The NBA is coming off one of its most successful seasons in recent memories. After the dramatic summer of LeBron and the formation of the Big Three in Miami, interest in the sport rose to levels not seen since the retirement of Michael Jordan. When Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to victory over the Miami Heat, record ratings poured in.

Even though this should be a time to rejoice for the NBA and basketball fans, trouble looms on the horizon, which could be the opportunity the NHL needs to recapture the imagination of the sports viewing audience. The NHL had been in decline since the 1990s when labor issues and overexpansion drove the league from television and into virtual irrelevance.

Despite being relegated to minor cable channels and lacking a major presence on broadcast television for years, the NHL is in the midst of resurgence. Back-to-back championships by the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks have awakened long dormant fans in sports crazy towns. And the trend on the 1990s is being reversed this decade. The NBA now faces a long and ugly labor fight, just as the NHL is picking up steam.

In a world with more entertainment options than ever before, fans do not have to wait on one league to figure out its issues. If the NBA cancels a season or suffers through an ugly delay, then the NHL is poised to capture the imagination of a new generation of fans. Children follow the sports they see on television. Do not be surprised if a kids trade in their sneakers for ice skates if the NBA goes away for too long.