2012 is going to be remembered as the “Year of the Strike” in professional sports.

Nearly a month ago, the NFL ended a bitter feud with its referees that finally removed the calamity that was the replacement refs and brought the real boys in stripes back to the field.

The NBA was not immune from the strike either. Its players’ strike caused a truncated season that resulted in 66 regular season games (the NBA’s regular season consists of 82 games) that began on Christmas Day of last year and carried into 2012.

With the exception of baseball, all of the other major team sports have had to deal with highly publicized and criticized players’ strikes.

This time, the NHL is the latest sports league to be afflicted by an infamous strike that has resulted in a lockout. The NHL’s work stoppage started in September, and like its North American counterparts, money lies at the heart of the issue.

The four major issues at argument are: salary caps, guaranteed money, escrow payments and revenue sharing.

So, like all the other strikes, it’s about who gets the most money and how much they get. Isn’t that always the case?

The NHL, though, is the one league that can ill afford to suffer through another strike. Yes, you heard me correctly — another strike! This is the second lockout in the last eight years for the NHL; the previous lockout was in 2004. That year, the strike wiped out the entire season and created a faction of disgruntled fans.

But does any sports fan in the U.S. even care if the NHL doesn’t have a season? Unless you are a die-hard hockey fan, chances are, you wouldn’t give hockey a second thought. That’s because here in the U.S., hockey ranks a distant fourth to the other sports in terms of total revenue, TV ratings, merchandise sales and attendance. Because of all of this, the NHL has the most to lose.

According to a report published on ESPN.com, the NHL has already lost $100 million due to the cancellation of the preseason and first five days of the regular season. The same report states the league stands to lose an additional $140-150 million for every month of hockey not played. If you add all this up, it equals disaster for professional hockey.

Just like 2004, the same issues at debate are threatening to cancel the 2012-13 season. And for a sport that has craved the attention from American sports fans, another lockout figures to eradicate much of the excitement it has built since 2004.

During the last few years, the NHL has created new interest among sports fans in the U.S. It has lured in a new following of fans by producing a new generation of exciting and talented players such as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane.

Previous NHL dynasties have been reborn with Lord Stanley’s cup being raised in hockey-rich cities like Montreal, Boston and Chicago. This past season produced some of the most exciting and nail-biting playoff action in the history of the sport. The outcome resulted in the Los Angeles Kings winning its first NHL championship in franchise history.

But now, all of the excitement is gone. Most of the NHL’s best players are being lured to play in professional leagues in Europe, and the possibility of another thrilling season is melting faster than the ice the game is played on.

As of Tuesday, the NHL offered the players a 50/50 share of all hockey revenue. While optimism remains high that a whole season can be played, there still remains a lot of resentment on both sides of the aisle. This is a desperate time for the NHL and its players. Let’s hope that after all is said and done, they drop the puck on the ice, and not the season.