Is the NHL Serious or Delirious?

It's impossible to be a sports fan and not hear all the negative things the media has to say about the NHL. For all the bad stuff there's also some good, so I'll analyze the serious (good) and delirious (bad) about the NHL and give you my final verdict

Serious
-Much like the NBA, the NHL has an amazing group of young talent who are exciting to watch, and will help carry the league into the next decade.
-Following the strike the NHL got it right with its vasts amount of rule changes. The game has opened up a bit, and the shootout at the end of overtime adds an excitement that no other league has.
-The league's top starts don't seem as greedy as their counterparts in other leagues. Players like Sydney Crosby and Danny Heatley could have easily signed max contracts, but decided to take a few million less a season so their teams can sign more talent. This puts the NHL at a different level when you compare it to guys like A-Rod who's pursuing over 30$ million a year.
-Hockey Night in Canada is easily America's answer to Monday Night Football. Saturday nights watching the NHL on CBC still ranks among the top activities for a Canadian to do on a weekend. Plus the broadcast is pretty good too.
-Much like in Major League Baseball, it seems as long as you can make the playoffs, you have a great chance to win it all. In the past few years small market teams such as Edmonton, Carolina, Calgary, and Buffalo have all had some major playoff success.

Delirious

-Sure, the league has a ton of young talent, but the NHL still doesn't know how to market it's players. It seems like the average sports fan can name every mediocre player in the NBA, but ask them to name two players of the Phoenix Coyotes and their stumped.
-Speaking of the Coyotes, the NHL has way to many teams. There shouldn't be hockey teams in places where people actually don't play ice hockey, with the exception of LA. Having 32 teams in the league makes it way to watered down. It also makes it uncompetitive and boring.
-It seems like every week someone is taking an extremely violent blow to the head. Hockey is violent by nature, but it must come up with something to stop this before some has serious brain damage or even dies.
-Big market teams aren't getting it done. Having teams like Carolina and Anaheim win the Stanley Cup isn't good for business in the NHL, because when teams like that are playing in the finals no one cares, which means low TV ratings, which mean no money.
-A year after the league went on strike the salary cap got bumped up a few extra million. Isn't money the reason they went on strike in the first place?
-The people who run the NHL are flat out greedy. They're actually considering adding more teams in Kansas City and Las Vegas. More teams equal more players which will probably mean less true fans.

The Verdict

It's obvious that off the ice, the people running the NHL don't know what the hell their doing. But the bottom line is, hockey is a great game to watch, depending on what teams are playing. Players now are doing things that players 15 years ago could never do. They're faster, stronger and more athletic, which makes for more excitement. Hockey doesn't need the NHL, but the NHL needs hockey so hopefully ten years from now they'll have it together. FINAL VERDICT: Very close, but the NHL is serious.

So what do you think? Leave your comments about your comments whether you agree or disagree.
-Joe Osborne