In the early 1990's, I was a huge hockey fan (even have an unopened box of 90-91 WHL cards). The Legion of Doom in Philly. Gretzky/Kurri/McSorely et al out here in Los Angeles. Montreal was still good. Winnipeg still had a team, as did Hartford (I suppose the Whalers were never a REAL team, so I guess they don't count).

I used to skate at the old Iceoplex in North Hills, where the Kings used to practice (you could sit at Brandon's Restaurant -- which later became McDonald's -- and watch the practices). I met Tony Granato and McSorely and Kelly Hrudey (my god, I had forgotten his name and actually had to Google that one, even though he was a King for something like 52 years!!!). Saw Gretzky once hop into his Benz with his hot wife, but that's pretty much how close anybody got to that fucking prick.

But then something happened. The league, IMO, began to lose it's character. Maybe it was the injection of Scandinavian boredom coupled with 15 syllable Eastern European names. I remember the shit Ron Hextall used to pull, and the hype that was Eric Lindros. Stu Grimson always throwing down, and the Oates/Hull combo in St. Louis. For some reason, the NHL became less and less colorful as time went on. Now, I'm lucky if I catch 10 games a season -- on television!

I check out the scores in the paper, and 3/4 of the names I cannot pronounce. I watch these players interviewed, and they sound as vanilla bland as Ted Koppel. What the fuck happened to this league? Or is it just me, a person raised with baseball and college basketball who didn't realize my love for the NHL was only just a fad?

I have a similiar story. I grew up watching hockey in the late 80's early 90's. My dad was a big fan and so was I. About the year 2000, we began to lose it. All the clutching/grabbing and wwf style officiating made the game boring. The fast paced up and down style was replaced by a trap. The expansion into 200 cities and rearranging of the divisions killed competition.

We used to play Toronto 6 times. Now we play Columbus/Nashville for what it seems to be 200 times. I used to be a superfan where I didn't even watch the NBA except for the playoffs. After the lockout, I may have watched 10 games this year and quit. I'd say I haven't seen a game since November and if the NHL folded up shop tomorrow, I wouldn't care.

I went from watching every second of Red Wings hockey to not even caring about the box score. I don't ever look at the scores anymore. To do this to 2 people in a household, Bettman must be doing something wrong. To say I was a bandwagon fan would be wrong because the Red Wings have won a cup during the last 5 years so its not like they've been bad.

You bastard the WHALE man its the WHALE
you cant rag on the whale like that its just not right

but its completely understandable that the NHL lost fans

thats Gary Bettman personally shitting on my life
might as well shit in my mouth all hte good that bumdart did for the nhl

This seems to be a very theraputic (sp?) post. C'mon, guys...get it all out...get it all out.

You bastard the WHALE man its the WHALE
you cant rag on the whale like that its just not right

but its completely understandable that the NHL lost fans

thats Gary Bettman personally shitting on my life
might as well shit in my mouth all hte good that bumdart did for the nhl

Fuck the Whale. Nuthin but a shitty WHA piece of crap.

While the first two full seasons in Hartford were not glittering (the Whalers recorded losing records both years), the final two WHA seasons saw more success. They went to the finals again in 1978, with a deep veteran team spearheaded by the Howes -- 50-year-old Gordie led the team in scoring

When a geriatric and his two sons rules your offensive categories... well, it's the WHALE, right?

Fuck the Whale. Nuthin but a shitty WHA piece of crap.

While the first two full seasons in Hartford were not glittering (the Whalers recorded losing records both years), the final two WHA seasons saw more success. They went to the finals again in 1978, with a deep veteran team spearheaded by the Howes -- 50-year-old Gordie led the team in scoring

When a geriatric and his two sons rules your offensive categories... well, it's the WHALE, right?

Oh they blew no doubt about it
it was just something about that small city tight knit community feel to the little Whale and the underdog mentality that kept my interest in the team

they kind of remind me of the Packers (without talent of course)