Maybe people should say “No thanks” when the NHL eventually decides to play.

When both sides finally agree to a labor deal and then buy media ads in which they announce: “We love our fans! Thanks for sticking with us!” perhaps those same fans should declare: “We’ll get back to you later. Maybe.”

Even though the owners and players bicker and joust and try to get the best of each other, they do share an essential belief. They are absolutely certain that when it’s all over, no matter how many games are lost to the labor dispute, fans will plunk down their money and march right back into the arenas.

They are convinced that throngs of smiling people will be ready to charge through the turnstiles while slapping one another on the back and yelping, “Hockey’s back!”

Why wouldn’t they believe this? It’s what always happens in every sport. But it shouldn’t this time, because this is the worst kick in the teeth ever for the cash customers. This time, fans have every right to announce, “You should have thought of that before,” when the players and owners come crawling back looking for renewed support.

Eight years after becoming the first North American professional sports league to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute, the NHL is at it again. The official lockout time: 11 p.m. CDT Saturday night, Sept. 15 Eight years after the owners declared that the new salary cap ensured “cost certainty,” and the players fast-forwarded their right to free agency by four years, we are back to square one.

The euphoria was short-lived. Apparently, the business model implemented after that lost season was fatally flawed. Why in the world should anybody believe they’ll get it right this time?

Perhaps this still will get settled and the season will start on time. Yes, and maybe an offensive tackle will win the Miss America pageant.

At this point, it’s not a question of who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s more like: who cares? Most people have to go to work every day. All this stuff is tantamount to watching a couple of ultra-rich families feud publicly, like some cable-TV reality show.

However, it should be noted that the fans play a key role in these labor negotiations, whether they like it or not. They are the “revenue” over which both sides are fighting. Literally, you’re all a little piece of revenue, and you’re getting divvied up by guys with dark suits and red faces.

What’s astounding is that nobody learned anything from the fiasco of eight years ago. Why did they wait so long to get serious about trying to hammer out a deal? Clearly it’s a fallacy that tiptoeing around until the last minute creates some sort of deadline pressure in which issues are resolved. That didn’t work eight years ago, and it’s not working now.

The whole line-in-the-sand lockout concept doesn’t work either. The owners started throwing the word “lockout” around from the very start. And all it does is result in serious teeth grinding from both sides.

In December 2010, the players hired Don Fehr to head their union. Fehr, of course, made a name for himself by playing hardball with the baseball owners. Clearly they felt they got steamrolled during the 2004-05 lockout, and they didn’t want that to happen again. The owners, meanwhile, seem perfectly at ease with a lockout. Perhaps they figured the players would fear another lost season.

It’s just appalling that, as the two sides hunker down, there is virtually no concern for the poor saps who buy the tickets, especially after many of these same people came back, cash in hand, after the lockout of eight years ago. Hasn’t the NHL tortured its fans enough? The answer, of course, is no. Everyone is headed right back down the same path.

They could open camp while negotiations continue, as long as both sides agree. They could even play while talks continue, with both parties committing contractually to a certain number of games. But they aren’t having any of that. Everyone seems hellbent on the ultimate confrontation. That’s why it took so long to even begin serious talks.

And I’ve mentioned this before, but when play resumed after the last lockout, a “new NHL” was unveiled. Rules changes made it faster and more appealing. This time, it’s going to be the same old NHL with the same old expensive tickets — just tardy. So what would happen if people got ticked off and decided to give the players and owners a little less revenue to squabble over?

Under the circumstances, that approach certainly would be justified. Two work stoppages in eight years? And then they declare they love their fans? Baloney.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpres.com.