With the season canceled, it’s time for hockey fans to admit the game needs a face lift. Clearly, some refinishing is required to bring hockey back to the fast-paced, highly-skilled, physically-demanding sport that is used to be.

NBCSports.com contributor Bob Duff has 10 suggestions to bring relief:

1. Crackdown on obstruction
Chicken Little proclaimed the sky to be falling. Each fall, the NHL proclaims it will rid the game of obstruction. Both of these are fairy tales. But the latter could be quickly transformed into a work of non-fiction. All that’s required is a little backbone from the people who run hockey. Stop giving in to the complainers. Keep calling penalties. Fill the sin bin up every night until these guys get the message and start keeping their sticks to themselves.

Each fall the NHL proclaims it will rid the game of obstruction ... but it still exists at an alarming rate.

Hockey is the only sport that allows its lesser talents to employ nefarious means to interfere with and prevents its stars from displaying their unique talents, turning the world’s fastest game into the world’s largest wrestling match. Whenever the NHL attempts to crackdown on these cheaters, the hue and cry is raised within the game from coaches, executives and players that they are calling too many penalties and therefore ruining the flow of the game. Here’s a news flash fellows. Yeah, we’re talking to you, the guy with his stick in Mario Lemieux’s ribs. You’re the one who is ruining the flow of the game. So shut up, go to the box for two minutes and feel shame.

Check out some game films from the 1970s. Watch Bobby Orr skate end to end without one stick hooking him. See how beautiful the game can be when its played properly. That’s hockey. And it could very well be that cleaning up the NHL ice is only the tip of the iceberg. “You’ve got to remember, this is the way we’ve been taught to play the game since we were kids,” Detroit Red Wings left winger Brendan Shanahan said. “Hold your guy up in the neutral zone has been preached to me since I started playing.” A grassroots crackdown on obstruction should be utilized and be applied with equal vigilance.

2. A new CBA
Memo to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow now that a lockout is here — forget the posturing and get down to business. The last thing the future of hockey needs is another work stoppage. A labor dispute will destroy any inroads the game has made into non-traditional hockey markets and it might just be the final straw for some of the loyal fans in the solid hockey areas.

Get a player on his own and most of them will admit they have it too good, they make too much money and making a little less wouldn’t be such a hardship. But finding one willing to voice this opinion on the record isn't easy. “We’re going to have to work together and reason with our players to craft a system that works for us,” Bettman said. “We know - everybody knows - we need to make some changes. But what the union is interested in is maintaining the status quo.”

Without a CBA, hockey falls off the pro sports radar and right at a time when its deal with NBC is starting. It’s time for hockey — both players and owners — to accept that the game will never be more than a regional sport. The NHL isn’t popular enough to be on par with the other three major leagues. That’s why salaries must come down, to enable ticket prices to be lowered so that fans can afford to come back to the games. The same upper bowl seats in Boston costs $10 for a Celtics game and $50 for a Bruins game. Unless you’re a puckhead, which game are you going to take the family to see?

3. Contraction
Does anybody miss the California Golden Seals, the Minnesota North Stars, or the Philadelphia Quakers, for that matter? Didn’t think so. One of hockey’s great myths is the term, “Original Six,” which is employed to refer to the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, the six teams in the NHL prior to the 1967 expansion that doubled the league in size to 12 teams.

Pavel Bure, left, and his brother, Valeri, are no longer with Florida. If the team keeps losing money, the Panthers themselves might disappear.

What these revisionist historians fail to mention is that four of those six teams (Boston, Chicago, Detroit and New York) were created as expansion clubs, rendering the term, “original” somewhat fraudulent in its application.

“The answer to that is an unqualified no,” Bettman said regarding contraction. “I’m not anticipating losing any clubs, relocating any clubs, or contracting any clubs.” He should be. The same people who can’t recall the Montreal Maroons or New York Americans would get along just fine without the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, or Calgary Flames. But let’s not stop there. Lop off six teams, go to a 24-team league and you’ll find that it will be addition by subtraction.

Eliminating approximately 120 players from the NHL would lessen the burden on the hockey talent pool and that would be reflected in an improved caliber of play. While we’re losing teams, let’s also throttle up the rivalries. The Islanders and Rangers should meet eight times a season. Ditto for the Leafs and Canadiens and the Flyers and Penguins. Don’t worry if some teams rarely play each other. Clubs go for years without meeting in the NFL and it certainly hasn’t hurt the popularity of that league.

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