With the National Hockey League going through a lockout right now, many hockey fans across the nation feel that there won’t be any NHL action for a while. Despite the lockout, there are many ways that hockey fans can still enjoy the sport.

It’s a real shame that the NHL is going through this lockout because after this past season, hockey fans were really looking forward to the 2012-2013 season. The season was supposed to start this past October, with preseason games taking place in September.

However, that is not to say that hockey isn’t happening in other parts of the world. The American Hockey League season, which is the minor league affiliate with the NHL, is going on right now. A lot of the Canadian hockey leagues such as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League are going strong right now.

The Kontinental Hockey League also has some games that are shown on ESPN from time to time. It’s usually teams from Europe but it’s worth it to see some hockey players from outside of this country in action. A lot of games from the aforementioned leagues can be seen on television as well as college hockey.

Aside from watching hockey on television, many fans still want to go see some live action. I can only guess that hockey fans from Sacramento and Elk Grove don’t want to travel to Canada to see some hockey. That is not an issue at all. With only an hour drive, hockey fans can see the Stockton Thunder, a minor league team for the NHL, play out their season.

Also, many NHL players have tried out other leagues to play in this season. It’s a good thing that they are still going to try to play hockey despite the fact that the NHL is in hiatus at the moment. For example, John Tavares of the New York Islanders signed with a team in Switzerland, as did Chicago Blackhawks’ forward Patrick Kane and Boston’s Patrice Bergeron.

As a hockey fan myself, I was bummed at the fact that the 2012-2013 season was on an indefinite hiatus. However, I found that there are other ways to still watch the sport despite the current NHL season being on hiatus. Whether it’s watching old games from yesteryear or other leagues currently in session, I am still getting my fix.

Just because the NHL is currently in a lockout doesn’t mean that hockey fans can’t check out other leagues out there to get their hockey kick going. It’s a good thing that this lockout isn’t applying to all hockey leagues out there, otherwise it would be a bad year for every hockey fan out there.

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