ummer may have been late arriving hereabouts, but it sure is hanging around in decidedly unfall-like fashion.

Maybe that's why it is hard to get invested in who is right or wrong in the NHL lockout. After all, who is thinking about a game played on ice when it's still warm enough to hang out at the beach.

Our support at this time isn't divvied up between players or owners, but business people whose livelihood depends upon the money that trickles down from an NHL season.

The delayed start to the hockey season is, as always, about money. The owners want more. About 50 per cent of them have operated with a deficit at some point between 2009 and 2011 and the weakest sisters in this bunch wrote their books in red for all three years - or so they claim.

It's the same short-sighted owners who don't like the collective agreement they negotiated in 2004 and have locked their players out for the third time in 18 years in order to extract concessions to fund their limited business sense.

Yes, the same owners who condone their underlings to offer astronomical millions to players over an unsightly length of time. We could go on but it's just too aggravating.

Canadian hockey fans are a loyal, if not desperate, lot (see Maple Leafs, Toronto). But maybe this time the lockout will result in owners and players both realizing they can't take the fans for granted any more.

If you have to get a hockey fix, the Coquitlam Express appear poised for a great season, with some of its players setting the stage for future NHL careers. There are also worthy arts and entertainment options throughout the TriCities.

The lockout is an opportunity to discover new hobbies and activities, or rekindle interest in a forgotten one. We fans have options - and now is our chance to exercise them.