The long time die-hard fans with the offical team jersey on their backs will come back
(disclosure: I have a Bruins jersey
).
The ones that were new to the sport (or possible future fans) may just say forgetaboutit.
This lockout will probably hurt worse than the last one since:
-Some folks will say "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".
-There was much more bad press about it this time around. Too much dirty laundry aired in public.
-When money if plentiful people don't think about spending again but since the economy isn't as strong people will think longer about whether it is worth jumping back in. They may not have canceled tickets but "now that the fun of the game has been ruined maybe we need to cut back..."