NHL lockout drains Quebec of jobs, spirit

Page 3 of 3 -- The lockout also cost Mains a chance to pick up extra money moonlighting a couple of doors down at Sullivan's Tap, as he previously has done when the Bruins played. He is running out of patience with the NHL.

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"They're going to ruin their fan base," Mains said. "I blame the players. How much is enough? They can't feed their families on $800,000 a year?"

Moscaritolo said businesses around the FleetCenter and in the North End have borne the brunt of the impact. He said the estimated $30 million blow to the local economy does not include money the Bruins generate inside the FleetCenter in ticket sales, concessions, and other revenues or taxes the state reaps on meals, hotels, souvenirs, and other commodities.

"The bottom line," Moscaritolo said, "is that a significant amount of money has been pulled out of the local economy."

While many Bruins fans have taken solace from the Red Sox and Patriots winning championships, Canadians have had little choice but to grudgingly find ways to live without the NHL. A national tradition, "Hockey Night in Canada" on CBC, has been replaced each Saturday with "Movie Night in Canada." Sports networks have been relegated to airing lacrosse, car racing, and minor league hockey. And a new period of self-discovery has unfolded.

"Hockey was so much a part of our lives, and we're trying to adjust," said Jimmy Moustakis, a bartender at the Sir Winston Churchill Pub on Crescent Street whose earnings have dropped sharply. "We watch poker and go to the movies. Some people go to the gym now on Saturday nights. A lot of people are even spending more time with their kids."

Just as Major League Baseball needed the 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to rebound from its 1994 strike, the NHL may need a similar phenomenon to win back its fans, said Jack Jedwab, who teaches a course on "Sports in Canada" at McGill University in Montreal.

"The future of the NHL may rest on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby," Jedwab said of the 17-year-old Nova Scotian who scored 50 goals in his first 50 games this year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and is expected to be the first player selected in the June NHL draft.

Crosby, who has been hailed as the next Wayne Gretzky, has become Canada's hottest hockey commodity in the NHL's absence. His team, Rimouski Oceanic, often plays to packed houses and national television audiences.

"There will be huge pressure on him to bring excitement back to the NHL," Jedwab said.

Until then, fans and businesses in two nations wait. Though the league may be smaller, the salaries lower and the rules different when the NHL returns, a modicum of tradition may endure, especially in Quebec. Gaucher expects to remain a fan even if he worries about paying his bills after losing his job. And Eichenbaum yearns for the day when hockey fans, particularly some old friends, return to his bar.

"The best love-hate rivalry we had in sports was the Canadiens and Bruins," he said. "We used to love to see the fans from Boston three times a year. It's a beautiful relationship. I miss those people."