HDIC should have included a game in Winnipeg

Gary Bettman recently announced next year's NHL regular season will start with games in Europe. Meanwhile, Hockey Day In Canada took place in Winkler, Man.

Winkler is in close proximity to Winnipeg, so why wouldn't the NHL want to honor this great event by putting a primetime game in one of the NHL's great markets from the past?

Think of all the fans that are going to be watching this event, not only across Canada, but on the NHL Centre Ice Package and possibly around the world on the Internet. Games in Canada always have extra appeal on the package because the atmosphere comes through more prominently at all six Canadian arenas.

The NHL missed out on a great opportunity to attract more fans to the game. If you don't get the package, as I doubt most Americans do, then this event never happened.

It's very disappointing to see how poorly organized and inconsistent the league has become since watching my first hockey game in the late 1980s (North Stars-Blackhawks at the old Chicago Stadium).

It sounds like the geniuses who run the NHL are victims of an identity crisis.

Brandon Marshall, Minneapolis, Minn.