On the Forecheck, a Nashville Predators community

When it comes to hockey team ownership, should we feel sorry for owners who lose money? Or should we envy them for getting to play with grown-up toys?

All eyes will be on New York today, where talks are expected to continue between owners and players, and speculation builds that a 48-game season may commence later this month.

When put to a simple question as to whether we'll have a hockey season, NHL Vice Commissioner Bill Daly said "yes". Is such optimism to be believed? We may not know the answer to that for a few more weeks...

Today we have a Nashville Predator actually saying something interesting(!) about the lockout, another call for the NHL to contract several teams, and progress for the advanced stats analysis crowd in both the NHL and NBA.

See, kids? You CAN spell Christmas without "N-H-L". In a move that's not surprising given the current status of CBA negotiations, the NHL has written off another two weeks' worth of games.

Let's start another week of NHL Lockout 2012 with some happy thoughts, m'kay? We'll kick off this morning's notes with a story on the guy who has perhaps the highest upside of any of Nashville's young defenseman, Mattias Ekholm...

As frustration grows over the lack of progress in the NHL CBA talks, the league's strategy over the last week has appeared to focus on marginalizing NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr from the negotiations.

Foolish me, getting optimistic about Wednesday's progress in the NHL CBA talks, only to have the rug pulled out in Thursday's farce.

Just like a prisoner in a cell starts talking to himself for lack of human interaction, the hockey media in New York became preoccupied with a podium while CBA talks ran late into the night.

Monday, Mike Fisher was supposed to be flying into Edmonton getting ready to lead the Nashville Predators into a game last night against the Edmonton Oilers. Thanks to NHL Lockout 2012, however, he was free to take part in a country music awards show