I agree that the season is too long but the league is hardly a mess. It's more popular now than it has ever been, especially in southern venues.
True... How many hockey games in Canada you can go to the arena by boat? Maybe by an ice boat...but not by power boats...
ummm...they are getting beat by womens college basketball games in the tv ratings. Also, way too many nameless, faceless teams, but the way the game is played now. Too defensive ..too robotic. All the teams look and play exactly the same way. Goalies ALL look and play the same way. Seems like every game is 2-1 or 3-2. Even with all the weird rule changes to help, the league is a shell of what it once was in the 1980’s to the mid 90’s. And they did it to themselves.