Ways To Ruin The NHL

Here are several ways that the game we love so much is being ruined:

--‘Punish’ a dirty goon like Chris Pronger with a rap on the knuckles for his attempt at taking another player’s head off—several times. Twice he was suspended—one game each time—during the playoffs, for the exact same thing. Obviously, the ‘punishment’ isn’t working: he has been suspended seven times. It is a shame his name will be engraved on the Cup this year.

--Have one of the dirtiest teams in the league win the Stanley Cup. Yep, Pronger and his dirty teammates won the Cup—a dark day for me and for a lot of people.

--Allow Brett Hull to be a commentator during games. And to make it even worse, have Don Cherry stop by between periods and spout off HIS stuff and nonsense. There are no two people who love to hear themselves talk more than these two do. I am just happy there is a volume control and channel changer on my remote control.

--Give the rights to broadcast games to VS and NBC. First, I don’t believe even half of the households in the US are capable of getting VS, so, right there you have a drop in viewers. Next, allow NBC to leave a playoff game before the overtime period is even begun just to cover the preliminaries of a rain-delayed horse race. GREAT way of attracting new fans.

--Despite what some people may say, ending tie games with a shoot-out is NOT wonderful. For one thing, this is a team sport and a shoot-out is a one-on-one skill—no teamwork involved. If tie games are not wanted, just continue playing sudden-death, as in the playoffs. A MUCH better way of doing things.

--Insist on keeping/putting expansion teams in cities that can’t sustain outdoor ice rinks even in the dead of winter. The majority of the people in these cities don’t care about hockey—and most of them don’t even know there is a game called hockey. Get out of the southern cities and DEFINITELY get out of California—it would go a long way towards restoring the NHL to what it should be.

--Continue to have Gary Bettman be the commissioner of the NHL. Nothing more needs to be added.