10 reasons why the NHL playoffs are better than

[CoryB]

Like all the other sports, money has taken precedent over the game itself.  And let's face it....when three of your teams have filed for bankruptcy fairly recently, there is a financial problem with the league.

During the late 80's and throughout the 90's, the league didn't have to do a lot of self-promotion.  Even the average sports fan knew who the stars were and which teams routinely were Cup contenders.  Popularity exploded, and expansion was rampant.

As I said before, the hardcore fans and the fence-fans will be watching.  What NBC and OLN won't be able to pull from are those non-hockey fans in the markets where a team is playing, as well as not being able to draw attention from having a big city team in the Finals.  There are people who would watch a game involving a New York City team just to watch them lose.

One thing the league desperately needs is a decent TV deal.  The NHL got the same deal from NBC that the AFL got: sharing profits and advertisements, and no money from NBC.  CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC paid a ton of money for the NFL broadcasting rights.  ABC/ESPN and TNT put up a lot of money for the NBA.  ESPN and Fox paid a lot for MLB.  CBS shells out a lot of dough for March Madness.  Fox just paid a lot to get the rights to the BCS Bowl Games (other than the Rose Bowl).  There is no reason why the NHL can't promote itself the way the NFL and the NBA does.

Edmonton vs. Buffalo/Carolina would be an exciting climax to the season to NHL fans, but when the dust settles, the low TV ratings will dictate how good a deal the NHL gets in the future.

I was (coincidentally) looking at the Wikipedia CFL page yesterday (found here under "CFL-versus-NFL comparisons") that mentioned the CFL was on equal to the NFL in terms of financial success until the 80's, when the NFL started getting large TV contracts. Before that, finances were mostly based on ticket sales.

The NHL doesn't have that, but it wants to think it does. The game itself is fine - it's how the league is failing to get new people interested. Again, being biased and admitting this is a personal feeling, I can watch any hockey game, good or bad. I can't understand how the NHL can have a great game (with admittedly limited appeal in areas that never see snow) that has speed, skill, toughness, history, etc., but it continually fails to market that properly.

Maybe it's that anyone that has a hoop and basketball, or a ball, bat and glove, or just a bunch of guys and a football can play the game - but to truly appreciate the game of hockey you need to be able to play it on ice. Ball hockey is great, but it doesn't have the speed that ice hockey does - and to be able to skate well is not easy (I hadn't skated for 4 years in my teens and lost all ability to do it well). I don't pretend to have any answers, but I do know that the NHL needs to get to the point where the Stanley Cup final is considered good enough to watch (in the US, of course, Canada's a given) no matter what teams are involved. It's easy for Bettman to say it's good for the League that Edmonton and Carolina are in the finals, but they haven't made it good for anyone outside those markets. Until it gets to that point, it's stuck with the stigma of no longer being considered a major sport.

Oh, and because I've strayed from the actual topic - I can't honestly say which playoffs are better because I haven't watched any NBA games - which, I guess, answers my argument for me a bit - if Edmonton had an NBA team I may be more interested. I don't have enough interest in basketball and the NBA to follow it that closely.

[Original6]

The number one reason the NHL playoffs are better than the NBA playoffs--overall-becasue this year they kind of suck because the FLames are out & the Oilers are still in--

1-Hockey is better than basketball.

Bias much?

I think basketball is the better sport, hence why it is growing world wide and hockey is having problems even being a major sport.

By the way, I am canadian.

[CoryB]

I think basketball is the better sport, hence why it is growing world wide and hockey is having problems even being a major sport.

It's kind of hard to play hockey in Africa (for example), compared to basketball. The ability for more people to be able to play the game doesn't necessarily equate to it being a better game.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

