ESPN treated hockey like **** when they had it, I don't understand why anybody would want it back on that channel (other than more households, which can be remidied).
A better thing to do would be to try and get VS on as many households as possible. That, coupled by improving their broadcast quality, would be the best course of action.
The sport is never going to be "mainstream" in the US, it's best just to promote it as best as possible.
Not to stick up for ESPN, but they covered hockey a lot better than VS. ESPN2 showed a lot more games during the week including double headers. They also did a pretty good job of showing all the teams, not just the teams on the upper east coast.
VS has hockey on 1 or 2 nights a week? Over 70% of the games involved east coast teams and the majority of those games were played in the east coast building. The Rangers were shown more than any other team, followed by the Devils, the Flyers, and the Sabres.
The biggest problem with that, besides the fact that there are other teams in the league, was that the games are over or close to it by the time 3/4 the country gets home from work. I live in the central time zone and I get off work at 5:00. By the time I would make it home, kiss the wife and kid, and do what needs to be done so I can watch TV, that game is already halfway through the 3rd period. Of course I didn't miss any of the 4 hours of bull riding competition!
I watched more games over the internet than I did on VS, which was 2 whole games.
I will be getting the Center Ice package, which I canceled during the lock out, but I think it's sad that the NHL is ran by people with no idea, or no motivation, to do what it takes to make sure the league is covered fairly and more than once a week on a bull riding channel that most people don't get or watch.
Also, ESPN didn't drop the NHL. They made an offer to extend the contract and Bettman felt like wasn't enough. Then VS offered slightly more money and the deal to kill the NHL was made and since extended.
As far as thinking the sport could never be "mainstream" is flawed and sounds like something Bettman would say to cover up his failure at doing his job.
When I moved to Dallas in 1992, there were 3 ice rinks and they were all located in malls. Hockey was not even an afterthought, much less something the kid were playing or watching.
The North Stars moved down here, had success and hockey here as blown up. There are several "Stars Centers" around the metroplex where people can skate, practice, take lessons, get equipment and host high school games. The key is now there are high schools that have teams, something that wouldn't have happened without the Stars and the NHL. Every Stars game is 95% full and is becoming more popular every year.
With the right marketing, the same thing can happen in a lot more cities than most would think.