Hockey lockout mires businesses in deep snit.

• Author: Roush, Chris
• Position: SPORTS SECTION, National Hockey League

What if the National Hockey League lockout puts this season on ice and nobody notices? While few sports fans seem to care--except in Detroit, some slap-shot-happy sections of the Northeast and, of course, that nation to the north--there's at least one group in the Triangle lamenting the league's labor dispute. But it's bucks, not pucks, they're pining for.

Take, for example, Russ Smith, general manager of Embassy Suites in Cary. He usually faces winter and spring knowing he'll have 30 or more additional guests--players, coaches and staff of visiting NHL teams--for each Carolina Hurricanes regular-season home game. "The monthly impact is in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 in lost revenue to the hotel. We're a small business, so that's a big deal."

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Some of the rooms that were reserved have been resold, he says, but "we're not replacing dollar for dollar. It's a salvage sale at that point for the rooms and meeting space. And sometimes you can't resell it at all because it's around Thanksgiving or Christmas."

The impact extends to other businesses. For example, many teams that stay at the hotel contract with nearby caterers for special food. It's a big deal, too, for restaurants such as Damon's Grill on Hurricane Alley Way, across from the RBC Center in Raleigh, where the Hurricanes play home games, and memorabilia stores such as The Eye in Crabtree Valley Mall.

According to an Ernst & Young study, Hurricanes games last season drew 175,000 visitors--12,000 stayed overnight--who spent $11.5 million in the Triangle. It estimated that the team's economic impact exceeded $70 million. So far, losses from the lockout are short-term, and business owners can take some comfort in knowing it can't last forever. But many observers worry about long-term consequences. Simply put, the longer it lasts, the more likely that consumers will find other ways to spend their money.

For evidence of the possible damage, the Hurricanes need look no further than Charlotte, where fan backlash developed after the National Basketball Association lockout at the start of the 1998-99 season. The split with the Hornets had many causes--from disgust with owner George Shinn's conduct to the behavior of some of his players. But home attendance remained near capacity until the lockout. It averaged 19,232 in the shortened season that followed--down more than 4,200 from the previous one. Attendance continued to fall every season afterward. The Hornets departed...