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Article updated: 10/28/2012 6:57 AM

NHL dispute puts sales for small businesses on ice

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Great Waters Brewing Co. owner Sean O'Byrne is shown outside his brewpub located near the Xcel Center, home of the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team. O'Byrne's business is down 20 percent since the start of the NHL lockout and that's a painful reminder of the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out the entire NHL season.

Associated Press

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Great Waters Brewing Co. owner Sean O'Byrne poses for a photograph in St. Paul, Minn. at his brewpub located near the Xcel Center, home of the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team. O'Byrne's business is down 20 percent since the start of the NHL lockout and that's a painful reminder of the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out the entire NHL season.

Associated Press

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In cities with professional hockey teams, it seems that the only thing on ice these days is sales — at least at the bars, restaurants and other small businesses that cater to sports fans. Business at the Great Waters Brewing Co., a brewpub located near the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn., is down 20 percent since the start of the lockout. For owner Sean O'Byrne, it's a painful reminder of the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out the entire NHL season. "The economic times are different now, and I think the one thing that's become apparent to me is the sort of ripple effect the hockey strike has," he says.