As a fan totally annoyed. Even though the rink is only 15 minutes away I don't see myself going to any Ottawa Senators games in awhile. A rushed NHL season will be terrible and for a gate driven league the fans will bear the brunt of paying huge ticket prices (in Canada anyway) for a lousy product as they play 3 games every 4 nights. Since over half the teams make the playoffs it will feel like the playoffs are as long as the regular season. Oh joy. Love hockey, but the total disrespect of the fans by both the players and owners has left me a little bitter. Expect most if not all Canadian and Northern US teams to make the playoffs to ensure decent revenues for the league. Reffing in the NHL is slightly better than that of pro-wrestling and often feels as fixed. Also, those lousy 3 point tie games will become even more annoying this year as everyone pushes to get at least a point every night---good for gamblers I guess if you can bet on a tie in regulation. Not as annoyed as when baseball shitcanned the playoffs when my Expos were in first place, but pissing off Canadians when it comes to hockey is a bad business move.