LAST MONTH marked the silver anniversary of hockey's shining moment, the 1980 Olympic semifinal game in which a bunch of fresh-faced American collegians beat the Soviets. But few National Hockey League players--or fans--saw cause to celebrate. February 2005 may go down as the blackest month in NHL history. Commissioner Gary Bettman officially nixed the 2004-2005 campaign, following a five-month lockout. No other North American professional sports league had ever forfeited an entire season due to a labor dispute. But for the first time since 1919, no team will hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.

It gets worse. There's been talk of dissident players forming a new league. As the New York Times has reported, about 400 (out of over 700) NHL players are now plying their trade in Europe. Some may not come back. Meanwhile, Bettman coyly hints that the 2005-2006 season could go forward with replacement players ("scabs") if negotiations remain at an impasse. Hard to say what the fans find less appealing--billionaire owners baying for a salary cap or millionaire players crying poverty.

But the laundry list of NHL maladies goes well beyond the lockout. Even prior to its junked season, pro hockey was in trouble. Scoring had hit record lows. Teams were hemorrhaging cash left and right. Ratings for the 2004 Stanley Cup finals were abysmal. And the most memorable moment of the '03-'04 season came when one player (Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi) nearly killed another (Colorado's Steve Moore) on skates.

So even if the players and owners reconcile and '05-'06 goes off without

(1) Introduce new--and enforce old--rules on clutching and grabbing. Fans don't shell out $70 bucks (and more) a ticket to watch third-rate players hook, hold, and obstruct the league's superstars. Yet no one who's followed NHL hockey over the past 15 years can deny that the clutch-and-grab style of defense has become the modus operandi of no-talent hacks and shoddy expansion teams.

When ex-Penguins great Mario Lemieux cited "the clutching and grabbing" as a big reason for his initial retirement in 1997, he caught flack for being a "crybaby." But Lemieux's broader point was correct. The open-ice finesse game, pioneered by the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s, has suffered enormously. And fast-paced, creative hockey is what fans pay to see. If the NHL hopes to stop losing supporters, especially American supporters, it must let its brightest lights shine.

(2) Scrap the two-line-pass rule. This should be a no-brainer. In NHL hockey, a player may not complete a pass to his teammate if the puck travels untouched over two lines (the passing player's own blue line and the red line). The two-line-pass rule negates the option of home-run passes. But it also stifles dynamic breakout plays and exciting counterattacks.

Two-line passes are fair game in Olympic and U.S. college hockey--with salutary results. The play moves faster, there is more end-to-end action, and scores are much higher. (True, Olympic hockey benefits from a larger ice surface, as well.)