The Hockey Stop

As the National Hockey League skates into the second decade of the new millenium, a recap of the Oughts is in order -- both the highlights and lowlights.

Overall the NHL is on a positive track as profits are up, the game has never been more exciting to watch and technological innovations are changing the way fans view and interact with their favorite teams. But there are also some financially failing franchises, injuries are on the rise and professional hockey is still a distant fourth behind the NFL, NBA and MLB in Americans' sporting passions.

Just some of the many trends and moments worth examining.

WHAT RECESSION? Despite the global financial crisis, the NHL had its most profitable year in 2008-2009 and team values rose $3 million with revivals in Chicago, Washington and Pittsburgh leading the charge and new deals with companies such as Honda and Cisco providing a boost.

LOCKOUT LOW POINT Remember the 2004-2005 lockout? I know, it has faded from memory as fast as a Joe Thornton slap shot. But this was no doubt the lowest point for the league in the past decade. The NHL earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first North American professional sports league to cancel an entire season. It is nothing short of a miracle the NHL was able to survive and now thrive after the devastating "lost season."

NEW RULES: THE GOOD In an effort to woo back disaffected fans following the lockout, the NHL instituted new rules to make the game more exciting to watch. Perhaps the most significant change was cracking down on the neutral zone trap defense, which was made famous by the New Jersey Devils. While the Devils had much success with this style of play, they were widely criticized for making the game boring. New rules that opened up the neutral zone took effect such as doubling the width of the blue and red lines, lifting the prohibition on two-line passes and vigorously enforcing obstruction penalties such as hooking and holding.

Another significant rule change was instituting the shootout if an overtime regular season game ends in a tie. While some argue that the shootout is a cheap gimmick, I would argue that it has made the game more exciting by showcasing the skills of shooters and goalies and preventing teams from settling for a tie because there is always two points on the line.

NEW RULES: THE BAD Automatic "no-touch" icing was initially going to be part of the new rules but it wasn't adopted. Bad decision. Injuries due to players racing for the puck is a major concern that could be alleviated by automatic icing. Also, that funny-looking trapezoid zone area behind the net should be eliminated. Restricting the area where a goalie can play the puck is unfair and unnecessary.

THE RISE OF THE EUROS The influx of European talent has enhanced the NHL's international appeal and made the game more fun to watch. The Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals are prime examples. In 2008 Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European captain to win a Stanley Cup when Detroit downed Pittsburgh. The Caps are bursting with European talent such as Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Tomas Fleischmann and Simeon Varlamov just to name a few. Plus, the NHL has moved some of their regular-season openers to Europe. This season games were played in the Czech Republic and Sweden. Expect many more games played overseas in the next decade.

WINTER CLASSIC The now annual New Year's Day outdoor game has been a great success by turning historic venues such as Wrigley Field and this year Fenway Park into ice hockey rinks and airing the game to a national TV audience on NBC. The inaugural game in 2008 at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium broke the NHL attendance record (71,217) and the Wings-Hawks game at Wrigley last January had the highest TV ratings of any hockey game in 33 years.

VANCOUVER OLYMPICS The upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver is going to be an amazing showcase for the NHL's best players representing their countries. The fact that it is in North America is a huge bonus because the games will be shown in prime time. Could Team Canada and Sidney Crosby play Team Russia and Alex Ovechkin for the gold medal?

THE COYOTES CONUNDRUM The fate of the Phoenix Coyotes was one of the biggest question marks heading toward the end of the decade and was a black eye for the league. The saga in Arizona started when the Coyotes filed for bankruptcy on May 5. Since then, there have been a circus of potential owners -- some wanting to keep the team in Phoenix and others wanting to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. On Dec. 18, Ice Edge Holdings purchased the team and are expected to keep the franchise in Phoenix.

AN UP AND DOWN DECADE ON TV The decade started on ABC and ESPN and is ending on NBC and Versus. While many fans including myself have been critical of the NHL's contract with Versus, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel because of the NBC Universal-Comcast deal.

The reason I believed the NHL should have stayed on ESPN, despite its anti-hockey bias, had to do with leveraging matchups such as Pens-Caps from last year's playoffs in order to reach the maximum audience. Versus (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) has always been a niche channel with limited reach. Thus, one of the greatest playoff series in recent memory was not hyped as it should have been.

But Comcast owns Versus and the hope is that there will be more cross-coverage and promotion with NBC and that Versus and its hockey coverage will benefit from the power of NBC. So while the past decade has been mixed on television, the future certainly looks bright. Also, the NHL Network, NHL GameCenter Live on NHL.com and the NHL Center Ice package have given more options to watch out-of-market games.

NHL BECOMING MORE DIVERSE Despite the stereotype of NHL players being as white as the ice they play on, the NHL has quietly become more colorful as the decade has progressed. There are currently 26 blacks, nine Asians, six Hispanics and eight Jews playing in the National Hockey League.