What a difference a year makes for the NHL.

Just 12 months ago, the NHL was on life support. The season was three weeks away from being cancelled by Commissioner Gary Bettman, and the future of many teams was uncertain.

Once the lock-out ended, the success of the NHL then depended on new rule changes designed to open up the ice and increase scoring in order to appeal to casual sports fans. But would attracting the casual fan through scoring turn the league into a joke like Arena Football? Would hockey’s regulars enjoy the changes?

Mid-way through the season the results are in and the new NHL is a rousing success.

Overall league attendance has been setting records month after month and ratings have increased over years past.

Rookie sensations Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin – along with new rules aimed at increasing action have rekindled interest in the fledgling league.

One of the bigger changes wasn’t a change at all. The NHL promised a zero tolerance policy for hooking, holding, tripping, slashing, cross checking and interference. Players who use their stick or free hand to slow any opposing player will be penalized. The NHL needed to end the grappling, wrestling and bear-hugging that sucks the speed and skill from the game.

Combined with the removal of two-line passes, the implementation of tag-up offsides, reducing the size of the neutral zone, and reducing the size of goalie equipment, the NHL product has become more exciting and fast-paced. So far, so good.

In fact the rules haven’t just revitalized the league, but some careers as well. The new NHL was supposed to affect lumbering defensemen like the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Bryan McCabe. It has, but not in the way many thought it would.

McCabe, 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, has emerged as an offensive threat this season, helping him earn a reserve spot on Team Canada for the Torino Olympics. He’s also leading the Leafs in scoring by a long shot. McCabe has 49 points – including 10 power-play goals – in 43 games. It looks like a lock for McCabe to smash his career high in points of 53, set last season.

Or how about Ladislav Nagy of the Phoenix Coyotes? Nagy, 26, is averaging more than a point a game with 48 points through 44 games. It could be merely a handful of games before he tops his career high of 57 points in 80 games.

The new NHL is creating new stars as well. Taking a look at the scoring leaders this season, you’ll see the familiar names of Jagr, Forsberg, Kovalchuk and Alfredsson. But sprinkled among those superstars are perennial 30-goal scorers like Simon Gagne, Brian Gointa and Danny Heatly – not exactly household names, even in NHL households.

While we are on the subject, what do the names Manny Fernandez, Manny Legace, Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Miller, Ilja Bryzgalov and Hannu Toivonen mean to you?

They’re among the top 10 NHL goalies in goals-against average, and maybe 12 people know who they are – including their parents.

The only lame rule in the bunch is the shootout. It’s exciting. It’s been a smash hit among fans, and it’s ended ties.

But it’s a huge gimmick.

Hockey is a team game, not a series of breakaways. Players have to earn scoring chances by outworking and out-skating opponents, and while exciting, the addition of the shootout is a novelty that will wear off once fans have seen enough of them.

After the football season is over, the new and improved NHL will hijack my Saturdays. Shootouts aside, the league that was teetering on the edge of failure deserves an A- for its impressive comeback.

Dan Berrigan is a senior in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected]