It’s much easier to point out the negative than the positive.

Posted by Spector from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 09/06/07 at 11:07 AM ET

Their minds are obviously made up, and they have no intention to be confused with actual facts.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 09/06/07 at 11:38 AM ET

People love to complain.  Technically, Lyle’s even complaining about the complaining

Just look at news in general.  It’s all crying and moaning about one thing or another and then each week they do their “feel good” piece to remind people that the world can be a happy place.  People love and crave sensationalism and negativity for some bizarre reason.

And the worst part is, since facts typically aren’‘t used - it’s just rhetoric and conjecture - it’s up to people such as Lyle to dig up the facts to show otherwise.  So the accusers get off easy unless someone is willing to do the leg work and argue against them.

It’s annoying as heck though to keep hearing how the game is destined to fail when it’s obviously doing pretty well.

Posted by Shane on 09/06/07 at 02:10 PM ET

Shane: I and others have been digging up the facts to show otherwise. My comment was merely to point out that its easier for some commentators to merely harp on all the negative rather than point out the good things going on.

And there are good things going on for the NHL. I’ve been an advocate of their new rules for the past two years (even if I hate the freakin’ delay of game rule for putting the puck over the glass). League revenues are increasing steadily, attendance remains strong in traditional NHL cities and some non-traditional hockey markets have seen significant improvement in recent years. Franchise values are at an all-time high and likely to continue.

The game’s popularity still lags in the US, but recent news that ESPN might be interested in bringing back NHL hockey to its network is very good new indeed.

The recent problems faced by the NFL (Michael Vick), NBA (a crooked referee) and MLB (steroids) has made the NHL look squeaky clean by comparison, a point noted more than once in the media this summer. 

Most importantly, the NHL finally has a young, marketable superstar to fill the void left by Gretzky’s retirement in Sidney Crosby. No offence to Alexander Ovechkin and his fans, but Crosby’s the bankable guy for the league, that one player upon whom it can rest its fortunes.

These are just some of what’s been reported by myself and other bloggers, commentators and reporters this year alone. I think the NHL is poised for an upswing in the coming years, particularly in the United States, where its player development has resulted in more young Americans selected in the draft in recent years and more young American players becoming NHL stars.

Posted by Spector from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 09/06/07 at 03:38 PM ET

Oh I hear you for sure.  I didn’t mean to imply you were whining, just making an ironic statement about humanity’s innate need to complain.  More a metaphysical statement than anything directed at particular people.

I’m glad you and others are doing the leg work to argue against it as it’s way to easy for the negative side to bias events.  Especially given the psychological trait of humans that if you repeat things often enough, people believe them to be true and it’s hard to turn them away from that belief once it’s ingrained.

“(even if I hate the freakin’ delay of game rule for putting the puck over the glass)”

Perfect example of needing to take the bad with the good, eh?  I hate that rule.

Posted by Shane on 09/06/07 at 03:52 PM ET