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Miscellaneous NHL Discussion XCIII: Spring has Sprung

Which Team's Post-Season Bandwagon are You Joining? (79+ points listed as of March 29)

  • Boston

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • Carolina

    Votes: 13 31.7%

  • New Jersey

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • Vegas

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • NY Rangers

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Toronto

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Los Angeles

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Minnesota

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • Edmonton

    Votes: 8 19.5%

  • Colorado

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Dallas

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Tampa Bay

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Seattle

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • NY Islanders

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Winnipeg

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Calgary

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Nashville

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Pittsburgh

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Florida

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • None, the Flyers aren't in it

    Votes: 4 9.8%

  • A team not listed should they make the post-season

    Votes: 1 2.4%
  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .
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JojoTheWhale said:
And it will still draw ~16 MM viewers for a sport that's fallen way out of the public view.

NCAAW is a superior product to the Men at this point, so I'm glad people are catching on to it. I will give you a few thousand words on why I love midweek MACtion and even I can't watch NCAAM much anymore.
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I'm glad to see someone else say it. I've spent a few years thumping the table and insisting that men's college basketball is going straight down The Musher and women's basketball is vastly better to watch and most people treat me like I'm proposing to saw their spine in half.
 
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Matt Boldy hit 30 goals, 60 points.

Jason Robertson hit 101 points.


my-boys-fred-the-godson.gif
 
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LegionOfDoom91 said:
To be fair to Bettman a good proportion of people in the game as well as fans/media don’t really want to do anything to help grow the game either with their constant gatekeeping of the sport. So it’s not exactly like it’s being handed a Ferrari & smashing it up here. There’s cultural things at play that keep hockey a niche sport in America.
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I mean, you have NHL coaches looking at highlight reel goals and saying, "Whoa! Slow down there, sonny. I'm not sure if that's good for the sport!" Luckily, we don't have...yea nevermind
 
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On 32TTP they were talking about players who go thru 20 pairs of skates a season at $1,000+ per pair. And hundreds of sticks.

Obviously non-pros don't to do that, but it's still an obscenely expensive sport compared to many others.
 
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JojoTheWhale said:
I don't know if the general public knows how not close this is. Last year's Cup Finals averaged ~4.6 MM viewers and that was up roughly 84% from 2021.
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Why is this surprising?
How many American kids played ice hockey in HS?
How many American girls played B-ball in HS?

Hockey is doomed to be a niche sport, if the owners had brains, instead of trying to expand and end up with zombie franchises, they'd solidify fan support across the northern tier and limit the amount of teams in the south to areas where there are lots of transplants.

A well run niche can be very lucrative.
 
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deadhead said:
Why is this surprising?
How many American kids played ice hockey in HS?
How many American girls played B-ball in HS?

Hockey is doomed to be a niche sport, if the owners had brains, instead of trying to expand and end up with zombie franchises, they'd solidify fan support across the northern tier and limit the amount of teams in the south to areas where there are lots of transplants.

A well run niche can be very lucrative.
Click to expand...
Add to that the influx of sports betting nationally as how a sport such as basketball can increase interest while hockey's main ingredient is the sport itself. Point spreads are magnetic in betting parlors.

Also, as I stated when ESPN was granted NHL broadcast rights, if it was up to the network college field hockey would get more attention. We are seeing that though not in the literal form.
 
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MiamiScreamingEagles said:
Also, as I stated when ESPN was granted NHL broadcast rights, if it was up to the network college field hockey would get more attention. We are seeing that though not in the literal form.
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Only people who didn't live through ESPN's shambolic first stint as the rights holders thought it would be any different.
 
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deadhead said:
Why is this surprising?
How many American kids played ice hockey in HS?
How many American girls played B-ball in HS?

Hockey is doomed to be a niche sport, if the owners had brains, instead of trying to expand and end up with zombie franchises, they'd solidify fan support across the northern tier and limit the amount of teams in the south to areas where there are lots of transplants.

A well run niche can be very lucrative.
Click to expand...

It's the first time it ever happened and it required a 100%+ YOY ratings increase. How is this not surprising? Women's sports are still niche too.
 
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I don't think it's 100% fair to entirely blame Hextall. I'm sure he's getting an inordinate amount of pressure (and most likely an overarching directive) to run the well fully dry on the Cup hopes during the Crosby/Malkin era twilight years. Bad deals, sure. Bad situation for a GM too, I'd argue. Not like they have quality assets to sell either. Mediocre picks, bad prospect pool, and not much roster-wise to sell off either. Fleury and Murray gone. When you're in that position and it's a bad deal to help compete no or no deal, I think you basically have to take the former in his position.

Bad deals with higher cost than necessary very possibly and I wouldn't hire Hextall as my GM if I'm a competing team, but I think there's some deference in order. At least some asterisks.
 
MiamiScreamingEagles said:
Add to that the influx of sports betting nationally as how a sport such as basketball can increase interest while hockey's main ingredient is the sport itself. Point spreads are magnetic in betting parlors.

Also, as I stated when ESPN was granted NHL broadcast rights, if it was up to the network college field hockey would get more attention. We are seeing that though not in the literal form.
Click to expand...

ESPN should never get another contract again. It's like they're willing to spend money to bury the sport out of spite.

In seriousness, they probably bought it specifically to try and make it ESPN+ exclusive to boost that platform. Which is horrendous for the NHL.
 
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Beef Invictus said:
ESPN should never get another contract again. It's like they're willing to spend money to bury the sport out of spite.

In seriousness, they probably bought it specifically to try and make it ESPN+ exclusive to boost that platform. Which is horrendous for the NHL.
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It is one isolated instance but descriptive of the medium. In a rare time listening to any sports radio show, I recall a fan calling ESPN's national show and touting the CAR-EDM series of a few years ago. The ESPN host -- remember the King of Sports or whatever they referenced themselves -- said in so many words "No hockey talk Whenever I think of hockey I think of someone named Sven in Minnesota living in his parent's basement." If that was said about any other particular fanbase, for a moment think of womens' basketball since that is the genesis of this current conversation, would the host have a gig the next day? ESPN is a blighted and bloated self-promoting and grandiose scourge that has too many mimicks to even count. And it was a wonderful product at one point when the hosts and anchors put the highlights first and the attitudes second or even better non-existent.
 
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MiamiScreamingEagles said:
It is one isolated instance but descriptive of the medium. In a rare time listening to any sports radio show, I recall a fan calling ESPN's national show and touting the CAR-EDM series of a few years ago. The ESPN host -- remember the King of Sports or whatever they referenced themselves -- said in so many words "No hockey talk Whenever I think of hockey I think of someone named Sven in Minnesota living in his parent's basement." If that was said about any other particular fanbase, for a moment think of womens' basketball since that is the genesis of this current conversation, would the host have a gig the next day? ESPN is a blighted and bloated self-promoting and grandiose scourge that has too many mimicks to even count. And it was a wonderful product at one point when the hosts and anchors put the highlights first and the attitudes second or even better non-existent.
Click to expand...

They want to be Sports MTV. But the version of MTV that killed its own relevance.
 
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