NHL Hockey thread

[Zoupa]

The Habs actually had a ceremony for the ghosts to move lol.

[Valmy]

Desperation time for the Habs.

[Grey Fox]

It's only game 1.

[Valmy]

It's only game 1.

I know. At least they hang with the Lightning for two periods. Better luck on Wednesday.

[viper37]

It's only game 1.

I know. At least they hang with the Lightning for two periods. Better luck on Wednesday.

I've only seen the 3rd period.  Good game, but the Habs weren't keeping up while the Lightning wasn't at the top of its game.

[HVC]

a southern team with a  weak fan base is gonna win, aren't they? Curse you bettman!

[Valmy]

a southern team with a  weak fan base is gonna win, aren't they? Curse you bettman!

Most likely.

But the Habs have already beaten far better teams somehow so...we'll see.

[viper37]

a southern team with a  weak fan base is gonna win, aren't they? Curse you bettman!

I've seen worst.  The arena was quite full yesterday night. TBL has 99.2% average capacity attendance, MPL has 102.6%, Dallas had 113%, all for 2019-2020.  Montreal Canadians were at 99.1%, below Tampa.  Curse those Norther teams with no fan base!

The Bell Centre being bigger, it means 21,085 average attendance vs 18,922 for TBL.  Ottawa Senators were at 12-14k attendance for 2018-2019 (76%) and 2019-2020 (65% capacity).  The Arizona Coyotes are doing better than the Sens and the Islanders.

However, there would be a lot more people in town to watch the game in bars&restaurants than there would be in TB, so yeah, the fan base is overall bigger in Montreal, no doubt about it.

Still, it ain't doin' so bad.

[HVC]

Facts? I don't need your facts!

[viper37]

Facts? I don't need your facts!

I can prove anything with facts!

[Valmy]

Facts? I don't need your facts!

I can prove anything with facts!

True but not always true things

Sure the Stars have done a great job becoming a great source of corporate entertainment and their mission was always close relationships with the corporate business community in Dallas and they have done a great job. But they have no effort at all to cultivate the regular people or even Texan sports fans in general. So they were in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. During work last September I asked if anybody was watching the Finals and nobody had any idea they were on or that Dallas was in them (and being told they were generated a polite golf clap in the Stars direction along with an empty promise to maybe check it out at some point), out of all those state bureaucrats who normally waste precious meeting time talking sports.

Now I don't know what the situation in Tampa is, granted. However:

The Dallas Fort Worth metro area has a total population of 6 million people. The total population of Texas is about 29 million.

The Tampa Bay metro area has a total population of 3 million people. The total population of Florida is about 21 million.

With that in mind: the total viewership of the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals ranged from about 1.1 million to 2.8 million viewers...in the entire United States. Bear in mind nearly 9 million Americans tuned in to see the Blues beat the Bruins in 2019.

I probably don't need to tell you that Missouri and Massachusetts are not nearly as big of states as Texas and Florida. They just have actual fanbases who care.

Now, granted, the worst NHL ratings happen when you get not-very-popular Canadian team versus apathetic southern US team. So the biggest yawner ever was the Ducks vs the Senators in 2007 but even that series generated more viewers by the end of the series.

I am just telling you hockey has no significant cultural relevance down here. If the Stars had won last year their corporate fans would have high-fived around the water cooler at the office (or I guess on Zoom since this was 2020) and maybe a few of them might have bought T-shirts. The rest of Texas wouldn't have know or cared the Stanley Cup was just won in their state. Now I don't know what Tampa thought of winning but I know damn sure nobody else in Florida gave a shit. But if even a majority of Tampa Residents had tuned in the TV ratings in that one market would have been higher than the nationwide ratings some of those games got.

Edit: Also remember when Tampa won their first Stanley Cup against Calgary and the local newspaper printed the wrong article by mistake, thinking Tampa had lost? LOLZ. I don't think the Calgary Paper would have made that mistake.

[Valmy]

One of my favorite shows from my teenage years is coming back for the first time since the 2004 strike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qd5XQ0piTU

Nostalgia feels everywhere. Unfortunately, ESPN has been horrible in their non-live events shows for years so it will probably suck. But I will check it out anyway. Maybe it might not be bad. Their shows used to be for a sports fan audience but eventually it became for social media. Which is probably more lucrative than sports fans but as the abandoned demographic that gave me little consolation

[viper37]

I am just telling you hockey has no significant cultural relevance down here.

Oh really?  I never noticed how Americans barely talk of hockey...

I know all that.  Even northern hockey teams can't compete with the Canadian interest in hockey.  Lots of people are watching/attending an NY Islanders playoff run, but how many people will talk about it the next morning at work vs how many people will talk about the latest NBA/MLB/NFL regular season game?

But 2020 was a special year, the season was interrupted and the playoffs were in August, and the series format was changed from its usual.  Anyway, 2019 might not have been that different.

Now I don't know what Tampa thought of winning but I know damn sure nobody else in Florida gave a shit. But if even a majority of Tampa Residents had tuned in the TV ratings in that one market would have been higher than the nationwide ratings some of those games got.

Sure, I don't deny that.

But the NHL's thinking, and it seems to work, is that it's always better to have a the deep pocket 1% out of 20 million rather than 80% of the 7 million mass.  So far, it has reflected in their tv contracts.  Even though commentators will always say "it's gonna be much lower next time as TV channels see it ain't popular" but it never does.

Also, teams like the Coyotes, the Lighting and the Panthers are to satisfy the Canadian Snowbirds' taste of hockey.  Even if not a huge hockey fan, my uncle will tune in to watch a Habs game whenever they are playing in Florida and he's at his flat.  I'm guessing he's not alone like that, and many will go to the Panthers, or foreign visitors to Disneyland will attend games in TB.

I understand your point of view that teams with a huge fanbase are more deserving of winning than others.  I understand you want to prefer such teams rather than one playing in a virtually empty arena.  But I'm usually a fan of talent on ice, rapid skating, challenging plays, intensity in offence.  Ever since '93, the Habs have played the trap, than the dump&chase after the rules changes.  Even when some of their players seem to have speed, it's like they almost never press the attack.  Kinda like Meade against Lee in Gettysburg

It makes for boring gameplay, the only interesting bits are the goalies making huge saves.  Montreal's sports fans seems to be in awe of defensive play and are always clamoring for bigger defensemen. It's always defense, defense, defense.  Honestly, I always find this playstyle boring.  I like the good old Pens of Crosby, seeing them against the Caps, both teams using their speed, or even better, Olympic hockey, much more fluid and with referees that actually enforce the rules.  Sadly, instead of the NHL emulating international hockey, it's going in the opposite direction.

Edit: Also remember when Tampa won their first Stanley Cup against Calgary and the local newspaper printed the wrong article by mistake, thinking Tampa had lost? LOLZ. I don't think the Calgary Paper would have made that mistake.

Didn't remember that one

[Valmy]

Nice first period by the Habs. Pity they couldn't convert that power play there at the end.

[Valmy]

Ugh. It is probably not a good sign that this 1-0 lead feels insurmountable.