No news is good news, unless it's a lockout in which case no news isn't good at all.

With a dearth of subject matter out there, I sat down to round up links to some of this week's big "stories" along with a little blogger gem I happened to stumble across.

As a woman, I guess I should be mad at this piece in the Globe and Mail. I'm not. I just think it was a horrible attempt at satire. Maybe if I get bored I'll rewrite it so its completely over the top and obviously ridiculous. I'll be sure to be barefoot and standing in my kitchen when I do.

Joe Thornton and Rick Nash are tearing it up in Switzerland. Can we just accept that fact that Joe is good? I'm looking at you, Boston!

The Oilers enjoy the taste of their own shoes. Nothing beats the delicious taste of crushed dreams and tax payer tears.

Check this blog out: Hockey in Art. A showcase of artistry both on and off the ice.

There's a gallery in downtown Willow Glen that showcase work by a local artist who paints the Sharks and other hockey imagery. I don't know if he's still the staff artist for the Sharks but if he is, my chances of working for them are loooonnnggg gone*. Quality stuff.

*as if I had any anyway. Delusions of grandeur, kid.

As we're all aware, the third NHL lockout in 18 years has begun and so has the battle for our sympathies. The Sharks released this official statement on tier site yesterday. An excerpt:

First off, please know that our fans and partners are our number one priority. Your enthusiasm and commitment to our franchise is unparalleled and something that we do not take for granted.

It's probably just the bitterness talking, but being lumped in with the Sharks business partners makes the message ring very hallow. Yes, these are all cookie cutter things prepared and shipped off to teams to use, but come on guys. You're trying to win us over, right? Try a little harder. Oh, that stamen you released? PLEASE. Like I am willing to buy that you didn't want a lockout from day one. You really want to win me over? Stop being a bunch of jerks and let the players play while you guys negotiate. That might help prove to me that you guys give a shit.

Meanwhile the NHLPA released this video, showing the player's side of things. I don't think it will sway anyone who wasn't on their side already, but it's nice to know that when it comes to PR battles, the NHLPA actually cares about production values.

The league really needs to work on their PR department. Maybe try ditching Bettman?

In other news, the Sharks already have a few players headed overseas:

Joe Thornton is heading back to Switzerland, family in tow, to wait out the remainder of the lockout with Davos.

Logan Couture is heading back there as well, as is Rick Nash, thus fulfilling a million HF board dreams by allowing the line of Thornton, Nash and Couture to become a reality.

Pollak tweeted that Murray is talking with Djugarden, as the current rules ban NHLers from playing in the elite league.

The Sharks say there are no plans for staff layoffs at this time, but who knows what will happen if this nonsense drags on.

16 men were sent to Woostah, none of them Sharks regulars.

Murray on the lockout.

Here's a nice list of players rumored and confirmed to be headed overseas.

This is it. Midnight eastern has past and we are officially locked out. Please use this sign early and often to show your disdain. It might not accomplish anything, but it will be a visible protest.

UPDATED:

For those of you wondering about your tickets for this season, I have very minimal info. Based off what I have been told, if you are a STH and you were on a payment plan, your next/last payment isn't due if it was due after the lockout starts (today). STH pins are still going out. If you have paid in full, I do not know if you will be able to chose make up games for any games that may be missed. I do not know if any refunds are being offered. I rather doubt it, considering how early on it it. (45 minutes in!)

10 packers, like me: No info. 

Single games: No info. 

The sharks site still has a ticketing page up with no mention of the lockout. If this drags on, expect to see some changes. I will share with you guys whatever I can find out.

If you were watching your Twittertron yesterday, you saw this tweet come over the wire late in the day: 

@walsha: Bill Daly's thoughts of NHL fans = uninformed ramblers on Twitter

Well, guess what? He's right.

We are uninformed ramblers on twitter, tweeting away our ideas, thoughts, hopes, dreams, desires, wants and conjecture as the summer drags along with no sign of a season starting anytime soon. And you know what? That's OK. We are allowed to be ramblers.

Any group that is passionate about something, but doesn't have access to the behind the scene view, or enough information to draw actual facts from WILL RAMBLE. They will ramble a lot. It's what people do, and it's totally ok. If you DO see behind the curtain, it is your responsibility to correct the misinformation that you can, and to never publicly state that you think the people drawing those conclusions are morons. It's just good sense.

This is a sticky issue for me personally, as I spend my days behind the man behind the curtain for work and the person who can't see behind it at home. I try to keep a balanced focus, but the fact is, I'm going to come up with some pretty horrendously off base conclusions that I will end up stating publicly. It's just how it is. I know that, and while I might not like it, I accept it.

