It's about money, not the game

I wonder what life is like for the professional athletes making millions of dollars every year?
Over the weekend the hockey season screeched to a halt when owners and players could not come to an agreement over revenue sharing.
The days of when it was actually a game, seem to be long gone.
When I was a kid everyone played hockey on backyard rinks, in the local arena, in the streets, on the river, etc. We all watched Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night with dreams of some day being a great star like those of the day.
However, in those days the players of the NHL made very modest salaries. Comparable to the average person working. It was more about the game and the fame.
Then somewhere in the 1980s it changed. Teams began spending money on the best players and we are not talking chump change. The best players fetched the big money. Now even the lower end players get money in one season that Gordie Howe could only have dreamed of making in his entire career.
Life must be grand for these pros. They become instant millionaires and need not play more than a season or two and could retire.
–Until then, Ken