San Francisco Bulls could benefit from NHL lockout

The San Jose Sharks probably won't be playing hockey any time soon, but that doesn't mean their minor league team has to stop. Sharks' ECHL affiliate, the San Francisco Bulls, may be the beneficiaries of hockey-starved Bay Area fans.

Bulls general manager and co-owner, Pat Curcio, hasn't seen a change yet, according to mercurynews.com:

"We still haven’t seen an incredible boost in our sales since the lockout," said Pat Curcio, the coach, general manger and co-owner of the Bulls. "We’ll see if the NHL officially cancels games early, if it changes things."

Curcio also went on to talk about how his team's ticket sales may reflect on which type of fan describes San Francisco-area Sharks supporters:

"The truth is, are they hockey fans or Sharks fans?" he asks, noting less than 10 percent of San Jose’s fan base comes from San Francisco...

The 2012-13 season will be the first for the Bulls franchise, which was founded in 2011. The Sharks entered into an affiliation agreement with San Francisco on July 11, 2012.

Cancellation of NHL games seems imminent, as the NHL and its players don't seem to be getting any closer to an agreement on how to share the $3.3 billion in revenue the league generates. The last meeting between the two sides on Tuesday yielded no progress towards a resolution.