I used to go to NHL games when tickets were much cheaper; we had a new team near us (NJ Devils) and it was a lot of fun. That being said, it is a sport that is difficult to watch on TV; the puck is simply too small to follow (to the point where they tried having some “aura” around it on TV to make it easier to follow). They would black out games in our area because they didn’t sell enough tickets (not exactly a way to attract fans); they still had a problem selling tickets after winning a few Stanley Cups (after which they would parade around their arena parking lot).
As a live sport it has no match; it just has no broad appeal. Too much of the country never even sees ice in the winter, and they moved the Devils to Newark (not exactly a hotbed of hockey fans).
...but then ALL of America (except the evil Left of course) were hockey freaks when Team USA stomped the Soviets in 1980...if the NHL could somehow reproduce that kind of interest in the game...perhaps the league should recruit pro wresting promoters.