A Happy NHL

Those of us north of the U.S.-Canada border may lament the exodus of each and every Canadian-based squad from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

We may lament the fact its going to be at least 16 years between Canadian Cup winners.

We may be thinking already about turning the dial over to the world championships in Halifax and Quebec City.

But in Gary Bettman's NHL headquarters, there has to be a celebratory atmosphere in the air.

After three consecutive Stanley Cup finals featuring either small Canadian markets or U.S. markets in which hockey barely registers - Tampa Bay-Calgary, Edmonton-Carolina, Anaheim-Ottawa - the NHL has a chance for the first time in the post-lockout era to hit a home run this spring in the conference finals and Cup final.

The teams remaining are all among the top U.S. television markets, and they are all pretty strong cities for hockey as well, or at least cities with long traditions in the game.

Philadelphia represents the fourth largest TV viewing area in the U.S., followed by Dallas (No. 5), Detroit (No. 11) and Pittsburgh (No. 22).

Of those four, obviously the Penguins would be the ideal finalist, for that team features the league's No. 1 individual marketing tool in Sidney Crosby. The league's determination to keep that franchise in Pittsburgh, with a new arena coming on stream, has certainly paid off.

A Penguin-Red Wings final would be glamourous, a chance for a boffo conclusion to the season. The least glamorous matchup would be Dallas-Philly, but even that would deliver two major TV markets for the NHL.

For Canadians, the choice will be whether the worlds and a Canadian team stacked with quality players offers more appeal.

The NHL hopes not. But you have to believe it's more interested in the opportunity at hand to generate major interest in the U.S. for the first time in a long time.

Comments

[OddyOh]

You're right, I'll be watching until Crosby and his Pens until they are out of it. But I couldn't hate the Flyers more than I already do, and have zero interest in Dallas/Detroit. The World Championship is pretty good hockey this year, much more back n forth than the defense first NHL. Anyone notice how small the WC clock graphics are? It's unreadable, and I've got a big screen here.

On another note, since this is usually a Leafs-centric blog, can you imagine the Leafs actually skating with any of these teams?! There is no way. They're gonna suck for a long time, especially since they refuse to change their '9 to 12th place is parade-worthy' attitude.

[Sanj]

You can tell there is something different when watching the Habs play in Montreal during these playoffs. The build up just before the teams take to the ice is something that I haven't seen in any other city during these playoffs. The atmosphere, the joy of the fans, etc, etc almost seems to come through the TV. You can't but help getting a little choked up by it. Sadly that is what will be missing for the remainder of these playoffs.

I will be mildly hoping for the Pens to win. Not because of Crosby though. I am tired of being spoon fed Crosby 24/7. It's clear that the face of the NHL is that Ovi guy in Washington. I don't even think Crosby is a leading candidate for the Conn Symthe.

[Steve]

Although it is a shame that there are no Canadian teams left in the playoffs, the teams that are left have all played well enough that they deserve to be there. The best part of this whole thing is that three of the four teams left (in my mind Philly is the exception)are bonafide, no gimmick HOCKEY teams, which after watching years of cup winners breed a new trend in hockey (Anaheim were the goons, late 90's Jersey won with the trap) its nice to see that cities that ice good, fast, strong, smart teams are being rewarded. As hockey fans we can only hope is that the rest of the league plays copycat to a franchise like Detroit or Dallas, the game and the rest of us would all be better off.

[Joe O]

Man I guess this is the wrong place for a die hard Philly fan huh? Envy breeds hate apparently! I am sort of confused as to what "gimmick" the Flyers have? No superstars, a goalie who hasn't been in the playoffs until he's 30? I would suggest you read your Mr. Cox's article on the little team that could, outscore and outhustle two (soon to be three) higher ranked teams. Philly is playing with house money and that ease and laughter you see during the games is presenting quite a concern to their opponents. Fleury will be shown to be a not quite up to par goalie by the end of this series. They aren't a team of fast skaters or brawlers, but good skaters and good checkers with solid goaltending. They are the team "types" you want. Strangely enough, a team with mostly Canadian players is causing the ire of so many of their fellow countrymen who blindly follow the European style as the wave of the future. I like my hockey old school. Trust me, the NHL would be quite happy to have a Philly team in the finals. The ratings for god awful Comcast Sports net have skyrocketed in the Philly area (along with CSN Southeast - Capitals). They would really like to see a Philly-New York or similar but can't break up their bread and butter division of sellouts for the regular season rivals. I unfortunatley, have to live within the Capitals viewing area and their fickle bandwagon fans. Mix up your draft picks, couple of smooth skaters, a diamond in the rough goaler with a backup utility guy and some good checkers and see what happens. It can't get worse. Heck, Philly is going from the proverbial worst to first without their leading scorer Gagne. Give it time.

