I'll say it right now. Mark my words. There *will* be a hockey renaissance. The NHL will be bigger 5 years from now than it ever has been.
If the CBA deal that's been reported is signed, sealed and delivered on July 1, I am beyond excited about the new NHL. This first post-lockout NHL season especially should be one of the more exciting pro sports seasons in history.
Throw in the new rules, the acceptance of hockeys stodgy higher-up's that there was a problem with the game itself and a willingness to *finally* fix it, the fact that for the first time since the 1980's every team will, more or less, be on a level playing ground, the hundreds and hundreds or free agents making this summer a "fantasy off-season" for us hockey nuts, the unprecedented commitment to winning fans back, and my expectations are through the roof for this league.
Let's also mention they new crop of young guns that haven't been this exciting since the early 90's with Roenick, Jagr, Belfour, etc. We have Nash, Kovalchuck, Heatly, Ovechkin, Richards, Crosby, Spezza, Luongo, etc. I firmly believe this lockout is the best thing to happen to the NHL since Wayne Gretzky first stepped on Edmonton ice in 1979.
Agree or disagree?