The NHL still has a long way to go...

[Asher]

This year's a rerun. Fewer people care, myself included.

[Grandpa Troll]

I grew up in Maine in 60's and 70's watching Norm Ullman and Dave Keon, Yvan Cournoyer, The Mahovolich Brothers, "Pocket Rocket" Henri Richrad to name but a few and of course the many top Canadian players playing on the US based teams.

One non Canadian hero of mine was Stan Mikita who played for my 2nd favorite US based team, The Blackhawks.

But in trying to get Hockey to the bigger television markets, it is just a little hard for me to be in the mood for Hockey when it is 70 and 80 degrees outside.

I mean, I grew up playing Hockey year around, on the frozen ponds of Northern Maine, at night indoor floor hockey and in spring,summer and fall we played street hockey with a tennis ball.

Wednesday and Saturday nights I was glued to Hockey Night in Canada on the TV.

I would catch the Boston Bruins on the Radio late at night when the am stations shutdown around 9 or 10 pm.

Good nights I could catch either the Buffalo Sabres or the Toronto maple Leafs playing, something magical about having a radio, under the covers listening while I was supposed to be asleep. The skip would come and go as the clarity shifted from good to bad and all points in between.

Maybe because I was a kid, but just seemed like a superstar was defined by what he did on the ice not by contract negotiations and sponsorships.

(Although Norm Ullman got me to try Wheatabix)

Perhaps this is why Hockey is not quite as big in the USA, but it is a very enjoyable sport.

Gramps

[OzzyKP]

http://freep.com/article/20090615/SPORTS05/90615069/1048/SPORTS

Game 7 was most-watched NHL game in 36 years

NEW YORK — Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was the most-watched NHL game in 36 years.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ championship-clinching 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on NBC on Friday night averaged 8 million viewers. The network said today that’s the most since Game 6 of the 1973 Stanley Cup finals between Montreal and Chicago.

Game 7 earned a 4.3 rating and 8 share. It was the highest rating for a series-ending game since Game 7 of the 2003 Anaheim-New Jersey series.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program, while the share is the percentage of all TVs in use at the time.

[rah]

hmmm Ozzy's post

Game 7 earned a 4.3 rating and 8 share. It was the highest rating for a series-ending game since Game 7 of the 2003 Anaheim-New Jersey series.

Ming's post

That's down 7 percent from the 4.4 for last year's Game 6, when the Red Wings clinched the title.

So what was the high, 4.3 or 4.4?

[Asher]

Proof that marketing people just make these numbers up.

[-Jrabbit]

Ozzy's source conveniently does not note whether it's looking at US-only numbers. Populations grow, so one can easily be the "most watched" game (highest absolute number of total viewers) today despite being lower in rating and share compared to years ago. Over the past decade or so, overall TV viewership rates have declined pretty steadily. But the overall size of the pie has grown so much since 1973 that the NHL can still show "growth" despite having a smaller slice...

Marketers know enough to use the numbers at hand to send the desired message - then sneak out of the office before they can be questioned.

[Pinchak]

I grew up in Maine

Hey me too... Agusta. Although my childhood was in the 80's. Fond memories.

That, and spending my teenage years in Pittsburgh (90's) probably has alot to do with my love of the sport.

How can't you like hockey? No boring pauses, loads of violence including fighting, teams with cool mascots...

I suspect however that everyone knew the Pens were going to win it this year, so why bother watching.

[notyoueither]

hmmm Ozzy's post

Ming's post


So what was the high, 4.3 or 4.4?

The writers of newspaper articles.