[gary]

who cares that the stanley cup has not been won by a Canadian team since 1993, who cares that this years final will be between 2 American based teams.
At one time I did, it bothered me, but then I figured with so many Canadians cheering for American teams, with very few sportscasters taking on Bettman and his anti Canadian views, with everyone making a big deal about a bunch of Canadians booing the American anthem (yet nothing or very little is said when Americans boo the Canadian anthem) with no player coming out and saying 'hey I want to play for a Canadian team and try to bring the cup home" NOW,I SAY WHO CARES
by the way GO PENS GO

[gary]

Another thing, the NHL has done it to CBC and Canadians again. The saturday game of May 17 (Detroit and Dallas) is scheduled for 1:30pm.
NBC is carrying 2 f***ing games and they get peferential treatment...again. CBC/TSN is carrying all the games and the NHL says screw you.
But like I said before, who cares!

[Joel]

Being a bit conspiracy minded I would like to offer the following...

I think the last 3 years have been exactly what the NHL wanted.

To re-kindle or bolster their support here in Canada 3 Canadian teams have made it to the finals producing huge numbers for TV and general interest.
At the same time 3 (arguably) struggling southern US franchises were their opponents and in the end won thereby (arguably) solidifying/stabilizing the future or at least current financial prospects of those teams.
Now in 2007 the NHL has a team in Pitsburgh that is stacked with star calibre players and is regarded as a treat to watch akin to the 1980's Oilers.
With Pitsburgh rolling the NHL believes they could re-kindle interest in the NHL in the US while maintaining it here in Canada. Of course we have the usual cheerleaders telling us ad nauseum about all the good Canadian boys playing and we should cheer for US teams for "the good of the game" so interest/support won't dip much here.

Trust me, it all sounds plausible if you repeat to yourself enough. (tin-foil hat optional)

[Pete M]

I would have thought that Bettman would have learned after the lockout that his grand plan to make hockey America's Game has been an utter failure, and figured out that hockey is a niche sport in the States. Yet he still believes it's great to have hockey in a metropolis like Atlanta, when it reality there's about 1/10 the number of actual hockey fans there as there are in say, Winnipeg. The interest is not growing in these southern markets, it's only a passing fancy when those teams have a Stanley Cup run (Tampa, Carolina, Anaheim). Hockey can be a successful sport in the right markets, but sheer population numbers do not make a market. Hockey will never rival football, baseball, or even NASCAR in the States. Promote the game where it has a real chance for success, not just in Canada but in the proper American markets, and the league will do just fine.

[Terrible Ted]

Steve:
Don't let the negativity get you down. The Flyers are a great story. From worst to the final four. Amazing story and a testament to what a GM with vision can do for a team. I love these guys. It makes me laugh that hockey fans in Canada go from cheering on these guys when they represent the country in the World Junior Championships (Carter, Richards, Coburn, Downie, Upshall, Lupul)to cheering against them in favour of the Habs and their European content. In the end the good old Canadian desire won out and I for one couldn't have been happier. In an unrelated note you've got to love the Lauren Hart/Kate Smith rendition of God Bless America. It sends chills up and down my spine and I am Canadian. I can't wait til game 3 to see it again.

[kenny d]

Let me tell you how Bettman's NHL has made inroads to the U.S. market. I live in a town in the USA and the sports pages look like this. Two full pages on the NBA playoffs, three pages on the local college football teams spring mini-camp and oh ya they gave the NHL playoff scores at the bottom of the baseball box scores page. So you see Gary, progress is progress. I can't remember if they gave the scores last year or not.

[TedNes]

The teams may not be Canadian-based, but there's still lots of reasons for us north of the border to watch. Tons of Canucks fill out most teams' line-ups (save Detroit, aka Little Russia).

The Canada/USA game at the Worlds may be interesting. However, watching our boys skate rings around the Latvians and such hardly turns my crank.

I'll watch the Semis and the Finals regardless of who's hosting and who's playing....to me, it's about the Cup, not the teams. We know we're got two good series ahead of us, and I can't see the finals going less than 6 the way the four remainders have played. I've already made myself an "Anybody but the Flyers" sweater!

Nice try at flag-waving Damian, but I'm not biting....

