Each week, Sports Online will turn the tables on Scott Oake, who's used to peppering others with questions. This week it's all about the NHL lockout.

What do you think about the latest lockout news this time?
I don’t see much hope; I’m like everybody else who has decided the torture should stop and they should set a deadline and negotiate accordingly. I know they are meeting today [Wednesday] but conventional wisdom says that once again the players are prepared to reject any deal that contains a hard salary cap and I don’t see this ending favourably in respect to a hockey season.

Have you heard any feedback from fans and what they feel?
As a matter of fact I went to the Manitoba Moose game last night. It’s not a hot topic of conversation anymore because more fans are accepting that the season will be lost. They’ve gotten used to a winter without NHL hockey and are just carrying on. At least that was the atmosphere at the Moose game last night. Those are AHL fans that go there on a regular basis. Even amongst other hockey fans I’ve talked to — and I run into a lot of people when I go out — most people are accepting the season will be lost and are just carrying on.

Should fans be pessimistic because Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow aren’t even in this meeting?
Well, I think it certainly speaks almost to a lack of urgency because sooner or later Bettman or Goodenow have to be in the room together. They’ve got to be part of the process. The longer they are not, the longer this thing drags on. It’s now Feb. 2 and they’re not on the front lines right now. I guess the trade-off is both Ted Saskin and Bill Daly are well-equipped to discuss concepts and come up with a framework. They can’t make the deal, but they are good negotiators. Ultimately, the final approval comes with Goodenow and Bettman. How long it would take to get in it and have their say, I don’t know. But it’s all about time now.

Here’s a hypothetical situation. Let’s say the NHL comes back in Jan. 2006. How is it going to affect the league?
We won’t know until then how long it will take fans to rally back to the rinks. I think, in fact, we can probably assume that the game has such deep roots in Canada that fans will come back relatively quickly. It might not be 100-per-cent unanimous support to start with, but I think Canadian fans will return fairly quickly to the rinks, buying tickets, watching the game on television, whatever. But in the U.S. it will be an entirely different story. If hockey is off the map for a year and a half, any inroads they might have made in Nashville, or Sunrise, Fla., or Columbus might not still exist. It will be a hard sell to get those fans back. A real hard sell. Out of sight, out of mind means one thing for six months, but now it would be a case of damage control. I fear for the damage of the game.

So you see those franchises possibly folding?
I wouldn’t say folding, but it will be a real test. Marginal markets will vote whether they want their teams. And they vote by buying tickets. The NHL is still primarily a gate-driven league. If it’s not part of their agenda — part of the agenda of the fans — after a year in a half it wouldn’t surprise me [if some franchises folded].

Here’s another hypothetical situation. Let’s say the miraculous happens and a deal is struck today. When is the earliest the NHL can get up and running again?
In 1995, they settled on Jan. 11th, which was four days before Bettman’s drop-dead date. They got a deal done in the wee hours of the morning. And I think they got the players in quickly. I think they got the league running in two weeks and played that 48-game schedule. I think they are probably operating on a clock here. Initially, when this whole thing started, nobody thought there was a great deal of importance to getting this thing started on time. Because, back in 1994-95, it started in January. I think everybody saw the deadline as January. Of course, January has come and gone and they are still negotiating. Any season they get in isn’t going to be 48 games, not even 36. It’s going to be, what, 28 or 30. If they keep going here they could have it down to 20.

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 are some lightning-round questions for you:

Best interviewer/reporter in the sports industry?
Bob Costas

Is the COC’s plan for 35 medals in 2010 realistic?
Yes

Of Goodenow, Saskin, Daly or Bettman, who do you think would win a poker game?
Goodenow

Will NHL players compete in the 2006 Games?
Iffy

Patriots or Eagles in the Super Bowl?
Patriots