by GABRIEL MORENCY

Seventy-eight days and counting into the NHL lockout and the only pro game in town is still the waiting one. With the National Hockey League’s arenas being booked 45 days in advance and no negotiations planned, getting the season in looks as good as David Stern inviting Ron Artest over to his place for a holiday meal.

The Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room may be locked down, but the Bell Centre was once again recently named one of the busiest and, more importantly, most profitable buildings in North America. Something that should, no doubt, get the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s attention. And it’s not just the Bell Centre that continues to cash in. Life has gone on at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, where the Raptors and lacrosse team the Rock keep the turnstiles turning with enough regularity that Leafs management won’t be in a hurry to send Mats Sundin a cheque any time soon.

The fact that nearly 7,000 Montrealers paid to watch a game played between players they’ve never heard of—as they did at the Bell Centre last week for a Laval Chiefs–Verdun Dragons game—will only strengthen the owners’ resolve that replacement players will draw nearly as well as the overpaid regulars do. NHLPA head Bob Goodenow’s response has been to distribute monthly cheques of $6,000 to $10,000 to his locked-out players. Nice to see they’re being taken care of. I’d hate to see them starve.

To most of you reading this, 10 grand a month to sit on the couch would seem like more than enough until the um... real money returns. Unfortunately for the Sergei Fedorovs and Saku Koivus of the world, that kind of change hardly covers lunch. Once you’ve dined at Buona Notte, it’s hard going back to Burger King. Now, I’m not a mathematician but it seems to me that the $1.3-billion they were getting for playing is better than the $42-million they will split up for not playing!

Until a group of respected veterans pressure Goodenow into softening his stance, what the players thought were going to be paid European vacations could very well become permanent ones.

Swiss miss

Patrice Brisebois’s European adventure is over, as he has returned from Switzerland to receive treatment on his ailing back. Hopefully, this time around he told his team of his plans to travel overseas in mid-season and has not just decided that he needs some time off. Those Swiss can be brutal, you know?

Hoop dreaming

The American Basketball Association has announced that Montreal has been awarded a franchise for the 2005 season. The still un-named squad is currently shopping for a venue that holds between 2,000 and 3,000 people, with an aim to begin playing next November. Once a viable alternative to the NBA, the league that gave us the three-point shot was able to lure such big-time players as Connie Hawkins, Julius Erving and George Gervin to run with its patented red-white-and-blue basketball. It now has Dennis Rodman, though he doesn’t play road games! Before local hoop heads get too excited about the arrival of big-time basketball in our city, it should be known that ABA franchises can be bought for 10 grand U.S. and have been known to turn up on eBay for even less.

Familiar faces

Former WBC super middleweight champion of the world Eric Lucas (36-6-3-13KO) returns to the ring as a light heavyweight Saturday at the Bell Centre against American journeyman Tony Menefee (77-19-1-40KO). Lucas is now owner of InterBox, after the failed promotion company could not come up with the $300,000 that was owed to him, and while he is no longer a title threat, he’s still a popular figure in local circles. Much like Otis Grant, Lucas’s family-man image does not do much to stir the imagination of the ticket-buying public like a Stéphane Ouellette or a Davey Hilton. But with no world title shots on the horizon, Lucas’s and Grant’s last big payday could come, ironically enough, against each other.

Pigskin Prognosticator

Saturday, Dec. 4
Army (+13) vs. Navy: Army
Colorado (+22.5) vs. Oklahoma: Colorado
Virginia Tech (+7.5) at Miami: Virginia Tech
Tennessee (+13.5) vs. Auburn: Tennessee
California (-22.5) at Southern Miss.: Southern Miss.
Michigan State (-6.5) at Hawaii: Michigan State
Sunday, Dec. 5
Atlanta (+2.5) at T.B.: Atlanta
New England (-7.5) at Cleveland: New England
Denver (+3.5) at San Diego: Denver
Pittsburgh (-3.5) at Jacksonville: Jacksonville

Morency season record: 20-14

Sports Rage with Gabriel Morency is vented weeknights 11 p.m.-2 a.m. on TEAM 990 AM. This column appears bi-weekly. Comments: sportsrage@team990.com