the main problem with the NHL is marketing. if you don't market the Chris Prongers, the Joe Thorntons, the Ilya Kovalchuks, how is anyone going to be excited of a sport with players no one knows. The NHL has the worst PR team in history, the reason the NFL, NBA, MLB get lots of attention is because their PR team markets their sports like they should. Also the NBA had the fortunity of dominant teams like the Bulls, the Lakers and Baseball had the Redsox and Yankees, which excites people and gets people to talking about the game. The yankees in baseball is a gold mine of PR in it self(no im not a yankees fan), whether or not you like them is irrelevant, they are a polarizing team that either fans hate or fans love. People will turn in to watch them get beat or win, in fact people talk about them either with hate or love, which if your baseball thats what you want. Last couple of years we had the Red and White Sox which interested people because of the World Series drought so casual to non-casual fans would turn in to watch it just to be apart of history. Basketball had Shaq and Kobe and before them Michael Jordan, who casual to non casual fans knew and either wanted to see win or lose. Hockey doesn't have that, there isn't teams casual to non-casual fans will look at and say, "god i hate that team". Theres no polarizing teams, there's no players people will turn in to just to watch. Aside from the die hard hockey fans, Edmonton and Carolina final isn't a final people are tripping over them selves to watch. I wonder how many non-casual fans can even name the star players on both teams with out having to refer to the roster list. which again goes back to marketing and a piss poor PR department.

[BrianVlietDesign]

the main problem with the NHL is marketing.  if you don't market the Chris Prongers, the Joe Thorntons, the Ilya Kovalchuks, how is anyone going to be excited of a sport with players no one knows.  The NHL has the worst PR team in history,  the reason the NFL, NBA, MLB get lots of attention is because their PR team markets their sports like they should.  Also the NBA had the fortunity of dominant teams like the Bulls, the Lakers and Baseball had the Redsox and Yankees, which excites people and gets people to talking about the game.  The yankees in baseball is a gold mine of PR in it self(no im not a yankees fan), whether or not you like them is irrelevant, they are a polarizing team that either fans hate or fans love.  People will turn in to watch them get beat or win, in fact people talk about them either with hate or love, which if your baseball thats what you want.  Last couple of years we had the Red and White Sox which interested people because of the World Series drought so casual to non-casual fans would turn in to watch it just to be apart of history.  Basketball had Shaq and Kobe and before them Michael Jordan, who casual to non casual fans knew and either wanted to see win or lose.  Hockey doesn't have that, there isn't teams casual to non-casual fans will look at and say, "god i hate that team".  Theres no polarizing teams, there's no players people will turn in to just to watch.  Aside from the die hard hockey fans, Edmonton and Carolina final isn't a final people are tripping over them selves to watch.  I wonder how many non-casual fans can even name the star players on both teams with out having to refer to the roster list.  which again goes back to marketing and a piss poor PR department.

That is so true. The NHL has the WORST PR in North American professional sports. OLN has not made things any better. There needs to be more player advertisments and teams need to make more of an effort to get fans. Cuz, teams like Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida, even Tampa Bay do not do enough to advertise their franchise throughout the city. Even Washington does not do a very good job.

[Jigga]

Marketing efforts never guarantee public interest. See the WNBA. 10 years of constantly having "truly fundamental basketball" forced down our throats still hasn't worked, huh?

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Armstrong's "article" is idiotic. Both playoffs are great. Both go through cycles. The NHL playoffs haven't been the greatest this year (what little I could catch on sorry assed OLN), but the NBA playoffs have been fantastic. The NHL playoffs were phenomenal the previous two years, while with the exception of the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals, last year's NBA playoffs kinda sucked.

Just because most of you on this board and most of those that responded to these polls are puckheads, don't let bias get in the way of common sense.

[NJTank]

Well the NBA gets allot of great sponsorship deals which helps the NBA build its fan base.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

Marketing efforts never guarantee public interest. See the WNBA. 10 years of constantly having "truly fundamental basketball" forced down our throats still hasn't worked, huh?

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Armstrong's "article" is idiotic. Both playoffs are great. Both go through cycles. The NHL playoffs haven't been the greatest this year (what little I could catch on sorry assed OLN), but the NBA playoffs have been fantastic. The NHL playoffs were phenomenal the previous two years, while with the exception of the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals, last year's NBA playoffs kinda sucked.

