NHL.. No Love Lost

It seems that after a 119-day lockout, no matter where you reside, your local NHL team has been embraced by its fans with open arms. With opening day attendance soaring over numbers of recent years, it seems as though the fans have been desperately waiting to see their favorite players return to the ice.

I had the opportunity to witness this first hand, from the glass of the United Center. From the moment the words "Oh Say..." left Jim Cornelison's mouth, the crowd did not miss a beat. Roaring, and applauding like they have been accustomed to; in keeping with their Blackhawks tradition, you couldn't help but feel hockey was back.

Sell out crowds across the league, and record high dollar sales prove that the NHL has not lost a place in the hearts of their fan base. But what does a shortened season mean for the league?

Could the 48 game season be a sign of things to come? My feeling is that the excitement of a 48 game season will be heightened because of the limited amount of games. Games are likely to be held more important, and a playoff push will come earlier in the season, thus creating an exciting urgency in the eyes of not only fans, but players as well. After this season, and the NHL continues to play their 82 game regular seasons, will fans grow tired of watching games that ultimately don't matter?

This idea is much like the stir in the NBA. After the 2012 lockout, 66-game season, which proved to be one of the more exciting seasons in recent history, the nba seems a bit more prolonged as they have gone back to the 82 game format. Could this be a wake up to commissioners that a shortened, more competitive season should be thrown onto the table?

Thank you for reading.