nhl-general
For whatever reason, the NHL won’t make good decisions. It needs to win back the trust of sports fans by making wise and strategic moves. But it hasn’t done it, and the latest deed proves it won’t any time soon. Here’s my thoughts on the latest move by professional hockey.
The NHL returned, albeit quietly, from its locked out 2005 season. But its playoffs — exciting, powerful, addictive — remained lodged in oblivion.
The last two playoffs? Imposters. Unwanted guests that have paralyzed a once-great yearly occasion.
This season’s NHL playoffs scored record-low American television ratings, especially during the Stanley Cup Finals — supposedly the most exciting playoff round. NBC, in one instance, interrupted a game with the Preakness’ pre-race coverage. Game 3 of the Finals had NBC’s worst rating since a “The West Wing” rerun several years ago.
Sad, so sad.
Miss Japan vs. The Anaheim Ducks. Miss Japan wins the title of Miss Universe on NBC, better ratings and a pretty nifty crown. The Ducks win Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus (formerly OLN) and approval from such “celebrities” as Sasha Cohen, Cuba Cooding, Jr and some dude from “Heroes.” Ding ding, Round I goes to Miss Japan.
Here we are. All bets are off, as the winners of the Western and Eastern conferences square off to determine who hockey’s champion is for the 2006-07 season. It has been a long year, filled with surprises. One of the surprises will be representing the East in the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa finds themselves in the Stanley Cup Finals after not much of a challenging series against Buffalo. Meanwhile, the west will see one of its best teams from start to finish, the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim took out the Detroit Red Wings in six games.
Here we are, the conference finals. Just eight more wins, and you can live a lifelong dream. Eight more wins, and you complete Mission 16W. Only four more teams are alive to finish Mission 16W, the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and the Anaheim Ducks. Buffalo had to dispatch a tougher than advertised New York Rangers team in six games, while the Senators easily dispatched the New Jersey Devils. On the other side of the coin, the Red Wings had an easier time with the San Jose Sharks then many had thought, while the Anaheim Ducks took care of the Vancouver Canucks in just five games.
The first round of the playoffs brought us little surprises, with the exception of Nashville’s complete collapse against San Jose. The Rangers took care of business against the Thrashers, while another season ends in the first round for Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars. The Ducks took care of the Wild in five games, while the Sabres had no problems with the Islanders. The Flames showed some heart, but it was not enough against the talented Wings, and Martian Broudeur is already heading for his second Con Smythe with his dominating performance over the Lightning.
Here we go, the NHL playoffs are upon us. For the first time in a long time, neither one of the Stanley Cup finalists from the previous season will be in there to defend their conference crowns. Also, for the first time in over a decade, that team from Denver will not grace the playoffs.
The final week of the season has arrived. The Wings take over the two spot, but the biggest winner of the week are the Ducks, who move up three spots, while the losers of the week are the Canucks who drop three. The Devils move up in the power rankings despite firing their coach.
The Devils are the big losers this week, dropping down four spots to almost out of the top ten, while the surging Pens are about to overpass them. Meanwhile, the Sabres and Preds exchange the top spot once again. There’s two weeks left in the season. How did you team end up?
Over the past couple of months, fighting in the NHL has been lambasted by so-called “sports experts”. Most of this fodder is coming from people who have no interest in the sport. They have no interest, therefore, are ignorant to the history of the sport, and what role fighting plays in that vast history. True hockey fans know exactly why fighting is in the sport. It exists for many reasons. Maybe a skill player is getting too much physical play from a defenseman, or maybe that player has crossed the line with your skill player. Also, fighting can be the same as the two-out hit that sparks a rally.