Tuesday is Judgment Day for the NHL. Monday night, the erstwhile league will televise the championship game it covets: Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Gretzky’s old team vs. Team NASCAR. And Tuesday, the Nielsen ratings will dictate the future of the sport.
Hockey’s lockout hastened the decline of my favorite sport. Popularity was already on the wane, but gracefully, and there was always hope a David Stern could rejuvenate what was once the fourth major sport in America. But a year without hockey broke the habits and the patience of fans.
ESPN chose not to renew its contract with the NHL, leaving weekly games on OLN and Saturdays on NBC…in a spot the NHL had to pay for. Money drives these leagues, and I understand that. New York City has three (three!!!) regional sports networks, so I can always get the local games.
Monday night represents the league’s best opportunity to show its strength. Or weakness. For Game 7 of the Finals, every hockey fan will, in theory, turn off the reruns on the other networks. Which means that Monday night is the best that national hockey can do. Monday night will make or break televised hockey in America.
Monday night’s game is on NBC at 8pm.
June 19th, 2006 at 12:26 am
I think NBC does a good job televising a sport that doesn’t jive with TV.
The make-or-break pressure of a game 7 in the first salary-capped Finals doesn’t stress me, though. I’m comfortable having the NHL where it is in terms of popularity. I don’t know if I’d even want it to experience a significant popularity shift. When I meet another hockey fan, I feel like I have something in common with that person, a unique passion that isn’t quite the same with a football or baseball fan. I actually prefer it to be a nitch sport. It also seems a bit less corrupt than the big 3 sports.
For me, nothing beats playoffs in NHL. No other sport that I see displays the total seflessness that I see on the ice. Intentionally taking a 90mph slapshot to the body, limping to the bench, getting shot up with cortisone and feeling a sense of urgency to get back on the ice after missing a shift — that makes the Stanley Cup worth more than any other trophy in my mind.
June 19th, 2006 at 12:33 am
Aaagh, both Aarons posting comments to my blog on the same day! Confusion!
Time to go to bed, I think.