by Voodoo Chili


I love hockey. I have all my life, as a player, coach, and fan. However, the NHL started losing its luster for me in the early 1990's, and the strike-canceled year basically did me in. The pro game is a shadow of its former self, partly the result of gradual changes that were never nipped in the bud and that have snowballed (e.g., the emergence and subsequent ubiquity of the designated goon who can punch like a WBC contender, but can't skate above the level of a typical high-school second-liner) and partly (okay, largely) the result of years of suffering under the command of the worst commissioner in the history of North American pro sports.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...e-nhl-for-good