AHL ready to reap benefits of lockout

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — As the owner of the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch, Howard Dolgon isn’t enamored with another NHL lockout, even though it’s good for business.

He’s torn, understandably. He loves the business. But he knows what the NHL means to the game he loves.

“It makes it maybe easier to market our brand, but at the same time I think every owner in the league will tell you that we really don’t want a lockout,” Dolgon said Monday. The NHL locked the players out over the weekend when the collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. It’s the NHL’s fourth work stoppage in 20 years.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr have spoken informally since the lockout began, and may do so again on Tuesday. But nothing official will resume until at least Wednesday.

Attention already has turned to alternative leagues like the AHL, where players will continue to train for the season and play the game. The AHL consists of 17 independently-owned fran- chises and another 13 owned by NHL clubs, including the Oklahoma City Barons.

Another prolonged NHL lockout like the one that forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season means better competition in AHL cities, increased attendance everywhere, and international media attention that it is simply not used to.

The AHL’s 77th regular season starts Oct. 12 — a day after the scheduled start of the NHL season — and training camps open in less than two weeks.