The Hockey Ombudsman 7/28/08

Dear Hockey Ombudsman - I love hockey. I mean, I really love hockey. Can you love hockey too much?

- Hockey Lover

Dear Hockey Lover - The short answer is: yes, you can love hockey too much. I mean, it's not like you can love it so much that you get a rash or something, but loving anything more than you love yourself is a recipe for disaster.

If you are in a relationship then hockey shouldn't be more important than your significant other. Try to cut back, you know, during the off-season.

There are lots of little ways you can represent your love of hockey while doing non-hockey things. If you go to a party, you could be the "ice guy" and make sure everyone has adequate levels of ice in their beverages all night. That way you get to be social all night AND be near the smell of fresh ice.

But the bottom line is that you can love hockey too much. I mean, how else to explain Islanders fans?

THO

Dear Hockey Ombudsman - Why does my team continue to raise ticket prices even though they still suck?

- Inflation Haterr

Dear Inflation Haterr - On the one hand, you could blame the escalating salary for the need to generate more income. You could also blame the NHL's overall lack of visibility in the United States of America for the general un-profitability of mass-media endeavors by the league - requiring teams to go out and raise capital in other ways. You could blame ESPN. You could blame Versus - but who would notice? You could blame Gary Bettman. You could blame Todd Bertuzzi.

You could blame a lot of things.But the bottom line is that your team continues to raise ticket prices even while they continue sucking because you keep paying for them.

THO

The Hockey Ombudsman is here to help you. If you have hockey questions for the Hockey Ombudsman please submit them to hockeyombudsman@gmail.com.