from Steve Keating of Reuters,

After last year's lockout-shortened campaign the NHL is back with a full action-packed 82-game schedule designed to put the league in the sporting spotlight and keep it there with a daring lineup of glossy events.

"One of the most important things to come out of the negotiations was 10 years of labor peace and that is allowing us to begin to execute the plans we have for growing the game and growing revenues," John Collins, the NHL's chief operating officer, told Reuters.

"We've added a lot of blue chip partners on the broadcast and the sponsorship side, who said they like where the game is and like where it's going and want to spend money promoting and activating around hockey.

"They need events like the Winter Classic and Stadium Series to do that."

From the great Olympic stage to an unconventional outdoor game in sunny Los Angeles, the NHL appears determined to leave no marketing stone unturned in an effort to rebuild its brand and repair the damage done by a bitter labor dispute.

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