The Jack-Heeled Boot Of Despair

I'm sure there are plenty of nuances to this NHL labor dispute that I'm not privy to, but apparently neither side really knows what the meaning of compromise is. So much for watching Hockey this season, I wonder if either side knows how difficult it's going to be to win the trust of their fans again. It took years for MLB to overcome the bad blood engendered by its labor dispute. The NFL dispute back in the 80s seem to have had less impact on Football, since it has replaced baseball as THE national sport. I don't think Hockey has the kind of popularity in the States that will let it endure a prolonged strike. That's as easy as looking at ESPN's website and seeing how many sports precede Hockey on their navigation bar.
They probably don't know it yet, but the NHL and the NHLPA have probably resigned Hockey to second tier sports status forever. The NHL will never again be considered in the same league as the NBA, the NFL, or MLB here in the States, which means that they'll probably never bring in the kind of revenue they were making before the strike and have made this strike completely useless.