My Take on the Media (Part 4)

Up until the 2004-2005 season, hockey was consistently on the air by ESPN, and the sport of hockey was in my mind growing rapidly. Fan bases remained constant for about ten years and things were looking good. I was a frequent watcher of the NHL and it grew on me to the point that i started to play hockey. But when that 2004-2005 season came along, that's when the NHL took a HUGE downward spiral and began to fade away, especially here in the states. That's when the NHL's lockout took place, banning the sport for on whole year. I have to tell you, that was probbly the worst year of my life. Due to the lokout, ESPN's contract with the NHL expired and ESPN decided not pick it up again. The network thought the sport was dying and it was not in their best interest to continue airing the sport. After ESPN parted ways with the NHL, many fans were lost, as there were no games on national television, only on cable and satellite. OLN, now known as Versus, took over the job for ESPN after the lockout and that's when the new era of the NHL and the media took place.