With Stanley Cup 2008, NHL Looks to Re-enter the Spotlight in American Sports

Let’s hop into the time travel machine and go back all the way to 1994.

When Mark Messier delivered the New York Rangers their first Stanley Cup Title in 54 years the NHL was at its pinnacle.  NHL '94 was the hottest game on the market and hockey was poised to take over the spotlight that was on the NBA,.

What followed was a series of incidents that all contributed negatively to the development of the league.  The NHL experienced their first lockout and followed it up with the neutral zone trap.  These changes caused many fans to leave, but the worst blow came in the form of another lockout that canceled the entire season.

This blunder caused the few remaining fans to leave en masse, leaving the league in desperate need of answers, and an audience.  One of those answers has arrived, in the form of a finals appearane for the league's brightest young star.

It is a dream match-up in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins, with their star Sidney Crosby, will face one of the most storied franchises in the hockey, the Detroit Red Wings.

It is a potential sexy match that could propel the NHL back into the limelight of American sports.

While I will not go as far to say that this change will be as meteoric as that of NASCAR, it will re-launch the NHL back into the discussion of professional sports leagues that the NFL currently dominates.  It's not unreasonable.  In a small way the NBA has already taken this route and is beginning to rebound from criticisms and problems that were posed to the league in the past few years.

A win by either team figures to be a victory for the NHL.  The Pens are very young, and have the look and feel of a team that is going to be around for a long time. More than likely this won't be the only shot they get at the Stanley Cup.

At the same time, a Detroit victory wouldn't be bad either.  The Red Wings are centered in a popular hockey market and have traditionally been very competitive.

Professional sports still has plenty of room for improving leagues to climb into the spotlight.  With a little bit of luck, the NHL is poised to step back into that spot they forfeited back in 1994.