...I have to ask the other fans in here if they agree with me that all the worry over hockey's supposed decline is really worth being concerned about. I think the overall level of hockey being played right now is fantastic. I have only had the chance to watch about 1/8 the number of hockey games this season that I watched last season on television, but in my opinion the action remains exciting. In person, I feel it still is the best spectator sport around.
I know that scoring is down. I must admit that having a few more wide open games would be nice. You've got to remember, though, that defensive knowledge and effort has risen so dramatically in the last ten years or so that it simply isn't the same game. I don't think the players are really any less skilled offensively nowadays, I just think that every player must be so good defensively just to get on the ice that it makes the game seem less open. I mean, a supposed lazy defensive player like Kovalchuk really plays at an effort level at or above what you would have seen out of any elite scorer 15 years ago. To me it just seems that with more teams recognizing the importance of good defensive coverage, the scoring has gone down without the intensity or the overall pace of the game decreasing.
As for the worries about ratings, I think the NHL should just be happy with its place as a niche sport in America. Its popularity will blossom or swoon from time to time but really the goal should be to remain stable and profitable with a 30 team league and a television contract on a decent cable station where a million or so fans can watch each game.
I think it will always be a gate-driven sport because of how incredible the game is live compared to on television and that means that all this crap about establishing a salary cap and such should be discarded. In the NFL they can share revenue more equally because the bulk of NFL money comes from several *national* television contract. With so much NHL money coming locall from gate receipts and local broadcast money, trying to put together a system where there is year to year parity seems like an exercise in futility. What is so wrong with having a number of elite franchises like the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Rangers, Bruins, Stars and Avs who pay the big money and have the resources to reload rather than rebuild? Then there would be a level of franchises below them like the Kings, Islanders and Habs who have a good level of support and who can compete for championships from time to time, but whose salary level will encounter peaks and valleys. Below them would be your small market franchises like Pittsburgh, Caronlina and Ottawa who will be able to compete if they play their cards right and develop young players, but will have to live with losing most of their big stars once they reach free agency and might experience some bad times on occasion.
Though most people seem to get mad at a caste system like this, I don't see the crime in it. Having marquee franchises that carry the rest of the league works in soccer around the world and it works in the NBA and major league baseball.
I would love to see hockey supplant sports that I find boring like the NFL, Golf and NASCAR as popular American sports, but for now that isn't happening. It is understandable for businesses to be concerned with declines in popularity, but at some point you have to stop spending so much energy worrying about your profile compared to other sports and start just letting the good points of your business show themselves to your fanbase.
I know that scoring is down. I must admit that having a few more wide open games would be nice. You've got to remember, though, that defensive knowledge and effort has risen so dramatically in the last ten years or so that it simply isn't the same game. I don't think the players are really any less skilled offensively nowadays, I just think that every player must be so good defensively just to get on the ice that it makes the game seem less open. I mean, a supposed lazy defensive player like Kovalchuk really plays at an effort level at or above what you would have seen out of any elite scorer 15 years ago. To me it just seems that with more teams recognizing the importance of good defensive coverage, the scoring has gone down without the intensity or the overall pace of the game decreasing.
As for the worries about ratings, I think the NHL should just be happy with its place as a niche sport in America. Its popularity will blossom or swoon from time to time but really the goal should be to remain stable and profitable with a 30 team league and a television contract on a decent cable station where a million or so fans can watch each game.
I think it will always be a gate-driven sport because of how incredible the game is live compared to on television and that means that all this crap about establishing a salary cap and such should be discarded. In the NFL they can share revenue more equally because the bulk of NFL money comes from several *national* television contract. With so much NHL money coming locall from gate receipts and local broadcast money, trying to put together a system where there is year to year parity seems like an exercise in futility. What is so wrong with having a number of elite franchises like the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Rangers, Bruins, Stars and Avs who pay the big money and have the resources to reload rather than rebuild? Then there would be a level of franchises below them like the Kings, Islanders and Habs who have a good level of support and who can compete for championships from time to time, but whose salary level will encounter peaks and valleys. Below them would be your small market franchises like Pittsburgh, Caronlina and Ottawa who will be able to compete if they play their cards right and develop young players, but will have to live with losing most of their big stars once they reach free agency and might experience some bad times on occasion.
Though most people seem to get mad at a caste system like this, I don't see the crime in it. Having marquee franchises that carry the rest of the league works in soccer around the world and it works in the NBA and major league baseball.
I would love to see hockey supplant sports that I find boring like the NFL, Golf and NASCAR as popular American sports, but for now that isn't happening. It is understandable for businesses to be concerned with declines in popularity, but at some point you have to stop spending so much energy worrying about your profile compared to other sports and start just letting the good points of your business show themselves to your fanbase.
