I come from a state with exactly zero professional sports franchises so I cannot speak a lot about what it is like to follow one through the good times and the bad.

However, as a casual fan of the National Hockey League for several years what I saw over the weekend seems to be a very

good step in the right direction.

The NHL seems to realize that it has a problem &045; a serious problem.

Fortunately, the NHL also seems committed to fixing it to the best of its ability.

Losing an entire season to a lockout undoubtedly hurt a sport that in many parts of this country (including my home state of Iowa) got very little media coverage to begin with.

Thankfully, Friday, to me, was a day to start the healing process and bring the game back into the spotlight.

When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the top pick in the draft lottery (and for all practical purposes the next &uot;Great One&uot; in Sidney Crosby) it appears to be a good first step.

Pittsburgh is by no means a hockey juggernaut as it struggled to stay afloat in the old system, but as I look at a potential paring of Mario Lemieux and Crosby it could be very exciting and just what the game is looking for as it tries to inject itself back into the mainstream.

I have never seen Crosby play, but I know what Mario can do and if those two can create some of the buzz that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire were able to with their home run chase for a baseball league that was still smarting coming of a strike than it will only help speed up the process for the NHL.

(Let’s just hope that illegal substances do not end up becoming a prominent part of the picture years down the road if they do.)

Lemieux has a name that even casual fans recognize, and the hype machine is building around Crosby so the chance for big things are possible.

Beyond a single player trying to &uot;save&uot; the league I also applaud players, owners and leadership for coming together to make changes to the game that they hope will bring fans back and keep them interested.

Several of the things that were discussed were not pleasant for many involved, but they finally got it right and realized that it must be done.

I like the emphasis on an attacking style that seems to have been put in the game.

Trying to rid the game of the clutching and grabbing that slowed it down will help to let the best players shine, which is exactly what most people who buy tickets to games want to see.

Making the attack zones bigger, goalie equipment smaller, doing away with the red line

and (hopefully) a renewed emphasis on calling penalties as they should be throughout the regular season and postseason will all play big roles in improving the game.

But there is one thing that caught my eye more than any other &045; the shootout.

Having a winner after every game will be great in my opinion, and doing it in a shootout format will be exciting.

Your three best versus my three best.

Best of three wins.

It is one more way to

add excitement to a league that was in need of some.

The shootout will only be used during the regular season which is fine by me because there are few things more exciting than watching a two, three or four overtime hockey game in the playoffs waiting for that one long screaming announcement by the commentator.

Goooaaall.

Are the new rules perfect? No.

Will tweaking be needed in the future? Probably.

Things are hardly set, and a new television contact would sure be another big step in the right direction, however, it seems that a sport that had been lagging behind the other three major ones for the past several years is making a concerted effort to improve itself and make the game more fan friendly.

For that I applaud them.

(Jeff Budlong, sports editor)