The NHL's U.S. struggles as seen through Bill Simmons

After brief moments of optimism following this week's meetings in New York, the NHL lockout appears as far from being resolved as ever thanks to the NHL's easily-mockable voicemail to the NHLPA Thursday night that blew up the negotiations. While that impacts hockey fans everywhere, how much media attention the ongoing lockout is receiving differs substantially depending on which side of the Canada-U.S. border you live on. For example, north of that border, TSN controversially delayed live coverage of the New York Knicks-Miami Heat clash in order to show lockout press conferences from NHLPA leader Donald Fehr and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman that most American sports channels disregarded, causing many south-of-the-border hockey fans to flock to TSN's website to see them live. The most poignant example of the divide in media priorities, and one that reflects what this lockout may do to hockey's profile south of the border, may have come from a surprising source, t...