[mark]

Hard to really be happy about US TV ratings, considering the crap that Bettman has made Canadians swallow to get there. As a Kitchener-Waterloo native I am disgusted by Bettman's treatment of Jim Basilie; a man with a love of the game who desparately wants to bring a team to my back yard. It's a continuation on the never ending pursuit of the all mighty US market, bank rolled by Canadian teams. Yep, I'm just thrilled that US big market teams are left to battle for MY CUP. Maybe Gary and friends will air games at 2pm Sunday afternoon too. That would just be swell. Gag!

[Steve]

Joe O and Terrible Ted:

Both of you took my comments the right and wrong way. I said that they deserve to be there, they played well, have a great powerplay, got great goaltending and timely goals from unlikely sources (i.e. RJ "Pisani" Umberger). Having said that I think they are a gimmick team. Every series you hear the analysts saying that to win this series Philly is going to have to get into the other team's heads and make the opposing goalie's life a living hell (i.e. Scott "I've fallen on the goalie and cant seem to get back up" Hartnell). Which is exactly what they did. You never hear that kind of talk about any of the other teams left. Watching the Sharks/Stars marathon thriller the other night is case in point. No gimmicks, no cheap stuff, just end to end fast, hard hockey which was a treat to watch. Watching Mike Richards skate by Carey Price and pull on his face mask just to screw with him is not fun to watch. And no Im not a Habs fan and lately not much of a Richards fan (I thought he had more class but I guess pulling on the flying P will do that to you). Im curious to see what you guys thought about the Kostsopolous sucker punch on Timmonen because in my mind he took that right out of Philly's playbook. Also both of you guys hide behind the fact that they have the most Canadian players when really their only classy one is Captain Jason Smith, who must have picked up his class in Edmonton.

Whatever let the best team win, both series should be entertaining but I have a feeling the East series will be the more controversial one... I wonder why?

[Big Bear]

I don't know, Damian. I don't think the evidence supports this argument.

Game 3 of the Cup finals last year received the lowest rating ever for a prime-time program on NBC. There was, of course, the usual whining about how these were "small market teams"--in other words, the presumption was that had Ottawa not been there, more Americans would have watched. Reality check time: Ottawa's opponent in that series was from the second-largest television market in the United States (the Los Angeles-Orange County metro area), and STILL no one watched.

In fact, three of the past Cup finals have all involved teams in southern US markets (Carolina, Tampa Bay, Anaheim) which, once upon a time, were touted as the future of the League. Have the ratings "home runs" happened yet? I think you know the answer to that.

I'm willing to believe that the US ratings may be slightly better this time around, because hockey has deeper roots in most of these cities. However, it will still be a fragmented, regionalized audience that is only in it because of a local rooting interest.

For some reason Bettman is still hanging on to this fantasy of a national US tv audience. It doesn't exist. Two decades of poorly thought-out US expansion has not created that national audience, and one Stanley Cup final will not create it, either.

[Joe O]

Steve, do you think that maybe, just maybe we are bringing old history into play here? Osgood pops a guy in the face at the end of the game last night (Det 2-1, 2-0 series) and Ribeiro does a whack on his chest. If that would have been Hextall or any myriad of Flyers today, the fan base in the rest of the NHL would have called for blood and burning at the stake of anyone in an orange jersey. 1st game against Pens, we took one, count'em one penalty. This isn't the same team as the Broad Street Bullies of almost 30 years ago or even early this season (and we fired one of the biggest offenders). As for the "gimmick", announcers consistently say that about the Flyers as they think their teams year in and year out are not among the league's elite. Heck the only time they never said comments like that was when we had the one whose name we dare not speak (in Philly anyway) Lindros (shudder). Philly rarely goes for superstars and when they do, man it is usually bad, .e.g, Lindros, Forsberg, etc. I'll take Brin'damour over either of those two (and since Philly fans in general get a bad rap too I'll add this in: Rod gets a rousing ovation every time he touches the ice in Philly and we gave a standing ovation to a PENGUIN when we thought it was his last game - Lemeuix). We may yell at your superstars like the Ovechkins and Crosby, but if there last game is in Philly they will get a great sendoff. Go Flyers!

[Gary Fraser]

heres an idea....Why dont the owners of The detroit red wings fill some of those empty seats at "the joe" by giving away FREE tickets to the VERY LOYAL FANS who, because of job loses there,can not afford to attend games anymore...with the wings 3 rounds deep and likely heading to CUP final,i'm quite sure the owner could afford to do it,as we all know the playoffs are bonus BUCKS for owners...