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There is likely going to be a lockout before next season, because of the players' demands.
There are several big problems. The Canadian teams are doing terribly because of the fact they get their income in Canadian money, yet have to pay their salaries and such in American. The league has overexpanded, meaning that cities that aren't hockey areas have teams, like Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, etc. This also waters down the talent coming into the league.
My dad has told me about the time when a city like Baltimore could draw 12,000+ for an AHL game when the NHL only had 6 teams (and even after the early expansion) and the talent level was higher then probably most NHL teams today.
The fact that hockey is considered to be much better live then on TV doesn't help the situation either. The league is lucky to have a national TV contract right now.
The regular season is almost meaningless, and once you get to the playoffs all you need to do is play D and have your goalie get hot and you can make a run.
I think that to survive they need to:
1) Eliminate at least 4 teams, and move some more to better locations.
2) Eliminate a couple playoff spots. This encourages teams to want to improve to make the playoffs, and makes the regular season mean something.
Now, I'm not a hockey expert, but I think that these would go a long way to helping the survival of the sport.
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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun
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