[Tournament] You are the commissioner of NHL Hockey: How do you save the sport?

If you took over the National Hockey League and had the chance to save it and revive the ratings & popularity, what would you do?

I am not a long-time watcher like others but I think the sport would be watched more if the following was implemented:

1. Bring back fighting. Allow fights to go on for a couple minutes instead of having refs break them up all the time.

2. Have the oldest teams play each other a minimum of three times each season. Everybody's best memories of the sport revolve around the oldest teams facing each other back in the day.

3. Put as many games on national TV as possible.

4. Market the games in a storyline-like manner with heavy emphasis on the star player versus the opponent star player.

What are your opinions?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

So basically you want professional wrestling on ice.

Obvious answer: move all the teams north.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I kinda don't think the league needs any saving.

Just wait a couple of years.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Whalers vs Jets.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I didn't even realize hockey was still around. Since the strike and their move to some outdoor channel, I haven't seen a game. The only reason I knew it was still going was that they actually had a game on NBC.

Hockey is a northern sport, go south of Minnesota and interest wanes incredibly.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I expect no less from a fucking Yankee fan.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Denicalis

I expect no less from a fucking Yankee fan apologist.

I'm glad we've so quickly run the gamut of attitudes towards the NHL in 4 posts.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Borg1982

If you took over the National Hockey League and had the chance to save it and revive the ratings & popularity, what would you do?

I am not a long-time watcher like others but I think the sport would be watched more if the following was implemented:

1. Bring back fighting. Allow fights to go on for a couple minutes instead of having refs break them up all the time.

What do you mean "bring back fighting"? Fighting has always been a part of the sport. Sure, it may not be encouraged, but they don't mind if someone drops the gloves now and again. And after half a minute of fighing in heavy gear while struggling to keep their balance on the ice, they get tired really quickly, and the fight turns in to a gay jersey grabbing session. They stop it only to keep the flow of the game going, not because they don't want it to happen in the first place.

I agree with knkwzrd. Hockey's a canadian sport, so why the fuck let the Americans take all the glory. Just look at the attendance and intensity of the crowd at Calgary and Vancouver games compared to the lack of interest in Nashville.

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Originally Posted by Borg1982

3. Put as many games on national TV as possible.

Get the sport back on channels like ESPN and Fox, but keep it on Vs. and NBC as well. It'll gain some popularity back and will be one more step towards saving the sport.

As for the fights while there weren't many one-on-one fights, I recall seeing many players on the ice almost getting into it recently in the playoffs. That was entertainment right there and kept my attention. Keep that up.

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Fighting was actually up this year, but it always goes down in the playoffs because bruisers don't play as much/at all and you can't afford the penalty.

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The NHL gave NBC the lowest ratings in basically the entire history of broadcast television and people think fighting would have fixed that?

Most Americans who would watch hockey but don't are turned off by a perception that all they do is fight, even in the playoffs. Hockey needs a Michael Jordan, another Wayne Gretzky, right now, but it needs much more than that. The feeling is that it is filled with thugs and the games are boring. I mean, I don't know if the NHL can ever get out of MLS status in the US, not now. There would need to be a major overhaul of basically everything and I doubt the league/Canadians would allow it.

Originally Posted by Borg1982

3. Put as many games on national TV as possible.

How? No one wants to put the NHL on the air because it gets zero ratings.

Originally Posted by Fiddlegoof

Hockey's a canadian sport, so why the fuck let the Americans take all the glory.

Because someone has to pay all these player salaries. When the players struck, they were asking for salaries that you get when you are extremely popular in America, not extremely popular in Canada.

Which means if you don't get the Americans to watch, then the next time a CBA is up, either the players are going to have to accept even less money or things even more drastic (another strike, franchises folding, etc.).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

They have a new Wayne Gretzky. In fact, they have a couple.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

There are two problems with that statement:

1) To be Michael, there can't be another Michael. Why do you think the NBA is pushing LeBron so hard right now? Duncan is probably the best player in the game these NBA playoffs, but LeBron gets the press.

2) Who, where are they? (Yes, I know Crosby is the one that gets the biggest push.) Americans liked Gretzky even before he went to the Kings. I never see any advertisements for hockey players, which amounts to paying for sorely-needed publicity. I never hear any players names on anything ever.

Case-in-point: I didn't watch either the NHL finals or the Super Bowl this year. But I can name several players and coaches who were in the Super Bowl. I can't think of the name, right now, of a single player in the NHL finals. And it's not like I hate hockey. I love sports and I used to watch the NHL playoffs every single year.

No one is watching hockey except hockey fans. Non-football fans watch the Super Bowl, non-basketball fans watch the NBA finals. There's got to be reasons for that and one is certainly the lack of star power. Players who may be good, may be great, sure, but no stars.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Maybe not to you, but hockey is the best it's been in years. Of course, living in the fucking desert, you wouldn't hear to much about that, would you?

Plain and simple: Hockey is a northern-centered sport. No one in the south gives a fuck about the sport, that much is evident by the empty seats plaguing a lot of southern playoff franchises. Up here, though, just on the very tip of hockey's fanbase, support is the best I've seen in my life. The Penguins are playing exciting hockey, and the whole city is enthralled.

It's a shame to say it, but I think it's about time the NHL retreated back into the frozem confines of the north. The south was given their chance, and it nearly cost the rest of us a fine league. Time to pack it up and come back home, to where the real fans are.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Exactly, Capo. Spread out to more northern cities. You know, where cheerleaders and rap music aren't necessary to have a decent sport.