So ramble on, ramblers of twitter. Keep those smoke stacks of conjecture going. In a season of mis and dis information, it's ok to draw the wrong conclusions. Just try to stay calm about it, ok?

I pass by the Tank every day on my way to and from work. Everyday the train carries me past the entrance to the main lot on Santa Clara, past the satellite dishes and broadcast trucks, past the entrance/exit on Julian. Every work day I come within several hundred feet of the Tank, and I hardly even notice it's there. It stands, quiet, waiting to be filled. Some days a concert is in town, or the circus, and people flock to it in droves, but most of the time, it's empty. Just empty. It never occurred to me just how empty until I drove directly past it the other day. No one was in line to get in, the Sharks store was closed and dark, and the building seemed to sit forlornly against the coming fog. An arena with no team is no arena at all. Instead, it's a sad reminder of what was or could have been.

That's exactly what we'll have if the league locks the players out though. 30 empty, sad reminders of what was. We have thirteen days (not counting what little remains of today), to avoid at least some delay in the start of the NHL season. 13 days. That's not a lot of time. We don't have a seat at the table, and we're not going to. 13 days until a lockout. 13 days until this season goes from the potential to a reminder of what we might lose.

That is a mighty sad thought indeed.

As was reported today by the ever impressive David Pollak, the Sharks saw a shortfall of $15 million last season. This despite always having (paid) sellouts, charging $8 bucks for a beer, and way too damn much money for chicken strips sans fries. Unsurprisingly, some fans balked at the figure; 15 million is a lot of dough to be down with "nothing" to show for it, yet The Sharks seemed unphased by it.  What does this shortfall really mean for us as fans?

At the moment, probably nothing. Sports teams are notroious for being money losing ventures, rather than money gaining ones. The Sharks are still putting a competive team out on the ice, and seeing dividends in terms of ticket and merch sales, and likely advertising. While I think we'd all prefer them to be in the black, the Sharks are 6th on Forbes list of debt/value % out of 30 (16th overall). They could owe a lot more/be worth a lot less.* The Sharks are decidely middle of thepack right now in terms of revenue. They aren't starving for it, but they aren't the Leafs either. While the numbers sounds bad, I wouldn't be too worried. Sports teams are big business and big business often means losses that look horrible to those of us who work normal jobs, but mean little to entities worth hundreds of millions. 

*The ownership group states that the Sharks currently have no debt. They look to the owners to help cover any monetary needs rather than banks. These numbers are from 2011 and do not reflect the current financials of the Sharks. They do give a good picture of how the team was previously though, so I have pointed at them for reference.

**obviously I am not an economist, or even some crazy math whiz, so I could be totally full of it here. I am just drawing conclusions based off things I have read and some fast googling on debt/value ratios and what they mean. This is the internet after all, so if I am wrong, you'll all tell me.

After weeks of downtime, the CouchTarts are back from the brink of hacker borne insanity to bring you the latest coverage of the Sharks and the 2012-2013 NHL Season, assuming we have one. Gotta say, there's nothing better than finally getting your blog back only to find that it may soon be largely irrelevant. (Ok, MORE irrelevant that usual, but let's not get pedantic here, people).

The NHL owners went to the players with what was said to be a new CBA proposal but was really just a large cardboard sign with the words "FUCK YOU" scrawled on it in crayon and magic marker. It's hard to argue that you need MORE money when you're signing guys to contracts that pay more than the gross domestic product of some small nations*, but I suppose we have to give the owners credit for trying.

The players union countered today with this offer, proposing a less drastic alternative to the owner's scorched earth version. I don't see anything in the basic overview that shows me that we won't end up in this boat another 3-4 years from now, but it's a better start than what the Owners were willing to give. The NHLPA at least seems inclined to actually try and come to a somewhat equitable deal. Will the Owners see it the same way? It looks doubtful, but maybe the idea of a season without ANY revenue will way heavily on their wallets and pressure them into actually trying to bargain, instead of holding out in hopes of more money.

The NHL would be wise to NOT delay the start of their season or even cancel it entirely. The NHL has made strides since the last lockout in 2004, including growth in markets here in California and other less "traditional" locales. Here in San Jose, the Sharks make the regular sports wrap even during the regular season, which was unheard of even a few seasons ago. People are aware of the players and the team, and the standings, even if they aren't fans. The sport is growing here. The last thing we need is to have that growth stunted by a lockout.

*may not be factually correct. I really hope it isn't