24 replies to this topic

[Aeryn]

Thanks to Bettman's TV policy, hockey no longer can be considered one of the top four sports in the U.S. It may not be in the top dozen.

And without the ESPN contract, the sport doesn't get exposure to youngsters who are forming their sports loyalties. They're busy watching poker, college basketball and extreme sports.

As respected Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser wrote recently, "Hockey is so dead in America, the players may as well still be locked out."

LINK

[|Sykora-39]

Man this makes me really mad...seriously.

Its sad too, honestly.

[Aeryn]

Does this make you feel any better??

Burke is the rare personnel executive who also understands marketing. Of McGuire being on the bench, Burke said: "We'd all rather have the bench to ourselves, but my view and Randy's view is real simple: Whatever we've done to market this game, we haven't done a good enough job. Our TV ratings aren't what they should be. If this helps, then we want to be part of the solution."

LINK

[Aeryn]

Apparently, every media outlet is supposed to cover the, er, LACK of coverage of hockey...

Thrills! Chills! Spills! All in the comfort of your living room from your television. As long as your television goes up to channel 242, or wherever Outdoor Life Network can be found.

There's just one catch.

You'll have to watch hockey.

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And yes, lots of you didn't even notice last spring that the NHL was missing. 

And yes, it can be a little difficult for non-believers to cozy up to a sport where the stars of the game come from places such as Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, or Togliatti, Russia.

LINK

Based on geographic references, those two stars belong to us....if I'm not mistaken.

[Jennifer1515]

Apparently, every media outlet is supposed to cover the, er, LACK of coverage of hockey...

Thrills! Chills! Spills! All in the comfort of your living room from your television. As long as your television goes up to channel 242, or wherever Outdoor Life Network can be found.

There's just one catch.

You'll have to watch hockey.

--------------------------------

And yes, lots of you didn't even notice last spring that the NHL was missing. 

And yes, it can be a little difficult for non-believers to cozy up to a sport where the stars of the game come from places such as Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, or Togliatti, Russia.

LINK

Based on geographic references, those two stars belong to us....if I'm not mistaken.

thats interesting that they picked Lupul and Bryz as examples

[Duckette]

AGAIN! I'm not gunna get to see the game AGAIN! GEEZ! Well, plus side is, we move into our apartment tomorrow night, and they have Comcast, so we'll get OLN!

[hockey2k]

The first article is written by a Canadian and run in a Canadian paper. It's full of Pro-Canada "It's our game and you can't have it" bias and not one actual fact or statistic. It seems more to me like Al Strachan writing what Ottawans want to hear than a true essay on the state of the game in the US. Sure, it's probably not good, but his assertion that the Canadian teams are single handedly keeping the NHL in business is just silly.

I don't know about this channel 242 business...OLN is at 34, two channels away from ESPN on Comcast up here. ESPN didn't want hockey, at least they got a deal somewhere.

Still can't understand why anyone would watch poker. There's nothing to see!!!

[Just Duckie]

Eventually, the NHL got back onto ESPN and was coming along nicely -- until Bettman staged his unnecessary season-long lockout, took the game out of the public's view for a year, and in the process, lost the ESPN contract.

What a bunch of baloney. Al Strachan was very pro-player during the lockout. He believes that the lockout was unnecessary? If things had kept on going the way they were, the NHL would be in an untenable financial situation; it was a mess and a lot of owners weren't willing to keep taking the big losses they were incurring.

And once ESPN got the NBA contract, they couldn't wait to cut back their coverage of the NHL. The season after ESPN signed with the NBA, they scaled back the number of NHL games they were covering, and really limited which teams were being covered (even moreso than before) and also cut the NHL2Night broadcast. This was all before the lockout. ESPN also did not exercise their option on the NHL; it was ESPN's decision to cover poker, billiards, paint ball and cheerleading instead of the NHL.

And attendance was up for most of the teams, not just for Canadian teams. It might have suffered in St. Louis, but that was because of the problems with ownership and because the team was in disarray. But it was up in Carolina, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Anaheim to name a few "non-traditional" hockey markets.

[Jennifer1515]

I don't know about this channel 242 business...OLN is at 34, two channels away from ESPN on Comcast up here. ESPN didn't want hockey, at least they got a deal somewhere.

OLN is at then end of the extended cable here in southeast missouri at number 74 and lucky for my poor self my cable is provided with my apt

[Aeryn]

I keep finding all these discouraging articles

That's my opinion, but I doubt I'm in the majority. Some hardcore hockey fans might agree, but it's the grand scope that concerns me here. The NHL came back from the lockout trying to push its way past the die-hards and reach those of the casual realm. A final four packed with teams that no one really cares about is a disaster in terms of achieving that goal.

It's going to be hard for NBC and OLN to post any kind of respectable ratings without legitimate starpower. No Joe Sakic, Martin Brodeur, Steve Yzerman or Peter Forsberg -- the names we're used to seeing perform this time of year. Right now the most marketable player left is San Jose's Joe Thornton, and he is down three games to two versus Edmonton.

LINK

Aren't Teemu and Scott pretty "marketable"?? And call me overly optimistic (not something I'm accused of often) but isn't the bumper crop of kids an opportunity to create a whole new generation of superstars? Penner's "story" about being cut from every team and being told he'd never make it...Ilya being SOOOO calm, cool, and collected that he needs to be reminded of the game times....