P.S.

I didn't watch the NBA finals. Call me when its less mad niggerish.

How ya doing, buddy?

Again:

If you move to the north, then the NHL is basically giving up on the possibilities that American television contracts can provide. If the players never struck, they'd still enjoy the money that ESPN brings, they'd still have ratings above the 2 pm Sunday horror flick. Considering that the money was available yeas ago, why would the NHL want to give up on that?

And I never said that I didn't think the NHL wasn't putting out a good product. The perception is that it is a boring piece of crap that we Americans would almost rather watch soccer than. It carries the stigma that boxing carries, unfairly or not, which has been dying a similar death for years.

Arena ticket sales or not, the money is in television. When have you ever seen a baseball stadium even half-full outside of the playoffs or a Yankees/Red Sox series? Baseball players make their money off television and off the Internet.

Originally Posted by Capo

Of course, living in the fucking desert, you wouldn't hear to much about that, would you?

I watch ESPN, which is a national channel. I watch national news programs and listen to NPR all the time. These aren't things that are centered in Arizona. I rarely watch news or the sports stuff produced locally. I visit SI.com several times a day and ESPN.com several times a week. What the hell, do you think this is 1981 or something?

The fact is that I have to go out of my way to hear about hockey. So does basically every American in a state that doesn't border Canada. Hell, I live a half-day's drive from the current NHL champions living in this here desert and I still never hear anything at all. Oh, and my own state has a hockey team.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Borg1982

3. Put as many games on national TV as possible.

No, because the announcers for NBC and VS suck so bad.

I couldn't stand watching games when they weren't on the local channel because the other commentators suck shit so bad. I was wondering why they were talking about what each and every player had for dinner the night before rather than you know, talking about the game that's currently in progress.

I'd also say interest in the NHL has been up since the strike, but that's because I live in Buffalo, you know, one of those "hockey towns."

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hockey needs saving? Why? Because it's not popular on US Broadcast television? The sport is fine. Also, Deni is right, there are a few Wayne's playing these days.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'm amazed this exciting sport isn't big just from the fact of how good it is. Perhaps people cannot follow the puck well?
This sport has the fewest time outs in gameplay and it ends in just 2.5 hours.
Since it has the fewest time outs in the periods, the action keeps going and the clock keeps running. Eventually, tension builds around the net and if nothing happens on an attempt, the tension builds more because each second that ticks away means the arena is closer to a goal. The goal is the climax of all the hard work. Pretty simple.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Oh hay thanks for that rundown of hockey, champ.

Also, NBA games typically run around 2:15. NFL games are 3ish, but there's only one a week, so it's worth it to football fans.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Emphasizing fighting is horrible for the game. Personally I think they should scrap the instigator rule, and I think fighting [i]should[i] be allowed since it reduces the incidence of dirty play and attempt to injure. It should never, however, be emphasized as the focus of the game. To do so cheapens the skill of the players. Any two goons can put on some skates and punch each other. If I'm going to pay millions of dollars in television contracts, I want to emphasize what is most impressive about the game. The things people can't go down and see in a beer league game at their local rink.

The schedule as it is, though I appreciate their desire for team rivalries, is horrible. Having marketable players like Sidney Crosby requires that you send him around to play and allow other markets to see him. He sells tickets. This whole two games every three years shit for teams in opposing conferences has to go. The eight games per division rival garbage can go with it, too. Eight games gets mighty boring, especially when five of them are in a two week period like happened to Vancouver/Calgary last season.

As far as marketing and stuff goes with regards to Mikey's statements, have you seriously not seen Crosby on anything? I can't even remember the last time I saw someone else on a Gatorade or a Reebok commercial, for instance.

Responding to your case-in-point, I can't name jack shit about anyone who played in the NFL or the NBA finals. I can't even name the teams that participated. =P

I was speaking idiomatically.

I suppose, but I think my situation is more closely related to Joe Fan. The ratings tell me so, at least.

No, I never see Sydney Crosby on anything. I get Sports Illustrated and can't recall any ads with him or any hockey player in it. I watch Sportscenter a couple times a week and I watched most of the first and second rounds of the NBA playoffs. Granted, ABC/ESPN didn't have anything to do with the NHL this year, but I don't recall seeing anything about hockey at all outside of Versus/NBC. I don't even remember seeing an advertisement on NBC for a game that they were broadcasting.

I just went and got last week's SI, which had a story about Anaheim about to win the series, and the only ad related to hockey, even next to the three page story, was one for Verizon which had no players on it and was just advertising you could get the NHL on VCast.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I guess it's a case of looking for something where you aren't likely to find it. How many years has it been since hockey was even a minor focus in Sports Illustrated? I only read it when I was a kid, but it always could've been called Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Sometimes Golf Illustrated from what I remember.

I can't really comment on anything involving your television broadcasts and ad campaigns since I don't get them, but Crosby has been on every Reebok and almost every Gatorade commercial I can recall seeing for about the last year.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Brent

I can't really comment on anything involving your television broadcasts and ad campaigns since I don't get them, but Crosby has been on every Reebok and almost every Gatorade commercial I can recall seeing for about the last year.

Ya, he's in tons of Gatorade ads.

I also agree with you on the game divisions. It should be more evenly distributed. It'd be nice to see teams on opposite coasts play each other more often.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Was hockey ever in contention with Baseball and Football as one of the US's favorite sports? Remind me when...

Bring back the glowing puck.

Jam it back in, in the dark.