The State of Hockey: A Response

While it is true that Gary Bettman has been largely responsible for the NHL's rapid decline in popularity he is not the only one to blame. Hockey's fall from grace is due to many factors. The three main ones are the popularity of the neutral zone trap, the NHLPA, and the influx of European players.
The man who is most responsible for the downfall of the NHL might just be Jacques Lemaire. The crafty coach is best known for utilizing the neutral zone trap with great results. What the "trap" essentially does is have the defensive teams forwards clog up the neutral zone, eliminating much of a chance of an effective fore-check. I for one think this strategy is ingenious and it often gives teams, such as the Minnesota Wild, that lack talent the chance to compete against more talented teams. The trend became quite widespread throughout the league after Lemaire's New Jersey Devils won the cup in '95. However with the trap comes less scoring and the appearance of a dull defensive game to the casual fan who is not attuned to the nuances of the sport. While the new post-lockout rules seek to give offenses a spark, the league is nowhere close to resurrecting the high flying offenses of the 80's.
There's no doubt that as hockey's popularity decreased and smaller market teams could not keep up with rising costs, the need for a salary cap became evident. However the NHLPA, and its stubborn president Bod Goodenow, refused to even acknowledge the idea. The resulting loss of the 04-05 season was arguably the lowest point in the sport's history. Finally, the players union gave in, Goodenow resigned, and the salary cap was implemented. Yet it came at a very high cost.
What might be the most disheartening of factors is the influx of European players. While the talent and skill of these players is undeniable many casual fans have found it difficult to overcome their xenophobic impulses and root for Euro players with the same enthusiasm as North American players. It's not a much of a secret that North American players are favored to win awards over Euro players often based on their descent alone. It’s also now a common joke that many NHL player's names are hard to pronounce. Hockey's resident idiot Don Cherry is famous for his views that Euro players are "soft".
The time has come for the NHL and hockey fans to embrace its role as a "cult" sport. It is after all a Canadian sport and will never challenge the other Big 3 in the United States. While many hockey fans bemoan the second rate status hockey receives in the United States, they may not realize the benefits. I for one enjoy knowing that the sport I care most about has the most devoted and knowledgeable fans of any other sport. If casual fans complain about the difficulty of following the sport, not understanding the all the rules, or worst of all bitch about "not being able to see the puck" than by all means they can go fuck themselves. I would rather have a small passionate fan base than the boring masses that wonder out to football games each fall. This sport has arguably the best history, containing everything from the Eddie Shore incident to Richard Riot to the amazing Summit Series. Hockey is too great a sport to water down just to attract the very kind of fans that would ruin it.

(This was originally a comment but it soon became too long so I just went ahead and it posted it.)