Very disappointing riposte to my "diatribe" there Mr. Doyle. I think perhaps you've been watching too much Fox TV. Why do I feel like Linda McQuaig to your Bill O'Reilly. Nothing I can say I suppose that will change your thinking in any way. It's the sort of reaction I'd expect from both Bettman and Goodenow who obviously know far more than I do about what's good for the game.

Believe it or not I was a hockey fan for the better part of 20 years and sadly the NHL has gone out of its way to lose me as a spectator. As Damien Cox in a pretty good column last week pointed out:

NHL: "Upon further review, our game sucks right now."

Why pretend? The Stanley Cup final was an artistic disaster, the World Cup wasn't much better and 50-goal scorers are more rare than bona fide big leaguers in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup.
Radical change is needed. Admitting a problem is the first step

Here's the link to the column in its entirety.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1096063811207

I realize that my so-called solution to the problems facing hockey are rather over the top but the brilliant ideas bandied about by the NHL are a joke. (eg limiting the size of the goalie's equipment). If 2-1 and 1-0 continue to be the recurring scorelines I don't expect too many US based teams to thrive given the American fan's penchant for scoring. Remember the NASL? Me neither.

So I leave it in the capable hands of you and the extremely m.i.a. Kyle to offer up something more productive than "nyah, nyah you suck, hockey rules." I promise to say no more on the subject.