The NHL season has gotten underway over the last few days. With the start of the season and as a hockey fan of many years, I share a similar question many other hockey fans in the United States ponder - why isn't the NHL more popular?

Hockey is such an exciting, fast-paced game. Five players on each team try to score a frozen rubber puck past the opposing team's goalie. Among the 60 minutes of game time, you will see viscous hits, incredible stick-handling, 5-on-4 play, tremendous passes, highway-robbery saves, and highlight reel goals. Oh, and you may see a fight break out. Not to mention the wide open 3-on-3 overtime that is even more fast-paced, followed by a penalty shootout, if the game gets that far. What other sport can say that they feature that much action in just one game?

But yet, the NHL gets little coverage on ESPN. And when the NHL begins their season, they are overshadowed by the MLB playoffs and the NFL regular season. Similarly, when the NHL playoffs - which are the best playoffs in sports by far - begin, they are overshadowed by the NBA playoffs and the NFL draft.

At this point, I would say that America's pastime is past its prime. Baseball is a slow, long, stop-and-start game that's an acquired taste. It features a lot of standing around with little action. Either you love it or you can't stand it. And if you love it, you're probably over 50-years-old. If you hate it, you're probably a millennial.

Basketball has mostly become a 3-point contest. Gone are the days of big men backing down their opponent in the paint and driving to the hoop. It's more like who can hit the most 3-pointers these days. Critics of the hardwood say the game features too much scoring, which devalues every field goal made. This deems the early parts of the game meaningless. The old saying goes, "give each team 100 and watch the last two minutes."

While the NFL remains king, it is not without it's critics. Critics say that it's a difficult game to understand and they don't like the constant stoppages between plays. They don't want to devote three hours of their day to watch about 10-12 minutes of action.

Soccer has been growing in popularity in this country but still, there are plenty of people not watching it and never will. Non-believers in the world's game say that it's too slow and too boring. They don't appreciate the strategy that goes into it. They just can't get over the fact that action only comes along a handful of times per game and the rest of the match is spent strategizing on how to create those brief moments.

I would argue that hockey is the greatest compromise of all sports. It features non-stop action with only a few brief timeouts, unlike baseball. Every time a goal is scored, it is extremely important and can change the outcome of the game, unlike basketball. It is easy to understand, unlike football. And it is fast-paced and features exciting plays frequently, unlike soccer. Hockey is the perfect combination.

So why isn't it more popular in the United States?

There are many reasons. For starters, a major critique on the TV-watching experience of hockey is that the puck is hard to follow. This is understandable for a beginner or a newcomer to the game. But after a while, you will be able to follow the puck with experience. If the cameraman in the booth can follow the puck, so can you.

Another shortcoming of the NHL is the lack of diversity. It can be argued that people don't watch because they don't see players who look like they do. The NHL is by far the least diverse of any major sport. About 5 percent of NHL players are black. That is an extremely small number compared to the other sports. Furthermore, the best players in the league aren't American. Sure, there are great American players like Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski, but the vast majority of stars come from our neighbor to the North. Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos, Tyler Seguin, John Tavares, and Claude Giroux all hail from Canada. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Anze Kopitar all come from various parts of Europe. Americans like to watch great American players play but only a handful of the NHL superstar players were born in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

But the biggest reason why hockey isn't more popular is because it's expensive to play as a kid growing up. Parents would rather opt for basketball or soccer where all you need is a ball and a pair of shoes to play. But to play hockey, you first need to learn how to skate. Then, you need to buy skates, a stick, pads, a helmet, gloves, hockey pants, pucks, and possibly a goal. Then you need to find an ice rink where you can play. Roller hockey is a good alternative if ice is unavailable. That's a lot of gear just to play a game. So the bottom line is that there are cheaper options for kids to play and if kids are playing other sports, they're going to watch other sports. Almost every high school has a basketball, baseball, and soccer team, and a lot have football, but when was the last time you heard of high school ice hockey?

Harris Poll conducted a survey in Dec. 2015 asking American adults what their favorite sport is. Hockey was tied for fifth place. Pro football came in first with 33 percent, followed by baseball with 15 percent, then college football with 10 percent, auto racing with 6 percent, then basketball and hockey with 5 percent each. The fact that more people watch someone drive a car in a circle 200-300 times in a row rather than hockey is mind boggling. The good news is that the future is looking bright. Since 1985, hockey is trending upward, as it is up 3 percent from that year. Baseball is down 8 percent on this poll and basketball is down 1 percent from 1985.

From my point of view, I see baseball as a dying sport. The median age of a baseball viewer is 53 years old. I see basketball declining in popularity overall but still pretty popular with teenagers and people 18-34 years of age. I would say that soccer is the fastest growing sport in America right now. The MLS is expanding almost every year and the Seattle Sounders consistently outdraw the Seattle Mariners. More kids are playing soccer and more people are watching soccer in this country than ever before.

But here's where I urge everyone to give hockey a chance. Every non-sports fan who I've introduced to sports has picked hockey as their favorite. Especially women. They cite the intensity, the drama, and the non-stop constant action as their reasons for choosing hockey. It's an exciting game. The season just got underway this week. There is still plenty of time for you to get hooked. Change the channel to the NHL network and watch some highlights, because you know you won't get them on ESPN. Go to the NBC Sports network on Wednesday and watch a Wednesday night rivalry game. I promise you will be entertained by the things you see.

Get started now so you learn and get acclimated to the game throughout the season. Because trust me, you will want to see the playoffs. The drama and intensity is multiplied by 100. Every goal means so much and one game could change the whole series. A game seven where each team puts their season on the line is probably the most heart-wrenching experience in sports. But it's all worth it when you see your team hoist the Stanley Cup.