Anaheim

1
Giguere and Bryzgalov are both out with (oh, NHL, learn something from the NFL, please, and get a better system for disclosing injuries, so we'll never have to hear about players with) lower body injuries (ever, ever again). Yet they still beat up on Calgary 5-3 tonight whle playing with an AHL goaltender, who was being backed up by an ECHL goaltender.

Let's go over that again. Their goaltenders had a combined 0 games NHL experience, and they still won handily.

This team is looking scarier by the minute. I wonder if the Niedermayers spend family dinners practicing their cup hoist?
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.

3
Exactly what Stanley Cup final matchup would be good for t.v. ratings?

Bryzgalov's a bitch, he stonewalled us good last year. Big enough that he doesn't seem to have to do much.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

4
Alexhead wrote:Exactly what Stanley Cup final matchup would be good for t.v. ratings?

Bryzgalov's a bitch, he stonewalled us good last year. Big enough that he doesn't seem to have to do much.
two big US hockey markets.... only because you can get those markets to watch. ratings i nthe US for last year's finals were horrible.

Something like NYR vs LA would do well. Not that i give a shit.

5
sanscrit wrote: Something like NYR vs LA would do well. Not that i give a shit.
Unfortunately, seeing my beloved Rangers in the finals is mission impossible IV if they keep giving away the puck in their own defensive zone like they did THREE (!) goddamn times last night.

6
Yeah, the major markets would help but neither franchise is anywhere near getting that far.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

7
sanscrit wrote:the cup final is going to be ducks vs sabres. should be exciting...... and horrible for NHL TV ratings.
You said it, except that last part. I think people would appreciate that it's fantastic hockey.

And don't forget the Ducks basically play in Los Angeles, too. They'd have nearly as much ratings potential as the Kings—in fact, probably even more, since the Kings have been shit for a long, long time.
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.

8
Kanuck wrote:
sanscrit wrote:the cup final is going to be ducks vs sabres. should be exciting...... and horrible for NHL TV ratings.
You said it, except that last part. I think people would appreciate that it's fantastic hockey.

And don't forget the Ducks basically play in Los Angeles, too. They'd have nearly as much ratings potential as the Kings—in fact, probably even more, since the Kings have been shit for a long, long time.
The ratings will be good in Canada, that's about it. Dude, the frickin' WNBA gets better ratings than the Cup finals here, doesn't matter who's in them. How did Anaheim do a few years back when they made it? A collective yawn was heard across California and everywhere else south of your border. It's criminal, it really is, but for whatever reason people just don't care.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

9
Well, no, it's mostly because a) the product sucked for the last decade, and b) the sport treated its fans like shit for a long time. Ten years ago, SI figured the NHL was poised to overtake basketball as the number three team sport in the United States, and the players destroyed that momentum when they went on strike. The sport is still incredibly popular in certain markets, and we need only look at the Hurricanes to see a franchise can succeed in non-traditional hockey markets—the Canes are huge in North Carolina.

What hockey needs is another Wayne Gretzky in Los Angeles, another Mark Messier in New York. Somebody with electrifying play or a larger-than-life personality, playing in one of the biggest markets in the United States. Of course, everyone sat up and took notice when Lemieux was in Pittsburgh, so perhaps the endless marketing potential of Crosby could have a greater payoff for the sport as a whole. But while I will totally agree the sport is in a bad place, I also think it's solidified its long-term health, and now hopefully it can capitalize on all that positive momentum. Especially with the labour disasters basketball are baseball are likely to encounter in the next decade.
TC wrote:as soon as baseball stops being homosexual, i will.