NHL back and better than before

MIAMI – Even though 2005 is officially in the rearview mirror, it’s never too late to look back on a year that was at times very depressing and later worth celebrating in the world of professional hockey.

The NHL spent a good portion of the 2005 calendar year under a self-imposed shutdown as the league’s owners locked out its players on Sept. 15, 2004.

Those players weren’t allowed back into the inner sanctum until the owners and their commissioner basically got everything they wanted in a pretty sweet deal on July 21.

The NHL officially reappeared on July 30 in Ottawa with a watered-down draft. Luckily for the league, future star Sidney Crosby was eligible to be picked. The youngster from Nova Scotia, nicknamed “The Next One,” spent a week answering questions dealing with him being a savior, not just of a franchise in Pittsburgh but perhaps for a league that didn’t really know what consequences shutting down an entire season would bring.

While Crosby has been great for Pittsburgh, the league hasn’t had to rely on him much. When the game kicked off on Oct. 5, it was apparent the NHL was truly back.

All 30 teams played on the same night, and for the most part, hockey’s fans returned to arenas throughout North America.

“Despite the predictions of doom and gloom of how bad things were going to be,” commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier in the season, “we’ve actually come back stronger. I’m not surprised; our fans are so well-connected to the game. They were great during the difficult period and recognized we did what we had to do.”

Right now, it appears all is well with the league – except for a few minor details such as a lackluster national television deal, still too many empty seats throughout the league and a few refs who don’t mind slogging down the game just so they get more television time to impress the kids back home.

But we digress.

There have been a lot of positives that have come out of 2005, with an improved game and new rules bringing fans into arenas to check out the fastest game on ice.

While a good number of traditionalists abhor the tie-ending shootout, it has been a resounding success around the league. Few enjoy the feeling of investing hours in a game only to watch it end up in a tie, and with the losing team still keeping its one point, why not a shootout?

“The fans really seem to enjoy it when games go to a shootout,” Panthers center Stephen Weiss said.

Goaltenders still aren’t happy with the new rules, ones implemented to increase scoring. The league does need to look into protecting those in the goal a little bit better.

But the same goalies who were among the league’s elite before the new rules kicked in are the same ones on top of the league again.

Although 2005 was mostly a year of bickering and infighting among owners and players, things have returned to normal. It sure is good to have everyone back this New Year.