2008 Woodie Awards
Young rivlary could save the NHL
Brian Fitzsimmons
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Sports
Here's to sulking, knowing Philadelphia drank too much of the Cinderella Kool-Aid.
Nothing against the sixth-seeded Flyers, but they found a way to oust Washington from the playoffs and it robbed NHL fans from witnessing the birth of a rivalry that could save their sport from the disgustingly deliberate isolation to mainstream sports.
Alex Ovechkin against Sidney Crosby. It needs to happen.
Obviously, hockey has suffered greatly over the past few years. It has been put on the backburner of the sports world and even its most intriguing playoff match-ups have been doomed to the outskirts of Versus, a channel available to significantly fewer television households than ESPN or ESPN2 around the country. People look at the poor ratings and scorn the sport for losing its luster. For concrete evidence, hockey is below NASCAR and both men and women's college basketball on the pull-down link of the ESPN.com sports toolbar.
It's sad, but it's also hard to ignore one simple truth that a product as marketable as a Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry could change that very crisis.
The Worldwide Leader passed up on matching the Outdoor Life Network's (now Versus) offer of $200 million for the NHL's U.S. cable television rights in 2005. This past January, Versus and the NHL extended their deal through the 2010-11season. Maybe when that window of time closes, a new door will open. What if the Penguins and Capitals become the most storied rivalry, courtesy of the team's young stars, to hit the ice in recent memory? I don't see ESPN letting a potential, or guaranteed, moneymaker such as that slip through its tentacles. Even if that scenario doesn't present itself, there's room for growth in regards to the popularity of Versus.
Why do you think ESPN thrives on the NBA soap opera involving Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant come playoff time?
Anyway, hockey fans are stuck between a rock and hard place, crossing their fingers for a saving grace to bring hockey back to the paramount of the sports universe. For the next four years, at the very least, they will need to suffer because even the most illustrious storylines generate so little hype.
Nothing against the sixth-seeded Flyers, but they found a way to oust Washington from the playoffs and it robbed NHL fans from witnessing the birth of a rivalry that could save their sport from the disgustingly deliberate isolation to mainstream sports.
Alex Ovechkin against Sidney Crosby. It needs to happen.
Obviously, hockey has suffered greatly over the past few years. It has been put on the backburner of the sports world and even its most intriguing playoff match-ups have been doomed to the outskirts of Versus, a channel available to significantly fewer television households than ESPN or ESPN2 around the country. People look at the poor ratings and scorn the sport for losing its luster. For concrete evidence, hockey is below NASCAR and both men and women's college basketball on the pull-down link of the ESPN.com sports toolbar.
It's sad, but it's also hard to ignore one simple truth that a product as marketable as a Crosby vs. Ovechkin rivalry could change that very crisis.
The Worldwide Leader passed up on matching the Outdoor Life Network's (now Versus) offer of $200 million for the NHL's U.S. cable television rights in 2005. This past January, Versus and the NHL extended their deal through the 2010-11season. Maybe when that window of time closes, a new door will open. What if the Penguins and Capitals become the most storied rivalry, courtesy of the team's young stars, to hit the ice in recent memory? I don't see ESPN letting a potential, or guaranteed, moneymaker such as that slip through its tentacles. Even if that scenario doesn't present itself, there's room for growth in regards to the popularity of Versus.
Why do you think ESPN thrives on the NBA soap opera involving Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant come playoff time?
Anyway, hockey fans are stuck between a rock and hard place, crossing their fingers for a saving grace to bring hockey back to the paramount of the sports universe. For the next four years, at the very least, they will need to suffer because even the most illustrious storylines generate so little hype.
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