The Editor,

I never thought that I would feel this way.

I used to follow the NHL as an escape from work, world conflicts and news about the financial crisis.

Turning on a hockey game after work enabled me to disengage from all of the headlines about labour unrest.

It is ironic that my one-time escape from all of this rhetoric has now manifested itself as something even more unpalatable, the NHL labour talks. All its ugliness now exposed.

I will never look at a puck drop with the same innocence. To hear a referee's whistle blow now conjures up images of police confronting rioters on the streets - the smell of $6 concourse popcorn now seems burnt.

Goodbye my old friend, I will remember the old NHL fondly, the new version has lost a fan....

Gerd Peters, Surrey