Just because most of you on this board and most of those that responded to these polls are puckheads, don't let bias get in the way of common sense.

the problem is with the WNBA is this, it goes on during the summer. By the time the NBA is finished, people are tired of watching basketball and sorta burned out on it. which really puts the WNBA in a very bad position. the other problem is that WNBA is targeted to women sports watching audience. THe problem with that is sports is a male dominated; males, which is the target audience for NBA and out number female sports fans, isn't going to pay attention to the WNBA. Which no matter how much PR the WNBA has, it will continue to have trouble getting fans until they can tap the male audience, which is difficult to do considering males are more likely to watch men play instead of women.

now if there was a womens hockey league, i might watch it. i've been known to catch myself watching an occasional womans hockey game on one of the espn channels.

[HedleyLamarr]

That is so true. The NHL has the WORST PR in North American professional sports. OLN has not made things any better. There needs to be more player advertisments and teams need to make more of an effort to get fans. Cuz, teams like Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida, even Tampa Bay do not do enough to advertise their franchise throughout the city. Even Washington does not do a very good job.

I can't speak for the others, but the Thrashers have done a lot to advertise themselves. They've had a lot of TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, newspaper ads, they've even painted up a few buses advertising the team. As a result, their average attendance has risen each of the past two years.

And didn't Tampa Bay sellout most, if not all, of their games this season?

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

That is so true.  The NHL has the WORST PR in North American professional sports.  OLN has not made things any better.  There needs to be more player advertisments and teams need to make more of an effort to get fans.  Cuz, teams like Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida, even Tampa Bay do not do enough to advertise  their franchise throughout the city.  Even Washington does not do a very good job.

I can't speak for the others, but the Thrashers have done a lot to advertise themselves. They've had a lot of TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, newspaper ads, they've even painted up a few buses advertising the team. As a result, their average attendance has risen each of the past two years.

And didn't Tampa Bay sellout most, if not all, of their games this season?

thats good start getting attention locally but the league does very little to promote the sport on the national level. but unless the thrashers can make the playoffs and be a serious contender, theres only so much advertising you can do. theres only a certain level of excitement fans will have with a team that misses the playoffs year in and year out. granted atlanta came withing a game from making the playoffs, but next year they need to make the playoffs if not have a 1st round upset or something to generate some sort of excitement. bottom line is fans are only interested in good teams. they have very little interest in teams that routinely miss the playoffs. especially in non-traditional hockey markets.

[CaolinaJoe]

The NFL, MLB, and NBA have an advantage over the NHL-availability of playing surface. Go through any town or city and you will see a plethora of places to play those sports. Ice rinks, not so many. People relate most to what they themselves can actually do.

[OMMF]

People relate most to what they themselves can actually do for free.

Fixed.

Even in a non-hockey town like Seattle there is no lack of quality ice surfaces nearby for people to skate/learn/play on. If anything, there are too few for all the leagues there are.

[VitaminD]

the main problem with the NHL is marketing.  if you don't market the Chris Prongers, the Joe Thorntons, the Ilya Kovalchuks, how is anyone going to be excited of a sport with players no one knows.

The problem with the NHL may be one of marketing, but I don't think your solution would help.

Glorifying the individual over the team has been one of the more constant factors cited in the downfall of the NBA over the past decade or so. Basketball is the ultimate team game, where success was predicated on passing, setting screens, moving without the ball and so on. When David Stern took over the league, the focus shifted away from great teams and was placed on great players (Bird-Magic-Dr. J-Kareem, who begat Jordan-Barkley-Shaq, who begat Kobe, who begat LeBron and Wade). The result became 5 concurrent games of 1-on-1, and the team game withered. Only recently has the NBA begun to redirect the emphasis in a way more conducive to good basketball: promoting stars in the context of good team play. It is one of the reasons Nash is 2-time MVP, why Nowitzki is leading the Mavs to the Finals, and why the Pistons were so successful the last couple years. The best teams in the league right now are an agglomeration of talent that plays as a team (Pistons, Heat, Mavs, Suns) rather than a team relying on the one-star or two-star system (76ers, Celtics, Nuggets, Sonics, Rockets) where the rest of the team stays uninvolved.

