KITTANNING - Disgust, sadness and anger were common feelings toward the National Hockey League Wednesday night at Belmont Arena.

Butler High hockey fans had strong reactions to the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season earlier in the day.

"It's a sad day for hockey," Cam Jurysta of Butler said. "The die-hard fans like me, … we don't care about the numbers, we don't care about the money. We just want to see the game.

"It's pathetic. If the players had agreed to a salary cap in November - not just the last day or two - we'd have hockey right now," he added.

Beau Bechtel, a freshman on the Golden Tornado hockey team, was angered by the lack of respect NHL players showed the sport.

"We pay a lot of money for the privilege to play hockey," Bechtel said. "We pay to play because we love to play. I can't imagine anyone not playing because they're afraid they won't be paid enough.

"I think the players are stupid and so are the guys that pay them all that money. The Penguins traded (Jaromir) Jagr because they didn't want to pay him, got a bunch of young players and they were still fun to watch."

Tim McConahy of Butler said he is disgusted with both sides because of the money involved.

"One side wants it all, the other side wants to keep it all," he said. "The players already make more money in one season than most of us will see in a lifetime."

"A salary cap should have been in place years ago," Tim Hennessy of Butler said. "It was the owners who doled out too much money in the first place that started the whole thing."

Zane Griffin of Kittanning said, "the whole thing is stupid. They should tear it down and start over.

"I just want to watch hockey. That's why I'm here. High school hockey is good enough for me."

Lizzy McCarren of Butler just likes watching the game, too - at any level.

"It's too bad they're not playing," she said of the NHL. "I have no idea why. … They're on strike, right?"

Joyce Master and Dee Ramirez, mothers of Butler hockey players, dislike the example the NHL situation is sending to youth players.

"Don't get paid the money you want and you can just quit, right?" Ramirez said. "In most people's lives, I don't think so.

"The fan base will be diminished when they come back. (NHL) hockey will have been gone too long."

"Those players have lost their love for the game," Master said. "They don't care about the game. Our kids do."

Master said she and her family miss watching hockey on TV.

"Now that football's over, there's nothing else to watch," she said. "Sports are good family entertainment. All "CSI" ever shows is people getting killed.

"When there's a hockey game on TV, we watch it. We've been watching that Penguin Classic TV to fill the void."

Sal Ramirez, father of Butler player Rob Ramirez, said the NHL players are "just being selfish."

"I'm really disappointed they didn't work this out," he said. "It's obvious there has to be a salary cap. The NFL has one and it's the best league going. Every team has a chance every year. These hockey players should look at that.

"Without a salary cap, the rich teams just get richer. Look at the sports - baseball and hockey - that don't have one."

Bob Hoehn, who runs the Butler Dek Hockey League, said the New York Rangers were trying to be like the New York Yankees.

"I got a kick out of them not making the playoffs," Hoehn said of the Rangers. "Hockey's a team game. But no one's getting together off the ice."

Butler resident Chuck Laska was a Penguins season ticket holder before they drafted Mario Lemieux.

"I was in that building when they were drawing 5,000 fans a night," Laska said. "Common sense has to prevail here. When the average salary of a hockey player is more than a NFL player, something's not right.

"The owners started the problem because they had no discipline when it came to paying salaries. Now the players want money that's not there. For them to walk away for an entire year … something has to be done. I don't understand it."

But when NHL hockey returns, will the fans return with it?

"Everybody will come back," Hoehn said. "Hockey fans are hockey fans for a reason. They love watching the game."