League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

[g00n]

I’m with goon, this is probably gonna be dud. The average ‘Murican sports fan couldn’t care less about Finland ( much less find it on a map ) or Sweden.

It’ll be 90% die hard hockey fans tuning in, the remaining 10% will be - WTH is this, I guess I’ll check it out?

US vs Canada 8pm Saturday might get some viewers and that will be the big thing the league crows about.

 

[qc14]

The NHL trips over its own feet again. Regardless of the eventual quality of the product or the concept itself, the 4 Nations thing seems like a sketchy marketing idea that steps all over other lost opportunities.

When the Super Bowl is over there's a sports vacuum until March Madness. This is the PERFECT time to sell the shit out of the NHL itself, to all cities, with several games on a daily basis. Give the fans and gamblers something to pay attention to now that football is over.

But no, instead they cobble together this 3 game round robin amongst 4 teams. How many games? 3 per team then a championship? 13 games (edit: 7) in the 10 days following the Super Bowl?

Just incredibly stupid marketing.

I assume the Jonas Bros or 3 Doors Down will play the anthems at every game.

Call me a Bettman apologist but I think having your marquee players in an international best-on-best is a better way to draw in new fans post-superbowl than just more mid-season games!

I'm incredibly excited for the tournament

 

[Silky mitts]

I don't think I've missed an Al Star game since the early 90s but the World Cup of hockey in 1996 was a huge pita for me to watch, inevitably will watch every game of Four Nations with no football/hockey

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Im pumped for 4N. I did not know they dumped the all star game for it. Thats kindof lame

 

[g00n]

Hardcore hockey fans will be happy. As I said I don't think this moves the needle much for casual sports fans.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Is their an NHL trade freeze for the 4N?

 

[Chokingdogs]

Also, on the subject of 4N, the Hillbillies start in earnest this Thursday night, then Daytona 500 Sunday afternoon.

Say what you will about fast and left, sometimes right, but they draw TV viewership. That will cut into any potential “casual” sports fan tuning in if there’s overlap.

 

[Corby78]

The NBA in-season tournament is a success….just mimicking it to some extent.

I’d expect the ratings to show this will be a marketing success. Let’s see.

I’m not going to pretend I’m in NBA circles because I honestly think it’s the worst. But I don’t know anyone who cares about the inseason tournament. You would need to show me data that’s it’s a success

 

[Corby78]

Call me a Bettman apologist but I think having your marquee players in an international best-on-best is a better way to draw in new fans post-superbowl than just more mid-season games!

I'm incredibly excited for the tournament

Unless they are Czech, Austrian, Russian, etc.. then they don’t play

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’m not going to pretend I’m in NBA circles because I honestly think it’s the worst. But I don’t know anyone who cares about the inseason tournament. You would need to show me data that’s it’s a success

The NBA’s In-Season Tournament Is an Unqualified Success

The NBA in-season tournament is an unqualified success, injecting competitiveness into the early regular season.

www.si.com

NBA's Inaugural In-Season Tournament Accomplished Its Mission And Then Some

The NBA's inaugural in-season tournament appears to have accomplished all of its main goals while coming with the additional benefit of Tyrese Haliburton's breakout.

www.forbes.com

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

The NBA’s In-Season Tournament Is an Unqualified Success

The NBA in-season tournament is an unqualified success, injecting competitiveness into the early regular season.

www.si.com

NBA's Inaugural In-Season Tournament Accomplished Its Mission And Then Some

The NBA's inaugural in-season tournament appears to have accomplished all of its main goals while coming with the additional benefit of Tyrese Haliburton's breakout.

www.forbes.com

The NBA in season was decent because the top players played.
I hate watching and gambling on NBA games. Every player is a GTD and if you make a bet on a 7pm game before 645 a good chance half the players wont even play.

 

[Calicaps]

I’m with goon, this is probably gonna be dud. The average ‘Murican sports fan couldn’t care less about Finland ( much less find it on a map ) or Sweden.

It’ll be 90% die hard hockey fans tuning in, the remaining 10% will be - WTH is this, I guess I’ll check it out?

I'm a die hard hockey fan, and I'm bored already.

 

[Cappy76]

Yea I'm a hockey die hard typically tune into a game each night and I have absolutely no interest in the 4n.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’ll watch, because what else is there? You’ll jump on board even if reluctantly….

 

[Empty Goal Net]

How will the League and NHLPA judge whether the tournament a success?

The star-v-star matches should draw more viewers than a nat'lly televised Wings-Aisles match, but there'll be a much lower total audience of folks watching hockey, and it could be that way fewer people see any this spectacle compared to total nightly viewership of regular league games.

Will the quality of play be high enough to generate buzz and anticipation? For the Olympics, I guess, since the tourney is supposed to be an every-other-year thing. How does the league sustain momentum? And what happens to 4 Nations whenever/if Russia returns to the civilized world?

And finally, what's the cost of doing this with less than 13% of the NHLPA's membership? Player selections happen to help the Caps this year, but it could affect other teams' readiness during the playoffs, due to either injury or a longer season. Will the quality of the NHL's premier product, the playoffs, be seriously adversely affected by injury or fatigue?

I guess we'll see.

 

[marcel snapshot]

It's better than the all-star game, right?

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Come on who is not pumped for this lineup

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Come on who is not pumped for this lineup

Repping your country matters to those guys….as long as the games are played with intensity it will entertain and be a success in terms of viewership IMO.

 

[um]

Come on who is not pumped for this lineup

Apparently some “die hard hockey fans”.

 

[RedRocking]

Come on who is not pumped for this lineup

Guess this means no Quinn Hughes? (oblique injury) That’s a bummer.

The lineups are cool - but, I’m thinking there’s a good chance we get preseason level intensity. Who wants to risk their shot at a Cup for this thing?

 

[crazy8888]

It's better than the all-star game, right?

I suppose if you add together the asg and the bi week that pretty much equals to losing almost 2 weeks of hockey anyway. At least this way other teams players wear themselves out in this meaningless tourney while our players get to rest up and ride camels.

Cant wait for the real tournament next year.

 

[Cappy76]

Guess this means no Quinn Hughes? (oblique injury) That’s a bummer.

The lineups are cool - but, I’m thinking we get preseason level intensity. Who wants to risk their shot at a Cup for this thing?

This

I expect it to be maybe a notch above all star game effort

 

[Devil Dancer]

It's just so artificial, and not tied to any history or tradition.

I'll probably pass.

 

[g00n]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, I just don't like the timing.

fwiw NHL twitter is spamming the shit out of it

 

[Calicaps]

It's better than the all-star game, right?

The bar is low