With the November NHL schedule wiped out by the lockout, the reality that there won't be a full season of NHL hockey is setting in.
To see why there may be some upside for the NHL in canceling games, you must be an ESPN Insider.

With the November NHL schedule wiped out by the lockout, the reality that there won't be a full season of NHL hockey is setting in.
To see why there may be some upside for the NHL in canceling games, you must be an ESPN Insider.
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Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
And fire off a few probing questions for his weekly mailbag while you're at it.