One week ago, the hockey world was buzzing about how great the Winter Olympic gold medal game was. That gold medal match between rivals USA and Canada was a ratings bonanza. We were told how the success of Team USA would trickle over into the NHL season ... which started the very next day.
And then it never happened.
Last Thursday night ... just four days after Canada's gold medal win ... the Pittsburgh Penguins visited the New York Rangers. That means the NHL's biggest star (Sidney Crosby) who happened to score the gold-medal winning goal was playing in the media capital of the continent. The game was nowhere to be found nationally and it drew just a .96 rating on MSG.
Match that up with a Mets-Cardinals spring training game on SportsNet New York that was shown earlier in the day. That game, which the Mets won 17-11, drew 1.13 rating. This was despite the fact that the game was shown while people were still at work, it was a meaningless game and that the stars were all done by the third inning.
The NHL was shown it's rightful place in the nation's hearts. Not many people care. I kind of like hockey but I rarely watch it during the season. I'll catch the Stanley Cup finals and a few playoff games (especially any Game 7s).
And then it never happened.
Last Thursday night ... just four days after Canada's gold medal win ... the Pittsburgh Penguins visited the New York Rangers. That means the NHL's biggest star (Sidney Crosby) who happened to score the gold-medal winning goal was playing in the media capital of the continent. The game was nowhere to be found nationally and it drew just a .96 rating on MSG.
Match that up with a Mets-Cardinals spring training game on SportsNet New York that was shown earlier in the day. That game, which the Mets won 17-11, drew 1.13 rating. This was despite the fact that the game was shown while people were still at work, it was a meaningless game and that the stars were all done by the third inning.
The NHL was shown it's rightful place in the nation's hearts. Not many people care. I kind of like hockey but I rarely watch it during the season. I'll catch the Stanley Cup finals and a few playoff games (especially any Game 7s).
Well, not this year. I have DirecTV and DirecTV decided that it wasn't worth having Versus (the network that houses the NHL) as part of their programming. If you have DirecTV, you'd know that sports are what it is best known for (Sunday Ticket, Mega March Madness). If they don't care, they know you don't either.
Last week, we were all prisoners of the moment. The same way that the WNBA was berthed from the 1996 summer olympics, the NHL was hoping a great tournament would vault the NHL back into the hearts of the nation. It just doesn't happen like that. Despite Crosby's excellence ... he isn't Wayne Gretzky.
The interesting thing is what will happen in 2014. The Winter Games move to Sochi, Russia and NHL commish Gary Bettman hasn't committed to allowing his players to participate. It's interesting because, apparently, it is meaningless for the league itself to risk injuries to teams' best players and getting no return. It is also a bargaining chip for the NHL to NBC, in a weird way. NBC benefitted from the NHL stars in the Olympics and the NHL knows that. They may bang out a little trade: NHL participation in the Olympics for some NBC love during the season.
Who knows?
Last week, we were all prisoners of the moment. The same way that the WNBA was berthed from the 1996 summer olympics, the NHL was hoping a great tournament would vault the NHL back into the hearts of the nation. It just doesn't happen like that. Despite Crosby's excellence ... he isn't Wayne Gretzky.
The interesting thing is what will happen in 2014. The Winter Games move to Sochi, Russia and NHL commish Gary Bettman hasn't committed to allowing his players to participate. It's interesting because, apparently, it is meaningless for the league itself to risk injuries to teams' best players and getting no return. It is also a bargaining chip for the NHL to NBC, in a weird way. NBC benefitted from the NHL stars in the Olympics and the NHL knows that. They may bang out a little trade: NHL participation in the Olympics for some NBC love during the season.
Who knows?
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