NHL Playoffs Thread [03/04]

[SeanDMan]

They don't need to sell the games, they need to sell the PLAYERS. Ask most casual hockey fans who the best players in the league are and they'd say "Gretzky & Super Mario", that's how out of touch the common man is with the NHL. If NASCAR can sell a "sport" where nothing happens but left turns, surely the NHL can market a game tougher than American football.

Until Bettman and his lackeys create some superstars that EVERYONE knows about, the NHL will be an afterthought in the American sports collective conscience. I guarantee you 95% of sports fans would walk right by Iginla or St. Louis and not know they'd just passed two of the NHL's brightest young stars. There's no other sport that you would see that happen in.

←

But that's part of the problem. In Vancouver for the longest time, we refused to move Bure, because we needed his star power to sell tickets. Even when he and Captain Kirk were the only good players on the team, and we needed to rebuild, they didn't do it. A few teams play today with only one big name that they need to sell tickets. The Pens, with Mario. The Capitals had only one true star in Jagr. And then you have teams with nothing but name guys, the Rangers are a perfect example. I mean, who thought that combining Eric Lindros (a guy past his prime), Mark Messier (ditto), Leech (on his last legs), Bure (now retired), a bunch of goons and a rookie goaltender was a ticket to success?

Names mean nothing. Take for another example Vancouver. When they made the deal for Bure, they picked up a draft pickand some dissapointing prospect named Ed Jovanovski. They traded Linden, one of the staples of the team, when he was in a down funk, for some nobody named Todd Bertuzzi. And look at Tampa, they picked up throwaways like Modin and Richards for nothing. Look at Calgary. They were going to trade Iginla last year. You never know when someone is going to suprise you and really show you why hockey is the best game invented. And you never know when someone will suprise you and remind you that hockey is still just a job.

[naiwf]

But that's part of the problem. In Vancouver for the longest time, we refused to move Bure, because we needed his star power to sell tickets. Even when he and Captain Kirk were the only good players on the team, and we needed to rebuild, they didn't do it. A few teams play today with only one big name that they need to sell tickets. The Pens, with Mario. The Capitals had only one true star in Jagr. And then you have teams with nothing but name guys, the Rangers are a perfect example. I mean, who thought that combining Eric Lindros (a guy past his prime), Mark Messier (ditto), Leech (on his last legs), Bure (now retired), a bunch of goons and a rookie goaltender was a ticket to success?

Names mean nothing. Take for another example Vancouver. When they made the deal for Bure, they picked up a draft pickand some dissapointing prospect named Ed Jovanovski. They traded Linden, one of the staples of the team, when he was in a down funk, for some nobody named Todd Bertuzzi. And look at Tampa, they picked up throwaways like Modin and Richards for nothing. Look at Calgary. They were going to trade Iginla last year. You never know when someone is going to suprise you and really show you why hockey is the best game invented. And you never know when someone will suprise you and remind you that hockey is still just a job.

←

I think you misunderstand me. I'm saying the NHL needs to market its best players as the reason to watch the games, sort of the same way every other sport does. Individual teams can only do what they can, but the league as a whole needs to be known for those handful of guys who can carry it into the future.

I'm sure a lot of people don't know for example which teams Carmelo, LeBron, T-Mac, AI etc play for, but they know those names. Same thing with the NFL, with free agency guys move all the time, but the big names are well known. In hockey, unless you really follow the game the only times you find out about players are when they do something really stupid (Bertuzzi's cheap shot), or pass a milestone (500th goal or something similar). There's no buzz about a future MVP for example, there are no commercials starring hockey players that I can think of. When the WNBA has more "name players" than the NHL, that's a HUGE problem that needs to be addressed.

[gunnar hendershow]

I think you misunderstand me. I'm saying the NHL needs to market its best players as the reason to watch the games, sort of the same way every other sport does. Individual teams can only do what they can, but the league as a whole needs to be known for those handful of guys who can carry it into the future.

I'm sure a lot of people don't know for example which teams Carmelo, LeBron, T-Mac, AI etc play for, but they know those names. Same thing with the NFL, with free agency guys move all the time, but the big names are well known. In hockey, unless you really follow the game the only times you find out about players are when they do something really stupid (Bertuzzi's cheap shot), or pass a milestone (500th goal or something similar). There's no buzz about a future MVP for example, there are no commercials starring hockey players that I can think of. When the WNBA has more "name players" than the NHL, that's a HUGE problem that needs to be addressed.

←

Definitely. Every sport has a big name superstar except hockey... who had Gretzky, but he's retired.

[SeanDMan]

That's bullshit. When you have guys like Jean-Sebastien Giguere going on The Tonight Show... you have the potential to create a superstar. When the Rock went on the tonight show, they were like "finally, people will see him as a mainstream star", saying it would get mainstream attention.

