Each week, Sports Online will turn the tables on Scott Oake, who's used to peppering others with questions. He's on the hotseat this week, with his take on the NHL lockout and Canada's alpine skiers.

What do you think of the NHL lockout? Is there going to be a season?

The lockout is regrettable. Both sides have seen it coming for a long time and like everybody else, I just want there to be a solution and the season to start. But that's based on what's happened at this point. Perhaps that's more wishful thinking than common sense.

Are you hopeful?

If anything is achieved in this secret negotiation in Toronto to the point that they are going to meet tomorrow and the weekend then they are working on something. But if they walk out of there today (Wednesday) and the players say, "Sorry, the hard cap is still part of it and we're not interested" then there won't be a season.

The way it's been going the past three weeks has been tough on everybody. Because the week has begun with optimism on Monday and Tuesday and ended with complete pessimism on Friday. I would hope that's not going to be the pattern of this week.

I hope they get somewhere today (Wednesday) and keep talking and they can get the season going by mid-February. That's the best they can do now and they would probably play a 36-game schedule.

If this week passes by with no prospect of an agreement and as I said earlier the players walk out of there saying they are not interested, it's done.

If no agreement is reached in the coming days and they don't play this year, then I don't see them starting the season on time next year.

If the players would take a salary cap to get the season started on time next year, they are just as well to take it now to get as much cash as they can. If (the players) don't take a cap now, they're not going to take it next fall. As a result, next fall we will be in the exact same position as we are right now – minimal negotiation, probably half the season lost before they get down to the nitty gritty. Maybe a year from now, or maybe a bit longer than that, maybe a year from the middle of January would be the earliest next season would start.

You're also a big skiing fan - what do you think of the job Ken Read has done for Alpine Canada?

I think he's done a wonderful job. Alpine Canada had tried a lot of things over the years, from having businessmen run the organization to administrative people. Probably, the one thing they hadn't tried was to have someone who was both an astute businessman and a skier who knows what it takes to win on the World Cup circuit. And that person is Ken.

He was a wonderful selection. I don't know if it was unanimous by the time he picked him, but it should have been. He has done a good job of instilling goals in the skiers and keeping the backing of the business community.

And the skiers, they don't pay attention to the business side of it, but they know there's someone at the top who's making the decisions in their best interests. I'm not saying that was the case before, but they have an undying belief in Ken and that is reflected by the results we've seen since he's taken over.

We're on track in a couple of disciplines to be considered serious medal contenders in Turin.

What do you think of Thomas Grandi winning two straight races in late December?

I was like a lot of people. You see a lot of skiers come on the circuit with great promise, but what happens is that you don't see them win. It's very hard to win a World Cup.

When you're out there, on someone else's turf, especially if you're from North America, you're battling the Austrians. Every World Cup race, especially the one in Kitzbuehel, Austria is like the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup Final. The Austrians are expected to win every race. You're fighting a huge machine.

For Grandi to win in Flachua, Austria, home of the great Herminator [Hermann Maier], for his second straight win is truly magnificent. If you think he's done it twice under difficult circumstances, then you think he has to be considered one of skiing's elite. I think that's where he is now.

You're known for your lightning-round questions during After Hours, a half-hour show immediately following the last game of Hockey Night in Canada's doubleheader. Here's some lightning-round questions for you:

Best assignment last year?
Olympics in Athens

Favourite interview?
Not for the joy end of it, but for the compassionate and human side it elicited: Perdita Felicien

Finish this sentence: I keep my cherished Gemini Award …
on display in a cabinet

Orange CBC jackets or Powered blue HNIC jackets?
Blue HNIC jackets