I’m not a fan of hockey. Nor am I secretly hoping for this labor dispute to kill the NHL and thereby make room in the crowded American sports landscape for MLS/Soccer. I did come across an excellent FAQ to get up to speed: CBC Sports Online: Faceoff 2004.
MLS Owners and League Brass must look at the current situation and think to themseleves, there but for the grace of single-entity-mangement go I. Hockey and Soccer’s fan base, in terms of size, is probably pretty comparable. Enough to sustain a well-structured league but not enough to sustain NFL/NBA/MLB bling.