Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

NHL takes out full-page newspapers ads to apologize to fans

Gary Bettman, Bill Daly

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly and speak to reporters on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in New York. The NHL has rejected the players’ latest offer for a labor deal and negotiations have broken off at least until the weekend. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

AP

The National Hockey League has issued a formal apology to hockey fans through a series of full-page advertisements in a number of major North American newspapers.

Here’s the full version of the apology, courtesy the Boston Globe:

Dear fans:

As your teams prepare for the opening face-off of the 2012-13 season, we thank you for your patience and we apologize to you for the time we missed. From today forward, we will do everything we can to make this season worth the wait.

We are committed to earning back your trust and support the same way it’s earned on the ice: with hard work and unwavering dedication. Your cheers drive us forward, and we’re committed to making you proud to be a fan - by delivering a game with the action, the skill and the intensity you deserve.

Like you, we’ve missed NHL hockey. We’ve missed the clutch goals, the big hits, the electrifying saves. We’ve missed the flash of red light, the sound of the siren and the way the building shakes when the home team scores.

It’s time to focus on the best athletes in the world, on the enduring greatness of the game and - above all - on the connection that binds fans, players and families everywhere. NHL hockey is the best in the world. The future is incredibly bright. So let’s drop the puck and marvel at all the remarkable things the players do with it.

With respect and appreciation, The National Hockey League.

P.S. We hope you’ll get in on the action. And again, thank you.

This follows in the footsteps of a number of NHL clubs, who reached out and apologized to their respective fans following the end of the lockout.

For more, click here.