When will the Sharks really begin?

The NHL regular season schedule was released today, but the looming grey cloud is this: how much of it will actually get played?One might wonder how many "backup" schedules are in the works right now, to the range of 70, 60 and maybe even a 55 game season that begins somewhere around Christmas.BIG STEPS BACKThe bottom line is that a labor stoppage in the NHL would be costly and detrimental to all the work and progress the league and its players have made in the last stretch of years since the last lockout in 2004-2005, when a whole regular season went down the drain.A real "sell" of the game has taken place with hockey in terms of its image, reputation, and accessibility to the fans.From a popularity standpoint, it might be respectively behind baseball, basketball and football... but the NHL's marketing and exposure is big as ever, right now.THE MOST AFFECTED PLAYERSBeing that there are still a large amount of veteran players whom experienced missing out on a full season (of play, and pay), it should be expected that this group would be most against another stoppage.Of course they can't comment on the topic, but imagine how Joe Thornton might feel to miss another partial or full campaign (and paycheck) in the prime of his career?He is just one of many guys in that position, who will likely have an emotional take to the negotiations.SHARKS ARE AN EXAMPLEIt is reported that the Sharks do not profit, to the tune of 15 million dollars a season.This for a franchise which does pretty well in merchandising, has most games televised, doesn't have a bad lease deal for the home arena, and oh yeah... which sold out EVERY GAME for the last, and last several seasons.So the math just doesn't add up favorably; a club which is healthy by all accounts, except in one big way: they are not even close to breaking even.The Sharks are not a "big market" team, lets say somewhere between 10-15 in terms of all 30.If they are in the red... how are things working for say, team 28?The salary cap is a tough part of the equation... coming out of the lockout, it was set at 39 million per team.In 7 seasons since, it had jumped all the way to 64.3 million last year.Competitive teams can be creative with sponsorships, and flex ticket pricing... but it's quite clear: inventing a new 6-7 million dollars per year of income, just to keep up with the cap or even the CAP FLOOR... is impossible.San Jose ownership is limited on its financial comments for legal and league reasons, but assures they are not having any problems with money or sustaining it, even while running a business for the last several years which has (reportedly) not broke even.They have made it very clear that the state of the franchise is very stable, and their immediate goals only have to do with winning, and not money.It is a very honorable stance by the local team, but you'd have to think some other ownership groups among the league see money as one of the bottom lines.This is why the labor talks are not going to be a casual issue, this time around.MY PREDICTIONI say it based on observations, attitudes, and instincts: I believe the NHL willplay no less than 70 games this year... and most likely a full 82.Even in the best case scenario, talks will get taken down to the final wire, to the point where training camps might even be condensed.When do you think the NHL season will REALLY begin?Log in below and leave your comments.