[Carlo Colaiacovo] I hope this is a wake up call for change in the NHL. Fans are losing interest. No rivalries; lacking storylines; more buzz around t

[Big Phil]

Good for Carlo. I do wish these guys would take the NHL to task when they are playing though, like Brett Hull did. But he is still on the ball.

There aren't rivalries, there isn't animosity, there are too many Karens that dissect every hit and there isn't enough hatred to have the amount of fights like we used to have. You used to feel a buzz if a certain team was in town.

 

[brentashton]

I guess it has something to do with the cap.

And play off permutations and revenue sharing and roster size and, and , and…

 

[GMR]

Send McDavid and Matthews to original six U.S. teams and ratings should improve.

 

[brentashton]

Good for Carlo. I do wish these guys would take the NHL to task when they are playing though, like Brett Hull did. But he is still on the ball.

There aren't rivalries, there isn't animosity, there are too many Karens that dissect every hit and there isn't enough hatred to have the amount of fights like we used to have. You used to feel a buzz if a certain team was in town.

Yep.first media to put his access credentials, on the line for a while.

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

Out of nowhere he comes up spitting facts

GOAT gif.

 

[Big Phil]

Yep.first media to put his access credentials, on the line for a while.

It's been pretty vanilla with hockey analysts since late 2019. No one wanting to say anything remotely offensive. That's hurt hockey too.

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

The boomer old Canadian guard attitude from Don Cherry and others that players shouldn’t have any personality or celebrate goals or have fun postgame celebrations like the Canes (buncha jerks) plays a key role in the NHL not being as popular as it should be.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

I cut the cord a long time ago. I can’t watch my team with ESPN+ or the NHL package because local games are blacked out. I would give the league money if I could but they are so behind the times that I am forced to stream them on websites I will not name.

 

[brentashton]

The boomer old Canadian guard attitude from Don Cherry and others that players shouldn’t have any personality or celebrate goals or have fun postgame celebrations like the Canes (buncha jerks) plays a key role in the NHL not being as popular as it should be.

Ima boomer Canadian. I hate Don Cherry and hate the lack of personality. I also like the bunch of jerks. Please don’t stereotype or generalize. The reason that the NHL lacks players of personality is many pronged. Anyways, nice to meet you.

 

[hockeyisgud]

It's still the only sport that matters in Canada and the most popular sport in Russia and Scandinavia.

It was always a 2nd tier sport in the US.

Maybe it's a geographical thing?

Anyways this is a non-starter he's just mad he's getting old.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Send McDavid and Matthews to original six U.S. teams and ratings should improve.

Send Steph Curry and LeBron to the Toronto Raptors and ratings for basketball will improve in Canada.

Oh, you don't care if ratings improve in Canada for basketball?

That's how many of us feel about the US and hockey.

The boomer old Canadian guard attitude from Don Cherry and others that players shouldn’t have any personality or celebrate goals or have fun postgame celebrations like the Canes (buncha jerks) plays a key role in the NHL not being as popular as it should be.

That all sounds good to me.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

The Athletic dug into the numbers. The drop in ratings is almost solely due to ESPN deciding to counter Sunday Night Football with NHL games, which they didn't do last year and they are getting slaughtered (which basically every show on Television does).

On the games not going up against football, ESPN is averaging 491,000 which is slightly higher than last year.

Ratings decline is due to ESPN programming decisions.

ESPN again proving that going back was mistake for NHL

 

[Monsieur Miz]

I miss Sean Avery.

 

[Gravity]

Give the Habs Bedard and the NHL's most exciting rivalries will take flight again. Habs-Bruins. Habs-Leafs. Habs-Sens. Do it Gary.

 

[Rude Dog]

People like him are what the NHL needs less of, not more.

Say what you will but people watched. I will watch Tsn intermissions. Not a chance I watch Sportsnet. Just awful.

 

[Gravity]

Send Steph Curry and LeBron to the Toronto Raptors and ratings for basketball will improve in Canada.

Oh, you don't care if ratings improve in Canada for basketball?

That's how many of us feel about the US and hockey.


That all sounds good to me.

Yup. Problem is commissioner is an American who is hell bent on growing the game in his country and putting out gimmicky shit instead of actually icing the best product. Game management, poor playoff formats etc....

 

[Rude Dog]

I miss Sean Avery.

Funny. I just thought of him. I thought he was a disaster. But looking back every fan needs a villain to hate or else it simply doesn’t mean as much when you win or lose. It has to hurt.

 

[Pantokrator]

As a Flyers fan, I hate how my team is run and the management has killed my interest in hockey in general. When a team is run as incompetently as the Flyers, I can't get interested. They have no present and no future, and as for the past, well it's been almost 50 years since they have won a Cup.

If they rebuilt, I would be interested because I'd at least have hope. With this management clown farm, all I can do is hope they don't decide to try to make a run at the playoffs and resign JVR for a 5 years at 5 million per. That is the type of decision that I realistically worry about, as absurd as that sounds...

 

[Celtic Note]

The Athletic dug into the numbers. The drop in ratings is almost solely due to ESPN deciding to counter Sunday Night Football with NHL games, which they didn't do last year and they are getting slaughtered (which basically every show on Television does).

On the games not going up against football, ESPN is averaging 491,000 which is slightly higher than last year.

Ratings decline is due to ESPN programming decisions.

The problem there is that people watch the inaptly named game of football.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Out of nowhere he comes up spitting facts

Came here hoping for this gif.

Left satisfied.

 

[Pantokrator]

Give the Habs Bedard and the NHL's most exciting rivalries will take flight again. Habs-Bruins. Habs-Leafs. Habs-Sens. Do it Gary.

Lol. We all know Bedard is going to Chicago. The league wants Chicago to be good and exciting.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Tongue in cheek comment about how so much of the focus and time is spent discussing salary cap and how to maneuver it rather than discussing the actual game or its stars.

I don't love Carlo's takes generally but he is 100% right about everything here.

I enjoy cap strategy.

 

[Celtic Note]

It seems like almost every league is losing viewers. Or is it just me? You brought up baseball, MLB has a lot of problems that they are in the process of fixing. A lot of fans were losing interest there too. But to me, it seems like interest in spectator sports is dwindling as a whole.

The MLB sucks for three main reassigns IMO: home run focus, power only pitching and the difference between the haves and have nots.

Or in other words, so little happens in a game that is interesting and the same rich teams and same poor teams pretty much guarantees most teams are not worth watching.

 

[Jim Ramsay]

The league is way too mellow and spread thin on talent due to cap and expansion reasons. Hockey is a beautiful game, but there isnt enough 'persona' in the game any more that makes it worth tuning in for unless you are a diehard fan of one team

 

[ThatGuy22]

The problem there is that people watch the inaptly named game of football.

18 million of them on average.

The highest rated program on television is SNF.