More than any of the other Big 4 major leagues in North America, NHL players tend to be the most down-to-earth and most reluctant to seek the spotlight. There is also a very large proportion of NHL stars born outside North America, for whom English can be a barrier keeping them from achieving mass market appeal. The NHL needs better marketing, but it ought to focus on the game, especially when viewed live. Hockey translates to TV very poorly, far moreso than other sports. The speed and size of the players is deceiving, and so much happens away from the puck that you can't show it all on one TV screen. Hockey's best bet to gain fans is almost a grassroots approach - spread the game and generate interest by getting people out to see good games. You won't fall in love with the game as easily watching on TV as you will seeing it in person, which often leads to people playing it for themselves, at which point, the game really sells itself.

[zig]

I think basketball is the better sport, hence why it is growing world wide and hockey is having problems even being a major sport.

It's kind of hard to play hockey in Africa (for example), compared to basketball. The ability for more people to be able to play the game doesn't necessarily equate to it being a better game.

yeah i totally agree. Thats why soccer is the world's number one sport. Its easier to pick up than any other sport. All you need is a ball. Actually all you really need is something to kcik around

[TFoA]

now if there was a womens hockey league, i might watch it. i've been known to catch myself watching an occasional womans hockey game on one of the espn channels.

If it's anything like the Women's Olympics, then I ain't watchin it. It was way too slow for my liking.

Same with the WNBA. As much as I like basketball, I can't watch the WNBA just because it's too slow for my tastes. Hockey and basketball are supposed to be, IMO, fast flowing and exciting, in which the women's variety, at least to me, isn't.

[zig]

now if there was a womens hockey league, i might watch it.  i've been known to catch myself watching an occasional womans hockey game on one of the espn channels.

If it's anything like the Women's Olympics, then I ain't watchin it. It was way too slow for my liking.

Same with the WNBA. As much as I like basketball, I can't watch the WNBA just because it's too slow for my tastes. Hockey and basketball are supposed to be, IMO, fast flowing and exciting, in which the women's variety, at least to me, isn't.

my mom and my brother were telling me that womens hockey 10 years ago was a lot slower and its gotten a lot faster but i feel that its too slow

[HedleyLamarr]

the main problem with the NHL is marketing.  if you don't market the Chris Prongers, the Joe Thorntons, the Ilya Kovalchuks, how is anyone going to be excited of a sport with players no one knows.

The problem with the NHL may be one of marketing, but I don't think your solution would help.

Glorifying the individual over the team has been one of the more constant factors cited in the downfall of the NBA over the past decade or so. Basketball is the ultimate team game, where success was predicated on passing, setting screens, moving without the ball and so on. When David Stern took over the league, the focus shifted away from great teams and was placed on great players (Bird-Magic-Dr. J-Kareem, who begat Jordan-Barkley-Shaq, who begat Kobe, who begat LeBron and Wade). The result became 5 concurrent games of 1-on-1, and the team game withered. Only recently has the NBA begun to redirect the emphasis in a way more conducive to good basketball: promoting stars in the context of good team play. It is one of the reasons Nash is 2-time MVP, why Nowitzki is leading the Mavs to the Finals, and why the Pistons were so successful the last couple years. The best teams in the league right now are an agglomeration of talent that plays as a team (Pistons, Heat, Mavs, Suns) rather than a team relying on the one-star or two-star system (76ers, Celtics, Nuggets, Sonics, Rockets) where the rest of the team stays uninvolved.

More than any of the other Big 4 major leagues in North America, NHL players tend to be the most down-to-earth and most reluctant to seek the spotlight. There is also a very large proportion of NHL stars born outside North America, for whom English can be a barrier keeping them from achieving mass market appeal. The NHL needs better marketing, but it ought to focus on the game, especially when viewed live. Hockey translates to TV very poorly, far moreso than other sports. The speed and size of the players is deceiving, and so much happens away from the puck that you can't show it all on one TV screen. Hockey's best bet to gain fans is almost a grassroots approach - spread the game and generate interest by getting people out to see good games. You won't fall in love with the game as easily watching on TV as you will seeing it in person, which often leads to people playing it for themselves, at which point, the game really sells itself.

You have to admit, the NBA's popularity rose when the single players were marketed. Magic, Bird, Jordan, Shaq, LeBron.....this is how the NBA sold it's game to the public. They're putting dunks in highlight reels, not team defense and guys making 15-foot jump shots.

MLB wouldn't put sacrifice bunts in a highlight reel. The NFL wouldn't put a QB throwing the ball out of bounds into a highlight reel.

