The NHL's image has taken an undeserved beating

	Nearly 20 years ago, The Great One went to L.A. and it seemed that the sky was the limit for the NHL and hockey in the U.S. Bill Robbins/SI
	MAILBAG Darren Eliot will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

If you're looking for something to ponder, look no further than the current sports landscape and tie it back to hockey.

For instance, the arrival of David Beckham stateside -- and California specifically -- reminds me of Wayne Gretzky's move to the Los Angeles Kings from the Edmonton Oilers in 1988. The Brits are bemoaning Beckham's move -- a sentiment put forth in ESPN's ad campaign leading up to his first game with the L.A. Galaxy this weekend -- just as Canadians were saddened when their native son went south.

Of course, the off-ice intrigue applies as well. Gretzky and then-Hollywood starlet Janet Jones were an item and then a wedded couple. Beckham's spouse is Posh Spice. Most importantly, though, a league is putting a face on its product and, hopefully, Major League Soccer will benefit with Beckham the way the NHL did with Gretzky's star appeal on display in LA. Gretzky going to the Kings opened up the expansion opportunities of the '90's and largely shaped the league's landscape of today. Ironically, Gretzky is still trying to sell the game in Phoenix -- one of the emerging markets that his days in LA made many people think was a viable home for an NHL team.

Regardless of your hindsight analysis of the NHL's foray into southern climes, Gretzky to the Kings and the subsequent feel-good buzz about hockey and the NHL was heady stuff. It led to increased economics and exposure for the sport and the league as well as growth in participation at all ages across the country. Soccer is already a widely-played sport, but Beckham and MLS are hoping for even more grassroots appeal as well as improved television exposure and the resultant uptick in the league's financial footing.

The best part of the Gretzky/Beckham parallel is the energy and hope generated by these events. The antithesis is the Michael Vick dogfighting indictment that is currently dominating the sports news landscape -- such an unsavory specter on so many levels that it is hard to fathom. Talk about undermining one's standing. Vick's exciting on-field style coupled with his hip image made him tons of money as a player and a marketable commodity for the NFL and a variety of major corporations, including Nike.

No matter how the whole Vick affair turns out, I find it interesting that the league with the most clout -- the NFL -- has had a run of poor publicity due to the off-field actions of its athletes but will probably not pay much of a price in terms of popularity. By contrast, NHL players are an honest, genuine and hard-working group with little in the way of bad behavior examples, yet the league continues to battle bad reviews for a lack of this or lack of that -- mostly TV-related sniping. The reality is that NHL players are weirdly more approachable and likeable to the public and media that get the chance to interact with them than the guys who ply their trades in the "big three."

All of which leaves me a little more interested in Beckham's MLS and a little less likely to embrace the NFL because I'll take hope over dopes any day. And with that, NHL training camp can't get here soon enough for me.