one shining star in Columbus? Will fans be half as receptive when they call back asking for deposits for the 2015 All-Star game?

The NHL and the players will get through the lockout eventually, but at what cost? Losing money? A year of an already short career? The fans?

What is too much to lose?

Maybe tomorrow, we’ll all wake up and it will be over. The sound of hockey will be filling rinks everywhere.

Or maybe we won’t see an NHL game until October, 2013.