According to television reports, last week's NHL All-Star game, which took place on a Wednesday night in an attempt to boost ratings, experienced a 76 percent drop in viewership compared with the 2004 game.

The all-star game and skills competition from Dallas was televised nationally on Versus as opposed to 2004's All-Star game, which was shown on ABC on a Sunday afternoon. This year's game drew a 0.7 Nielsen rating, despite not competing with weekend sporting events.

"It's a non-national sport that will never be a national TV sport," MSU head coach Rick Comley said at his Monday press conference.

"There's been great growth, but you're just not going to beat some sports that are out there."

Although Comley is content with hockey as a regional game in America, he didn't deny the fact that expansion has worked to a certain extent. While the game is still dominantly played in Canada and America's north and northeast, the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes are the previous two Stanley Cup Champions, and more prospects develop each year out of non-hockey states like Arizona, Texas and California.

"It's worked in participants, not necessarily in viewership," Comley said.

After a lockout that canceled the entire 2004-05 NHL season, the league came back with several rule changes and budding young stars. Although television ratings stayed about the same as the pre-lockout days, arena attendance experienced a significant increase.

The NHL is still toying with several other rule changes to increase viewership, one of them being bigger goals.

Comley has coached hockey for more than three decades and doesn't want to see the game become something it's not meant to be.

"Don't change the game too much thinking you're going to make it something," he said.

"They're on the verge of that right now."