Today’s Best NHL Lockout Story: Thank You, Mike Modano.

These are the kinds of stories we should be hearing about. We should be hearing straight from the horses’ mouths – the players, and the owners – about their experiences in 2004 and 2005. We should hear what they would change, what they would keep the same, and what they regret.

That’s why we should thank Mike Modano. Maybe today’s statement wasn’t in unity with his NHLPA brethren, but Mike laid it out for us – the fans, and the hockey community – so we could hear first-hand what we already know… which is, the owners run the show.

“In hindsight, it wasn’t worth it,” Modano told ESPN The Magazine, about the last lockout. “It was a waste of time. We thought we were stronger than we were. We started falling apart as the months clicked by.”

Modano also has the dubious status of a guy who made millions, and also lost millions in bad investments, although he has said his financial woes were “so blown out of proportion.” He knows better than most hockey players how fast it all comes, and how fast it all goes. The game has passed him buy, and he knows there are thing he wish he knew then that he knows now.

“It’s money you feel you never get back. At some point, we were sold a bill of goods… Everybody was buying it. Everybody thought, Let’s not let each other down. Let’s do it for the future of the game. Blah, blah, blah. You’re only in the game so long.

“I would say (to the players) that it’s not a battle you’re going to feel like you’re going to win… It’s a negotiation. You feel at some point that both sides will be upset about what they have to give up.”

Being sold a bill of goods, eh? Sounds like the NHLPA is just like any other union.