Fall of a Major?

a former favorite...
Hockey was a major sport for me living in Long Island, NY.
The four year reign of the New York Islanders ended when beaten by the legendary Wayne Gretzky equipped Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. That was the last year livin' in Long Island, but the team was an always finals contender then and there were lots of hockey frenzied kids around. We even used to play with hockey sticks in the streets and in our basements with tennis balls and roller skates when no ice were around. In the winters, players were flying around with ice skates in the rinks. Checking bodies with sticks, shoving opponents to the walls were "style", as roughness was indispensable with the sport.
My love to the sport ended when I moved to California where no team was in sight till the SJ Sharks appeared years later. NHL announced the suspension of this season which might even lead to doubts whether this sport will keep its status as one of the "major" sports in the U.S. It's ironic that the news of Jose Canseco's book about steroids and baseball were highlighted at the same time, as Major League Baseball once lost its trust after a strike by the players and revived when the home-run races by Jose's former teammate Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa lured the fans back to the ballparks. Will hockey find such saviors? Only God knows...
In Japan, hockey is a little "major" in northern parts of Japan, especially Hokkaido. But the Japanese league has been suffering for so long, and news about teaming up with Russian and Korean teams to make an international league was reported some time ago. But I think not many people here in Tokyo, including me knows who won the league... The popular pop star and actor Takuya Kimura played a lead role in a television drama series aired exactly a year ago. But still nobody cares... I think hockey is an exciting and dramatic sport, but along with basketball which recently started a new professional league, it just can't find the roots to new fans. Soccer's surprising success with J-League is something to take lessons from, but the key is the sense of unity of the public to the sport. Nationwide esprit de corps when the national team qualified to the France World Cup finals which was followed by the co-hosting of the cup finals with Korea brought success. Japanese basketball had its first NBA player, Yuta Tabuse this season and hockey someday can follow. Be looking forward these sports find its way to a nationwide frenzy along with a hopeful revival of NHL!