The Spectrum

Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: AP Photo/ Gene J. Puskar (From left) Keith Tkachuk, John-Michael Liles, Scott Gomez, Mathieu Schneider and (front) Brian Gionta celebrate a goal in Torino.

The World Series. The Super Bowl. The Olympics. These are the quintessential sporting events in our society. What about the Stanley Cup Finals? Where are they on the radar of American society?

The National Hockey League (NHL) features the best players in the world performing at high speeds with violence and action. Some teams play over 100 games each season and vie for the oldest trophy in professional sports. So tell me, where are the fans?

The reality of the matter is while many people in the northeast and at Sacred Heart may fashion themselves as hockey fans, the majority of the people across this great land do not.

"People don't follow hockey back at home," Sacred Heart men's ice hockey forward Drew Sanders, a junior from Modesto, Calif., said. "The sport is expensive and the climate is too nice out there. They would rather play baseball or football."

"Anyone can pick up a soccer ball and play with it," Atlanta Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said. "We have to continue to educate the youth of America and work with our in-line program with places with little or no ice availability."

The NHL has tried desperately to tap into the non-traditional markets and it has worked to some degree. Dallas and Tampa Bay have both won a Stanley Cup, and in other warm climate cities, such as Miami and Los Angeles, fans have had a taste of the Stanley Cup Finals.

However, for whatever reason, the game has not drawn the same passion and excitement for the fans below the Canadian border.

"It is part of the culture of Canada," men's ice hockey captain Noel Henck, a senior from Long Beach, N.Y., said. "It is growing here, but it is still a long way off from being a big part of our society."

"There are a lot of other sports for people in America to play," forward Rocco Molinaro, a senior from Dearborn, Mich., said. "It will be tough to grow the game across the country."

Hockey went through a renaissance of sorts in the 1990s as the game achieved a new national television contract from Fox in 1995.

However, the game began to falter as soon as it hit that peak.

Continued...

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