NHL Games Cancelled On October 19, 2012 – NHL That Could Have Been

Tonight would have been a thrilling night of NHL hockey. You know, if the owners and players weren’t fighting over which millionaires were entitled to more millions than the other millionaires. Every night the NHL Lockout goes on, 104.5 The Team will break down the games that both sides have stolen from us, because a world without hockey talk is worse than the league rejecting your counteroffers. To catch up on previous editions of the series, go here.

Yesterday we told you that the owners had made a 50/50 hockey related revenue split proposal to the players in an attempt to end the NHL Lockout. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned, with the players making counteroffers that the league called a step backward. On the bright side, that means that this series will continue, not that that is any consolation whatsoever to hockey fans.

Today would have seen six games, all of which would have been more exciting than just hoping that both sides would come to an agreement, while knowing that they are nowhere close to doing so.

New York Rangers at Buffalo Sabres: There is one thing that makes hockey better than the NFL, and that is the fact that there are two teams in New York other than the Sabres. This prevents the "well, Buffalo is the only REAL New York team" argument that is inevitable whenever dealing with any Bills fan. This means that three fan bases (Philly, Pittsburgh and Buffalo) are less annoying as hockey fans than football fans.

Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils: The fact that the Devils are named after the 'Jersey Devil,' a creature of urban legend in New Jersey, rather than the actual devil, is hilarious. I guess it's nice to know that there isn't some kind of satanic cult in the NHL although, if there were one, it would absolutely be in New Jersey.

Winnipeg Jets at Washington Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin has 11 points in 11 games in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. It must be fun to go back to your homeland and play in the league you used to play in, but I'm sure he would rather be back in the US.

Vancouver Canucks at Columbus Blue Jackets: After a thorough search of the web, I managed to find that canuck is, in fact, a slang term for Canadian. So there is a team called the Canadiens and a team that means Canadians. Real original, Canada.

Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning: The battle for Florida hockey supremacy rages on! I've compiled a list of the best professional in Florida state matchups in sports in honor of this game. They are as follows:

• Heat/Magic
• Dolphins/Buccaneers
• Panthers/Lightning
• Rays/Marlins
• Anything involving the Jacksonville Jaguars

Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks: The most disappointing thing about the media's lack of coverage of the lockout has to be the fact that we have no idea who the NHL's version of Derek Fisher is. I demand to know which player is ready to bend at the owners' demands on a whim just so he can get another contract to be an end of the bench player somewhere one last time. Where is Barry Melrose's mullet to get on top of these things?

Enjoy the lack of games, folks.