Image via WikipediaThis is an interesting article that I totally disagree with. Hockey is and always will be a niche sport; some people are never going to like the sport of hockey, I get it. I don’t have a problem with the product on the ice what-so-ever. I think the problem is some higher ups in the NHL are trying to sell hockey to the regular public and I think that is doing the NHL a disservice. You're either a fan of the game of hockey or you're not. Personally, I enjoy the scrums, the hockey code, the fights and other stuff (some people call it B.S.) that goes on in the game of hockey. The only things I would like to see changed is rule 48 and the NHL’s instigator rule. To also suggest that it’s just Canada’s game is also preposterous; there are many of us that like the game of hockey in the USA as well. Americans that like the game of hockey are just as worthy and deserving as our friends to the north.
That being said, I don’t have a problem with relocation of current failing NHL franchises to areas like Hamilton and Quebec City. The relocation of some NHL franchises to more NHL friendly areas seems like a no brainer to me as well. I don't think hockey is losing it's luster, NHL hockey is just correcting a few of the mistakes it's made in the past but is other wise an already a really great product.
Todd Babiak, Edmonton Journal ---- On Wednesday night, like Monday night, there was no sign in our neighbourhood the Stanley Cup finals were on.
Kids in bright jerseys tromped every free blade of grass and every dandelion to play soccer, laughing and whooping, in front of their parents and volunteer coaches.
A man sat inside the Strathcona Community League, listening to the game on the radio, but few of us bothered to ask the score.
Both nights, my wife and I hustled our daughters home to catch the second and third periods.
We arrived in time Monday to watch the nauseating replays of Aaron Rome's hit on Nathan Horton and the ensuing blowout and goonery.
On Wednesday night, we were treated to ankle slashes, fights and mini-fights, dirty play at the benches and maybe two minutes of what we actually wanted to watch: talented athletes amazing us with their skill and elegance and cleverness, accomplishing something extraordinary.
A lot of us are talking about Rome's late hit on Horton, as it's difficult to wipe away the image of a young man unknowingly clawing at the air in the midst of a severe concussion.
A lot of other people, lifelong hockey fans, are talking about how they made an unexpected and inexplicable decision not to bother watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, even with all this rare Canadian content.
They just didn't feel like it.
The sport is in trouble in the southern half of the U.S. So Winnipeg is a real hockey town again.
There are high hopes for Hamilton and Quebec City. The NHL's great experiment with brand extension that has its roots in Aug. 9, 1988, the day Wayne Gretzky announced he would now be playing for the Los Angeles Kings, is coming to an end.
The Vancouver Canucks are in the finals. Let's get used to it. It's our game again.
