I've always preferred watching the fast-paced, physical game of speed, skill, and strength that is ice hockey over all other professional sports, even though it has taken a backseat in popularity in this country when compared to other sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. And poker.

Recently I read an article that looked at what is going on in other sports. Most recently we have Barry Bonds breaking the Major League Baseball record for career homeruns. However, this momentous occasion is tainted with Bonds' alleged steroid use, causing many of the game's fans to shun him and curse the fact that he know holds one of the most revered records in all of sports. Or professional football, where quarterback Michael Vick aka Ron Mexico, one of the game's icons, goes to court on dogfighting charges. Or even professional basketball, where a gambling scandal involving a referee raises major questions concerning the integrity of the game's administration.

And then we have ice hockey. What is the terrible news giving this game its black eye to match the rest? Gambling? Steroids? Dogfighting? Not quite. The closest thing we have here is two brothers playing loud music at a bachelor party. Eric Staal and his younger brother Jordan, of the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, got busted at Eric's bachelor party for getting a little too rowdy. That's it. From the game that allows players to break the action to beat the snot out of one another. The last player to violate the league's steroid policy was a washed up old defenseman like 5 years ago. From that perspective, the NHL is by far the cleanest professional league out there.

Check out these mug shots. They look more like choir boys than criminals. I think this could be a great selling point for the NHL. They could use advertising slogans like "At least our players don't run dogfighting rings". I don't know. I'm not very creative. I'm sure you can use you imagination here and come up with better.