Lost Season

The NHL may have suspended operations for the 2004-05 season, but that didnt mean the game itself ceased to exist. No, indeed, hockey flourished outside the pro ranks of the worlds greatest league. Some NHLers went to Europe to play for both famous and little-known teams; others stayed in North America and joined the minor pros. Still others stayed close to home, practiced with friends, ran clinics, performed charity work. In general, hockey continued at all levels, and hockey players remained active in the game they love. Starting with the World Cup of Hockey in September 2004 and ending with the 69th World Championship in Austria in May 2005, the hockey season was busy and full of event. In between, Canadas juniors dominated in winning gold for the first time in seven years, while elsewhere a group of friends in Edmonton played hockey for 240 hours straight to set a world record. In February 2005, the World Pond Hockey Championships was competed for by some 96 teams in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. The Lost Season is in part about the dismal performance by the NHL in 2004-05, but it is more about the perpetuation of the stick and puck game in spite of a season without Lord Stanley.