Every sports fan has a hierarchy of their favorite sports. What’s at the top, what’s at the bottom, and what doesn’t even make the list? I would like to think that my hierarchy is representative of a large portion of the American sports fans. On that list, NHL hockey has been firmly supplanted as the #4 sport with little to no chance of moving up the list. There are a number of reasons this has been the case. In no particular order…difficulty following the puck on television, too much action with no payoff (not much scoring), too many rules stagnate the flow of the game, and an overall arrogance applied to the coverage of the sport (if you don’t already belong to the hockey fraternity and already know everything, we’re not going to explain it to you. Hockey could go a long way toward grabbing non fans and casual fans if they had a John Madden type color analyst on the broadcasts). It’s one thing to watch a game and “get it”, it’s another thing entirely to understand every aspect. Take the NFL for example, they play to all level of fans from the overly critical (analyzing the pull blocking effort by the right guard) to the casual fan who only cares to see his team have the higher score at the end of the game. Somewhere along the lines, someone was able to explain it in a manner that made the game more interesting, not more alienating. We can spend a great deal of time debating the merits and deficiencies of the NHL, but now is not the time.
The fact of the matter is, good sports need great moments to ascend up the ranks. Hockey is a great game; the NHL is not necessarily a great league. The NHL has attempted to make great strides towards the marketing of their players and making the sport more appealing. Here in 2009 they did seriously drop the ball in regards to programming schedule. Excluding die hard hockey fans, the majority of fans in this country would say that hockey is #4, #3 at the absolute highest putting them behind the NFL and NBA. So why would Gary Bettman and the NHL be accepting of the programming schedule that puts a Stanley Cup game against an NBA finals on the same night and time while having a off day on either side? Are the people at the NHL headquarters really that arrogant? Now it is safe to assume that it was just unavoidable. I choose to believe that Gary Bettman is just that arrogant. Although the NHL is not doing everything they can to grow the sports interest and viewership, fear not their moment came nonetheless.
The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was exponentially more exciting than their NBA counterpart. This series had all of the fringe details and storylines that go with growing the sport from the field of play as opposed to the marketing spin. On one hand the vaunted legacy and experience of the mighty mighty Red Wings. On the other hand, arguably the most talented young team of future hockey stars in the Penguins. The R word…Rematch! Would the dominant Red Wings continue their winning ways because they are the Red Wings, or would the young Penguins somehow find a way to assert their will and overcome Mt. Red Wing? That alone would be enough to draw in the casual fans. However, the way the series played out, was enough to make me consider moving the National Hockey League ahead of Major League Baseball. That is an astounding comment. America’s Pastime? Well, clearly that is no longer the case, but still. As an opposing viewpoint, while the NHL has aspired to grow based on the merits of the game not needing to adjust to society’s views, MLB has fallen because of its sins against society maintaining that, “because we’re MLB we will be just fine”. I do not base my opinion of baseball vs. hockey completely on the steroid era’s impact on my affection for baseball. Baseball is more and more becoming a “little league sport” (a game that is vastly more appealing to kids who play it than adults who watch it). The opposite could be said for hockey.
Suspend reality and visualize if Detroit had won game 7. It would’ve been great for Detroit. It would’ve been great for their fans and everyone who enjoy Detroit Red Wing hockey. There is nothing wrong with that. However, the fact the game concluded the way it did means more for hockey overall than it could have for Detroit or Pittsburgh on their own. This was not just some game that would crown a winner. This was a young inexperienced team walking into the Joe with little more than a shred of hope of getting anything but a loss…again. Not to sound too sensational about it, but this game had a sense of dire optimism against all odds, shades of Team USA over Russia in 1980. Was it really that big of a deal? Hell no, but in the moment it felt that way. I doubt any of us will ever see anything as monumental as 1980. In addition, Marc Andre Fleury looked like he belonged back in juniors when he had played between the pipes at the Joe. He in turn possibly played the game of his young career on the biggest stage. Clearly he had the save of his life. Also, there was a Willis Reed moment, albeit a much lesser of an impact than the original. Sidney Crosby who is supposed to be this generations Mario Lemeiux, was nearly nonexistent in this series…so his Willis Reed moment was not as serious as perceived. It did however, provide added drama. If he wasn’t already, Evgeny Malkin asserted himself into the discussion between Crosby, Ovechkin, Zetterberg, and other elite talents in the man’s NHL. Not to mention, Jordan Staal may just be creeping out of older brother’s shadow. Not to take anything away from Detroit and their pain, but this was a phenomenal series with an appropriate conclusion. If you were to objectively list the greatest championship games (including series clinchers), this would absolutely be on that list.
I know it hurts the team that loses, without fail. However, Detroit fans can maintain solace in knowing that they were a partner in a game (and by some extension the series) that may in the long term grow the sport.
Oh, did I mention…I DON’T CARE ABOUT HANDSHAKES!!! Can we get over ourselves please? Hand shake lines are for Cricket and Little League.
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