Good article. I think the NHL realizes the NFL is trump which is why they generally only schedule one or two games on Sundays, with one of the teams usually being a Canadian team.
As far as making the league better. IMO, the absolute stupidest thing in the NHL right now is the fact that they are not in every market in America. Every team should have a TV contract in every city in America. I know most of the country is covered, but there are still some regions where you cannot get an NHL game. Mainly, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, some Mid Westerns Cities, and Southeastern Cities. There are teams near these markets, but the games are not. Get them in there! Stupid.
My other gripe is the player interaction. Hockey players by nature are the most down to earth players in all of sports. They need to figure out a way to get them into the public eye more without the players felling as if they are being attention whores. They are on the right track this year sort of, but they fell short. This year they want all teams to allow one broadcaster to have on ice access. Basically this is there version of sideline reporting. Well, it is great for the die hards, but unfortunately it doesnt help the novice. Not to mention, a hockey interview is the most boring thing in sports. In any given hockey interview you are sure to hear one of the following phrases.
I was fortunate enough to put the puck in the back of the net.
We need to continue our forechecking.
We just need to cycle the puck and see what happens.
It was a fortunate save.
Basically, you get nothing out of the players.
It is a tough task to make hockey more popular and I think it starts at the youth. The NHL should really have a ton of programs starting up youth hockey all over this country.
