Dear Commissioner Bettman...

By Scott

Dear Commissioner Bettman:

Although your league has successfully revived itself into prominence on a global stage, you have left it in an extremely vulnerable state. The "lucky" postseason matchups that the NHL enjoyed this year will not duplicate themselves again, and unless you take action soon, your sport could easily slip into oblivion once again. If you follow the advice I am about to bestow to you, you can effectively foolproof the league and endure popularity for future generations:

Relocations:

1.Move the Phoenix Coyotes to Southern Ontario (Hamilton)

The Coyotes have been irrelevant for years and have struggled to find real success through the draft and free agency. Bringing in Wayne Gretzky as head coach was a good-intentioned move, however, he has yet to lead the team to anything respectable. Now bankrupt, hockey in Arizona has simply culminated in failure. Canadian investors have offered to purchase controlling interest in the team with plans to relocate the team to Ontario, and you need to allow this to happen. Why does New York host 3 teams when the largest city in the mecca of hockey only host 1? Bring another team to Ontario.

2. Move the Atlanta Thrashers to Hartford

The Thrashers are terrible and nobody likes them. Bad uniforms, bad fan base, bad performance. If the Thrashers ceased operations tomorrow, news would barely scratch the headlines. So, what do you have to lose by moving the team to Hartford? Of course, the Whalers failed miserably in gaining attendance by the time they relocated to Carolina in 1997, but there's no denying Connecticut is a considerably larger hockey market than Atlanta. Connecticut is starving for a professional franchise, and much like your decision to bring an NHL franchise back to Minnesota after a hiatus, bringing pro hockey back to Connecticut will pay off.

3. Move the New York Islanders (or Florida Panthers) to Winnipeg

The Islanders haven't advanced past the Quarter-Finals in 15 years, and the Panthers haven't been to the playoffs in 9. However, the Islanders current state is extremely depressing. Finishing 21 games under .500 with a team of washed up veterans and few promising young players doesn't favor in comparison to the Panther's 93 points and a lineup showcased of emerging superstars. And, let's not overlook the Islanders' deteriorating arena compared to Florida's state-of-the-art building. All signs point to a continued decline in Long Island, and the sooner they are relocated, the sooner you can add to your league's arsenal of competitive teams. When the Winnipeg Jets were initially forced to relocate in 1996, it came down to a lack of preparation of surviving as a small-market franchise. Now, with a new arena in place, Winnipeg will join roughly one-third of the league as another small-market team, and build a solid fan base in a Canadian city more deserving of hockey than both Long Island and South Florida.

Get on ESPN. Now.

Versus has done a great job of hosting the NHL, enjoying rating increases every year; however, there are simply not enough fans who have Versus to make it a long term home of hockey on television. You signed a deal with Versus after the 04-05 lockout, and signing the option for this year proved to be a good move, but when that the contract is up you need to get on ESPN. I understand the decision to become the main event on a secondary channel rather than one of many on a primary one, but ESPN has plenty of room to host hockey. Stanley Cup Finals games on Versus is a travesty, and the sooner you get onto ESPN, the sooner hockey will catapult back into prominence.

Goalie Pads:

Your attempts to increase scoring and excitement on a game-to-game basis have been rather successful; however, there is one last step you need to take in order to really regenerate the excitement that hockey presented years ago. Reduce the size of goaltenders' pads. Roberto Luongo looks like Megatron on the ice, and goalies take up a huge fraction of the net. If you really want to increase scoring, slim down goalie pads. It's easy, harmless, and won't cost you any money.