[lvsprt]

I can't seem to get it, I can't live without this sport and like it's mentioned there are so many small stories within each team if you really make the effort you can't help but be interested. Oh yeah, and then there is the game itself. Give me a breakaway or powerplay any day compared to a traveling basketball player on the way to a dunk. Give me the beauty of a tic tac toe passing series to a beautiful goal and the joy it brings the players afterward instead of well... anything in any other sport. I'm biased of course but I really think people should take the time to learn and watch a sport that never has lost my interest since I watched my first game back in 1999.

[hockey2k]

And call me overly optimistic (not something I'm accused of often) but isn't the bumper crop of kids an opportunity to create a whole new generation of superstars? 

YES! And I think it's about time that we get some new stars instead of the same old, same old. I was getting sick of hearing the same names over and over and am ready for the new generation myself. I couldn't be happier to see the teams in the conference finals that made it. Different teams. How many times can you watch the Red Wings, Devils or Avalanche win a Stanley Cup? How exciting can it be when you always know who will win? Do people really want that predictability?

[Aeryn]

How exciting can it be when you always know who will win? Do people really want that predictability? 

Well I, for one, could watch the Ducks win year after year without discomfort...

[Dark Knight]

One of the greatest complaints I hear about hockey is "I don't understand the game..." When I ask what it is they can't understand they can't really pinpoint it, except for the offsides rule.

[Aeryn]

Or icing....
I failed miserably trying to explain that one to mom...

[Dark Knight]

But even if you don't understand "offsides" or "icing," can't you enjoy the speed, skill, scoring -- how hard is it to understand that the purpose of the game is to put the black disk in the net -- and the other great features of the game?

I also hear, "I don't like it because there are too many fights..."

[Aeryn]

Absolutely! Game 5 was going to be Mom's first hockey game and she was sooooo looking forward to it! Darn Ducks had to go and sweep the Avs.

Start watching and you can't help but pick up on the game.

[hockey2k]

Sure, we'd all like to see the Ducks win year after year, but remember how tedious it got when we were losing constantly? I like to think everyone has a chance, it makes it more unpredictable and exciting.

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV."

[DropThePuck]

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV." 

Oh gawd, pleeeeeze ... don't ever bring back those glowing, blazing pucks!

[Dark Knight]

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV." 

Oh gawd, pleeeeeze ... don't ever bring back those glowing, blazing pucks!

How about a "seeing puck dog" ? They could follow the puck all over the ice. That would make it easy to see ...

[BritDuck]

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV." 

Oh gawd, pleeeeeze ... don't ever bring back those glowing, blazing pucks!

How about a "seeing puck dog" ? They could follow the puck all over the ice. That would make it easy to see ...

Lol. How about we just increase the size of the puck, make it ball-shaped and move the entire game onto grass?? No complaints about the game moving too fast then, or not being able to see the puck. Oh, but wait, we'd better get rid of the sticks too, because big men and big sticks obviously just encourages violence. Oh, and we'll need some more players now because the guys cannot cover ground as quickly.

So, we now have between 7 and 11 players, kicking a ball around on a big field. Sounds completely boring to me...

[DropThePuck]

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV." 

Oh gawd, pleeeeeze ... don't ever bring back those glowing, blazing pucks!

How about a "seeing puck dog" ? They could follow the puck all over the ice. That would make it easy to see ...

[Just Duckie]

It is hard for a new/potential fan to appreciate hockey when watching it on t.v. because you can't see the whole ice and how plays develop or get a feel for the speed of the game. But the more you watch, the easier it gets. You can't always see the puck, but after a while you get used to "knowing" where it is by watching the players (i.e., the players skating forwards--the forwards, hee hee--with their sticks extended might be getting ready to a pass or be skating to where the puck is, or they might already have the puck on their stick). I don't think that a lot of casual sports fans are patient enough to keep watching until they get used to following the game, and that's too bad because they're missing out on the most exciting game in sports (IMO)!

[Dark Knight]

I always get "you can't see the puck on TV." 

Oh gawd, pleeeeeze ... don't ever bring back those glowing, blazing pucks!

How about a "seeing puck dog" ? They could follow the puck all over the ice. That would make it easy to see ...

Are you suggesting the puck should be banana shaped ?

[BritDuck]

It is hard for a new/potential fan to appreciate hockey when watching it on t.v. because you can't see the whole ice and how plays develop or get a feel for the speed of the game.  But the more you watch, the easier it gets.  You can't always see the puck, but after a while you get used to "knowing" where it is by watching the players (i.e., the players skating forwards--the forwards, hee hee--with their sticks extended might be getting ready to a pass or be skating to where the puck is, or they might already have the puck on their stick). I don't think that a lot of casual sports fans are patient enough to keep watching until they get used to following the game, and that's too bad because they're missing out on the most exciting game in sports (IMO)!  

I totally agree. We don't get that much hockey on TV over here, but I always remember a couple of times when my sister would sit down with my dad and I whilst we were watching. Her complaint would always be that she couldn't see the puck or didn't know where it was. We always tried to explain that, if she spent the entire game watching the puck, she was missing most of the best action. You need to be able to watch the players and once you do that, the location of the puck comes naturally.

Hockey is, to me, the best sport on the planet. Nothing comes close in terms of excitement and skill, and no prize is bigger or better than the Stanley Cup. And play-off hockey, well, that is just the icing on the cake, isn't it?!