Are you ready for a winter without NHL hockey?

I’m not.

But for the second time in less than a decade, NHL commish Gary Bettman has locked out the players in a bid to squeeze more cash from overpaid players.

 Meantime, billionaire owners watch impatiently as their buildings sit as empty as  concession cash registers.

Do the math: No hockey means no fans. And no fans means zero dollars for owners AND players.

So who exactly wins here?

The fans, sadly, are collateral damage in this boardroom economic battle.

 So, too, are the thousands of people who work in spinoff jobs in NHL hockey cities acrossNorth America. 

  The Canadiens were supposed to open their season at home tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators. The usual sellout crowd of 20,000-plus was expected on hand to cheer on the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge led by fan favourites Carey Price and P.K. Subban.

Instead, nothing but a cold autumn wind blows around the Bell Centre these days.

 It bears repeating, but hockey is more than high-priced entertainment inMontreal. It’s a religion and we are the faithful.

The Canadiens matter to Montreal on so many levels, not just raw economics which is what Bettman sees as the problem worthy of a complete hockey shutdown.

Montrealers are too emotionally invested in their beloved Habs to watch another season go down the tubes.

  So how will this all end?

No idea. Once football season ends, things will really be bleak for local sports fans.

 I wonder how Montrealers will cope without NHL hockey?

jmeagher@montrealgazette.com