I was a huge fan when the likes of Phil Esposito, Hodge, Boby Orr,Tony Esposito, and the other guys from that era played. I kind of got away from Hockey for awhile in the mid to late 80s then i started watching it again in the late 90s. I couldn't help but love it when The Aves won the Stanley Cup when Bourke played with them, that was wicked cool. The strike has hurt hockey tremendously, at least from the stand point of watching it on TV. I don't know if attendance figures are down this season or not, but i think i have watched a total of about 2-3 hours of hockey all season. I get OLN, so i'll try to catch some minutes tonight, but the Red Sox take center stage this time of year , especially when they are playing the Evil Empire.