Getting back to work may be the least of the NHL's problems.

"They got to win back a lot of fans right now," Justin Patchcoski (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said.

But what fans? Even at a school with a relatively high hockey fan base, partially due to the success of the ACHA Division I Icers, the NHL is not high on Penn State students' minds.

Last week the NHL cancelled what was remaining of the already disastrous 2004-05 season. A final negotiation attempt about the players' salary cap failed, prompting commissioner Gary Bettman to announce the official end to hockey for the season.

Already one of the least followed major pro sports in North America, the repercussions of this year's lockout may prove to be disastrous for the sports future.

And apathy seems to the most common reaction at the University Park campus.

"They all need braces anyway," Alaina Antonucchi (freshman-English) said.

Other students didn't sympathize with either the owners' or the players' plights.

"It's disgusting because they make so much money as it is," Stephen Rohrbach (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. "If they really love their sport, then they would of come to some kind of agreement to save their season."

And as another multimillion-dollar-salary sport threatens a strike, many people are sick of hearing about the woes of professional athletes.

"They should just shut up and play some hockey," Claudia Lilley (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said.

But the request of the NHL players is nothing absurd to hockey fan Adam Edmondson (sophomore-geography). When sports like baseball, football and basketball are making millions, the NHLPA is just asking to remain competitive, he said.

"The players are just asking for what they deserve," Edmondson said. "Hockey makes the minimum out of every sport. The players are right to want more money and the owners should accommodate that."

Fan Brandon Rabic (senior-metal science and engineering) would like to see some kind of season take place. He misses watching the fun, fast-paced sport, he said.

For some, knowing that their Penguins' and Flyers' jerseys are tucked away in the bottom drawers is too much to bear.

For the rest of the students, Steve McFadden (freshman-kinesiology) might have summed up the point best: "When's spring training?"