March of the Meatheads

It's April, so that must mean the hockey thugs are out in force once more; namely the meatheads masquerading as the Anaheim Ducks.

For the last two years, the same team have bullied and battered their way into the playoffs and then left a nasty odour over the Stanley Cup playoffs with their brand of 'hockey.' In 2007 it worked all the way to a Finals victory; last year Dallas managed to trip them up early.

Now they are on the march again after a fight-fuelled series 'victory' over San Jose that leaves hockey proponents struggling to defend their sport as anything other than an excuse for a jolly good punch-up.

If the NHL is ever to dig itself out from the bottom of the major sporting heap (and fight off the potential challenge of MLS and other 'minor' sports), they simply cannot allow these stick-carrying storm-troopers to dominate another Cup series.

Hockey will simply be derided by most commentators and left to wallow in its own goon-infested waters with an ever-decreasing audience.