How could such a proud league with such a storied history come to this point.

Lord Stanley would be rolling in his grave if he knew what the National Hockey League has turned into.

The games are shown on the Outdoor Life Network. I watch that channel about as much as I watch Lifetime. Last time I checked, hockey was played in doors. Not in the woods. The Out-door Life Net-work. Typing that made me think about some guy in Timberlands, Tube Socks, some grimy shorts and a wifebeater wrestling a bear. Nowhere in the name of that network does it scream PUCKS.

ESPN dropped its hockey coverage about as fast as Oscar dropped Mayorga last weekend. Highlights were pushed to the bottom of the SportsCenter rundown. Triple overtime thriller were slotted below coverage of the Boston Marathon. How is Barry Melrose still employed? Does he have pictures of Michael Eisner and some kids doing inappropriate stuff on the Small World ride?

The Detroit Red Wings finished with the fifth-highest point total in NHL history. Raise your hand if you knew that. If you lie, may God strike you where you stand. The Wings didn't help their sport by being outeverythinged by the Edmonton Oilers--an eighth-seed--in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In fact, none of the top four seeds in the Western Conference got out of the first round this postseason.

It gets worse. Last weekend, 200,000 homes had coverage of the NHL playoffs on their televisions. Forty million people watched American Idol.

Early on, people all over the country debated who was better, Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby? That debate was killed by the fact that their respective teams, Washington and Pittsburgh, were God-awful. The team with the second-best mark this season--The Ottawa Senators--is almost ready to start its summer vacation.

I know the league is coming off of a lockout, but this is ridiculous. I hate to say it, but the fix should have been in this season. Refs should have made sure Ovechkin and Crosby's squads had records good enough to net them a spot in the playoffs. Phantom icing, slashing, and cross-checking calls should have been made everytime Edmonton's Chris Pronger was on the ice.

Know what the biggest hockey story of the year is? Janet Gretzky and Rich Tocchet. Forgot about that one, too, didn't you? Scandal can't even stay in the news.

In no way am I the biggest hockey fan. I just think it's sad that the league has sunk to these depths. It's still too early to tell what the long-term affects of the work stoppage will be. The NBA and MLB both survived long strikes, so who's to say the NHL can't, too.

It'd make it a lot easier to believe that if people could find the games, though.