Is the NHL still Major?

A couple of years ago, I became the most predominant poster on a discussion board called The BBBC http://thebbbc.com/forums/index.php. My frequent posting was termed "a hostile takeover" by the sports talk forum moderator at The BBBC.

One of the first topics I posted was regarding the NHL and its potential upcoming lockout. I was curious to see if anybody even cared that the prospect of no NHL hockey in 2004-2005 was a realistic probability. Well guess what? It's actually happened and......NOBODY CARED!!! Big shock.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman eventually canceled All-Star Weekend before any last ditch attempts by players and owners to reach a collective bargaining agreement failed and he had to call off the entire season. The funniest part of all of this is that at the time of the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season was announced, there had been no recent talks between players and owners and none were scheduled.

The NHL was already barely clinging to "big-four" status with the NFL, NBA and MLB before the lockout. Now with NASCAR and the X-Games ready to jump into that slot, the NHL has effectively nailed its own coffin shut.Last season's NHL games and highlights on ESPN were littered with images of half empty arenas. Television ratings reached an 11-year low. This was a trend that many saw cominghttp://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/story/8191804.

As the 2006 NHL preseason got started this week, I have trouble seeing it returning to the same status and level of success it had before the lockout. Even with the NHL's return return last season, I would bet that more people can name the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion than can name the 2006 Stanley Cup Champions.