Phanatic Magazine
When the 2007 NHL Playoffs began, there is little doubt that the league was pulling for a finals along the line of the Red Wings/Rangers.
Hockey, a dying breed along the lines of television ratings, needed its largest spectacle to be in two large-market US cities. That is why most scoffed at the future of the sport when Anaheim and Ottawa reached the final round.
On one hand, you have a west coast club with little marketing value across the rest of the country. After all, hockey and California go together like the Eagles and clock management. Couple that with, gasp, a Canadian club, and it translates into ratings lower than Lindsay Lohan's self-esteem.
One problem with this assumption, other than the bad Lohan joke, is that a strong Canadian following doesn't transition into U.S. ratings.
A quick Google search of NHL Finals and ratings will let you in on the well-kept secret that hockey ratings are again down this year. According to the Associated Press, the ratings from Game 3 of last year to Saturday night's Game 3 are down 12 percent.
The exciting contest earned a 1.5 overnight rating on NBC. In comparison, Cleveland's win over Detroit in the NBA Eastern Conference Final earned a 5.3 overnight rating. That game was shown on TNT.
Meanwhile, a separate AP story on Tuesday said that Game 3's Canadian audience that checked out the game on CBC was over 2,500,000. Last year's game drew just over 2,400,000 viewers north of the border.
Logic now suggests that the western Ducks are to blame for the low ratings, and it is tough to dispute that. It is also tough to make a case for a sport on ice being located -- multiple times -- in a state best known for surfers and beaches.
But is it fair to blame the Ducks themselves.
After all, while players love to give their city a title, they win it for themselves first. We often forget that, feeling that teams owe us fans a title. We've even been guilty of such a concept here at the Phanatic Magazine, though our view had a humorous touch to it.
Instead of blaming the Ducks for being in Anaheim, just sit back and enjoy the hockey. And if you need a reason to root for the Ducks, pop in the soundtrack to South Park: The Movie and check out the following nuggets of info.
- How can you not want to see Teemu Selanne win a Cup. Selanne has put together a brilliant career that includes 540 regular season goals and 1,041 points. He has captured the Calder and Rocket trophies, and was MVP of the All-Star Game in 1998. Yet, the Stanley Cup has eluded him over his 16 seasons. Come on people, this is Ray Bourque all over again.
- Wouldn't a title make it all worth it for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who missed the beginning of the playoffs due to family issues. Giguere's son was born with a deformed right eye, a condition that could have left his infant son blind, but thankfully, did not.
- How great would it be for the Ducks to win a title on home ice, thus making it the Pond's greatest celebration since Team USA defeated Sweden in the second Mighty Ducks move.
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