The 8 NHL Cities That Will Be Impacted the Most by Lockout

When a professional sports league endures a work stoppage for any reason, there is always ancillary damage.

It's not just the players, fans and owners who are impacted. Those who sell tickets, beer, television advertising and collect parking fees are also impacted.

Judging the financial impact of a work stoppage on a city's finances is a nebulous thing. Economists are mixed on the impact of a work stoppage.

Here's why: A season ticket holder to the Toronto Maple Leafs may spend about $7,500 for two tickets. If there is no season due to a lockout, that season ticket holder will get his money back.

Most economists don't believe the season ticket holder will just put the money back in the bank and sit on it. He will find something else to spend his money on (source: canadianbusiness.com).

So he will still be spending the money on businesses within Toronto, just not on the Maple Leafs. The impact on Toronto's overall economy will be small.

But when a team has a chance to win the league championship, it creates more interest. Those teams and the cities that they inhabit are likely to feel the most impact from a long lockout.

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Kings are coming off their first Stanley Cup championship, and they should be in a great position to defend that title.

The Kings had an ordinary season until the playoffs started. Then they caught fire. The team and the city would feel the impact of that championship and the future possibilities this year.

The impact will be felt in season tickets, merchandise sold, overall interest, road trips taken by fans and profile within the city.

The Kings have been popular when they signed Wayne Gretzky and when they went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993 and when they have been on good runs. But they have never been champions before, and this would be the time for them to take advantage of being the hot sports team in Tinsel Town.

New York

The impact in New York could be dramatic.

The Rangers appear to be the favorites to win the Stanley Cup in 2012-13. They were the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference last year, but they fell short in the playoffs because they did not have enough goal scoring. They added Rick Nash in the offseason, and he is a big-time goal scorer whom the Rangers believe will score big goals.

The Rangers are wildly popular in New York City, and while selling tickets has rarely been an issue for them, the secondary ticket market will be dramatically impacted.

Rangers' paraphernalia and merchandise would be flowing in New York City like booze at a prohibition speakeasy.

The Rangers' talk would be dominating the airwaves on New York sports talk radio.

Instead, only WFAN's Boomer Esiason will be lamenting the loss on his morning talk show.

Boston

The Bruins fell short when it came to defending their 2011 Stanley Cup championship, but the team looks absolutely loaded with talent with the 2012-13 at hand.

The Red Sox have fallen apart, and the Celtics appear to have the potential to be playoff also-rans or get eliminated in the first round. The Patriots may be off to a poor start, but they are real and have Super Bowl aspirations.

However, the Bruins have a chance to take possession of the city's hearts like no team since the Bobby Orr-era Bruins.

The work stoppage will give fans a chance to re-examine their priorities. The Bruins and the love of hockey runs deep in Boston. Fans will never stop loving the game, but there are many other options. They can watch teams like Boston College and Boston University play championship-caliber hockey and thumb their nose at a league that has offered them work stoppages on a frequent basis.

The anger and pain will be felt in Boston but the economy will move on and hockey enthusiasts will find other avenues to dispose of their income.

Vancouver

Vancouver has been heartbroken at the end of the last three seasons.

They have been beaten in the playoffs by the last three Stanley Cup champions.

The Vancouver Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup and their fans are desperate for a championship team.

The Canucks have fought the good fight in the regular season only to get beaten by the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings the last three years.

When you look at the makeup of the roster, the Canucks want to turn the goaltending duties over to Cory Schneider—they have not moved Roberto Luongo yet—but they still have a championship caliber roster.

If there are no Canucks games this season, the depression in Vancouver will be palpable. It's one thing to get beaten; it's quite another to have that chance taken away by a labor problem.

The psychiatrists and psychologists in Vancouver would probably see an increase in their business.

Chicago

This could be a season of opportunity in Chicago for the Blackhawks.

The Bulls were the team of choice last year once the NBA labor stoppage came to an end. Derrick Rose was the Bulls' star and the team had NBA championship aspirations. However, Rose went down with a brutal knee injury and won't be back until the middle of the 2012-13 season or later. The Bulls will struggle this year.

However, the Blackhawks were looked at as a team that has a chance to get back to the championship level. There's no more celebrating going on from the 2010 Stanley Cup. The team and its fans are hungry for another.

With captain Jonathan Toews, defenseman Duncan Keith and high-scoring Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane, the team has the talent to contend for the title. All they need is consistent goaltending.

The Blackhawks are wildly popular in Chicago when they are winning. They can be completely forgotten when they are not.

Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens hit bottom last year, finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference.

Canadiens' hockey is religion in Montreal, and last season was an affront to the parishioners (source: TSN.ca).

The Canadiens cleaned house in the front office, and new general manager Marc Bergevin has made moves that will make the Canadiens competitive most nights. A last-place finish will not be tolerated again.

But no hockey whatsoever? That's not an acceptable thought in Montreal. This team lives for passionate hockey from its favorite sons.

Without it, Montreal will exist, but its passion will be diminished.

Minneapolis-St. Paul

The Minnesota Wild whetted their fans appetite with a sharp performance in the first half of the 2011-12 season.

They shot out of the gate and were in first place under head coach Mike Yeo until reality took hold, and they once again finished out of the playoffs.

General manager Chuck Fletcher realized how close his team was to becoming a serious NHL factor, and he went for it in the offseason. He brought in prized free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

Suddenly, the Wild went from being another mediocre team to one of the "it" teams in the NHL. That's appropriate for a team that plays in the "State of Hockey."

This would be huge in the Twin Cities, because hockey is in the blood of the residents. There's as much hockey love in Minnesota as there is in the most hockey-rabid cities in Canada. Boston and Detroit may be big-time American hockey cities, but they can't claim any more hockey love than they have in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Taking away NHL hockey when the team has a chance to play at a very high level will impact those cities quite badly.

Phoenix

After a memorable playoff run last spring, what happens to hockey in Phoenix if there is no 2012-13 season?

The ownership is in question. The interest will dwindle.

Hockey seems unnatural in the desert to begin with, but the area has shown it will get behind an exciting and passionate team.

However, if the momentum from last season is allowed to dissipate, how will the franchise overcome its many issues?

Under the best of circumstances, the Coyotes' future in Phoenix is iffy. A full-season lockout could mean the end of that franchise in Phoenix.