Sure, teamwork is the backbone in any team sport, but when you're selling your product, you're going to highlight the positives and the flashiness of the game.

The NHL needs to gear it's marketing efforts to the stars of the game like the other sports have.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

the main problem with the NHL is marketing.  if you don't market the Chris Prongers, the Joe Thorntons, the Ilya Kovalchuks, how is anyone going to be excited of a sport with players no one knows.

The problem with the NHL may be one of marketing, but I don't think your solution would help.

Glorifying the individual over the team has been one of the more constant factors cited in the downfall of the NBA over the past decade or so. Basketball is the ultimate team game, where success was predicated on passing, setting screens, moving without the ball and so on. When David Stern took over the league, the focus shifted away from great teams and was placed on great players (Bird-Magic-Dr. J-Kareem, who begat Jordan-Barkley-Shaq, who begat Kobe, who begat LeBron and Wade). The result became 5 concurrent games of 1-on-1, and the team game withered. Only recently has the NBA begun to redirect the emphasis in a way more conducive to good basketball: promoting stars in the context of good team play. It is one of the reasons Nash is 2-time MVP, why Nowitzki is leading the Mavs to the Finals, and why the Pistons were so successful the last couple years. The best teams in the league right now are an agglomeration of talent that plays as a team (Pistons, Heat, Mavs, Suns) rather than a team relying on the one-star or two-star system (76ers, Celtics, Nuggets, Sonics, Rockets) where the rest of the team stays uninvolved.

More than any of the other Big 4 major leagues in North America, NHL players tend to be the most down-to-earth and most reluctant to seek the spotlight. There is also a very large proportion of NHL stars born outside North America, for whom English can be a barrier keeping them from achieving mass market appeal. The NHL needs better marketing, but it ought to focus on the game, especially when viewed live. Hockey translates to TV very poorly, far moreso than other sports. The speed and size of the players is deceiving, and so much happens away from the puck that you can't show it all on one TV screen. Hockey's best bet to gain fans is almost a grassroots approach - spread the game and generate interest by getting people out to see good games. You won't fall in love with the game as easily watching on TV as you will seeing it in person, which often leads to people playing it for themselves, at which point, the game really sells itself.

i see what your saying and I don't disagree with it. Obviously you want to sell the team concept. But you also want someone on the team people know and want to pay attention too. Basketball for example Lakers had Shaq and Kobe, Spurs have Tim Duncan, Phoenix has Steve Nash, Heat have Shaq and Wade, and Dallas has Dirk and the pistons have Rick Hamilton(i'm not familiar with the Pistons with any great deal). Dallas for example as you say is a good team that wins with a collective effort but they have Dirk who is a european and is the star player who brings interest to the team.

The NHL has those type of players, the problem sequays in to another point you made which NHL players don't favor the spotlight. They may actually do this to the detriment to the game. i know sports die hards and sports purists hate the TO's, the Yankees, the AI's but they are polarizing figures and they do bring attention to the sports. Obviously negative attention but none the less they bring attention, people talk about them and it generates interest. The NHL really don't have polarizing players, players that want the spot light and given our society of sensationalism and mass media that focus's on these controversial players, the out of the spotlight and down to earth players who in most cases are probably genuinely nice guys get passed up in favor of a TO or a Allan Iverson. I'm not saying the NHL needs a that type of player, but they need somebody that the media will want to focus on. IF the nhl had a Wayne Gretzky type of player it might help or had a oiler-like dynasty, that could help the NHL. The problem is there isn't too many players people are tripping over themselves to go see however if Crosby and Ovechkin can develop in to a Gretzky/Lemieux type of players that might help, and there really aren't any oiler like dynasties that people want to see. This is where the yankees do well in PR. The yankees are a polarizing team, almost everybody from the non-fan to the casual fan to the die hard has an opinion on the yankees. The nhl doesn't have that type of team. unless your a die hard or even a moderate hockey follower, most people really don't have an opinion on teams like the Redwings or Rangers because alot of people really don't care about them one way or another.

so i think we are saying the same thing different form, is that the NHL needs better PR. for either the points your or I come up with, it comes down to PR and being able to translate the game to the average person.