How do you expect to build a fan base in a city where there is no hockey team? People don't watch their own teams are going to be drawn to watch another city's team? Not likely.

The North Stars have been very successful in Dallas: Ice rinks have been constructed, youth hockey programs have begun. That's the way you build a fan base: get more kids to play hockey.

Agree that hockey brutality gets more attention than the skill, but that's because it's what Americans want. It's the "watching a race to see a crash" mentality.

Hockey will probably never have the same appeal as football or baseball. It will never generate the same kind of revenue. Like soccer, it will always have a smaller but dedicated following. What's wrong with that?