But look what happened to Giguere. He was sold as being the reason his team went so far in the finals. He was sold as a superstar. And make no mistake, Giguere is a fucking monster with a cock bigger then mine, but the next year he folded. He pulled a Theodore. It didn't help that his team let go of Kariya, their leading scorer, and others and picked up Federov, whose picture is next to Prima Donna, who has amazing numbers on a team full of hall of famers.

The bottom line is that you can sell anyone as a superstar and then all of a sudden, people tune in to watch them next year and say "That's it?" when they don't show up and tune out again. You can't sell a player, because they are only human.

But if you sell a game, then people will watch, because there is always a good hockey game on. If you sell a man, and that man gets the flu... then your sale isn't going to work.

[sahyder1]

Forsberg

Sakic

Kariya

Selanne

Iginla

This is only a short of list og superstars the NHL hasn't really marketed to their potential in lthe last 5-6 years.

[SeanDMan]

Forsberg

Sakic

Kariya

Selanne

Iginla

This is only a short of list og superstars the NHL hasn't really marketed to their potential in lthe last 5-6 years.

←

Deconstruction is my religion:

Forsberg... you want them to market Forsberg? He's going to be in Sweden next year. Whenever Forsberg and his Lanche underachieve, Forsberg runs back to Sweden where he's a hero. Granted, he is one of the best players in the National Hockey League, but that's when he even plays in the National Hockey League. Wasn't it just a few years ago that Forsberg missed 30 NHL games because he wanted to play in Sweden until the Avalanche hit a slump and payed him more money? You want to market that?

Sakic... conceded.

Kariya... Kariya WAS a star, last year. But this year he proved he is nothing more then an injury prone player who is unmalliable and inconsistent. He can't play on the Avalanche... he needs a run and gun winger and lines behind him that chip and grind. With the right team anyone can look good, and the Mighty Ducks had an awesome team for several years that made Kariya look great. Granted, he was the best player on the team... but he was not by any means a superstar. He was a goal scorer, not a pure player, and his team would have floundered without him sure... but still, he needed grit players behind him...Tverdovsky, Simpson, Carney... to be at their best behind him for him to have the space he needed to suceed... and when he didn't have that... and when he was teamed with Selanne, who needs it too... the team, and the pair, did nothing.

Selanne... come on, this guy has no showed every team he's been on. His first year was his best. He isn't a star anymore, more like league leader in goating it. Get serious. You want to market failure? Market Selanne.

Iginla... conceded.

Edited May 23, 2004 by SeanDMan

[Guest Hit Man 3120]

And, as an aside, no one here likes the Pistons. They suck.

Yeah, 54-28 and in the East Finals, they really suck

But for the league, they need to market established guys. Trying to market a guy like JS Giguere was not wise as he had a good run. Same with Thedore and this year with Kipper, you cant sell guys who got on a hot streak.

[DMN in the House]

NHL needs to promote Iginla to the fullest. He's a minority, a market that the NHL needs to reach. On another board I go to, a NFL board, people make fun of hockey like its nothing. I'm not a diehard, but I watch a game from time to time, and love playoff hockey, the only thing better is the NFL playoffs to me.

[sahyder1]

(1)Lightning vs (6)Flames

Tampa Bay 46-22-8-6 (106 points)

Calgary: 42-30-7-3 (94 points)

Season Series: Tampa won only meeting 6-2

So....how many people predicted these 2 to go so far? How many people even had Calgary getting to the playoffs? St. Louis was only hoping to catch on somewhere after Calgary let him walk....who would've guessed that he'd turn into an MVP candidate. This is a guy who was signed as an undrafted Free Agent by Calgary. This is set to be a very exciting finals......and should be one of the best ones in recent memory. The future HOFer Dave Andreychuk finally makes his first trip to the finals. If the Lightning are looking for any motivation they just need to look across the locker room to their leader to find out how hard getting back here really is. Neither one of these can be "just happy to here" because chances are....neither one gets this far next season. The ratings have gone up on ESPN and ESPN 2 all playoff long....let's see if the trend continues in the finals. The NHL needs to advertise this new breed of stars in Iginla, Kiprusoff, Lecavailer and St. Louis, guys that aren't well known outside the fanatical hockey fan ciricle. This series is gonna come down to the two goalies. Khabibulin was thought of as a weakness on this Lightning team coming into the playoffs but the reality has been far from that. Kipper has just stood on his head at times at the other end for Calgary. Both of them are capable of stealing a game for their teams. I see this series being split after the first 4 games.

Prediction.

Flames in 6. Teams will split the first 4.

[gunnar hendershow]

Flames in 6 also.

I can't see any way for Tampa to win unless they get up 3-0 in the series.

[sahyder1]

Great first period.....I like the pace of the game.

[ACCBiggz]

Calgary in a 2OT Gm7.... >_>

[Clawson]

Great first period.....I like the pace of the game.

←

Ya this hockey, not that pussy trap hockey.

[SeanDMan]

My only complaint was that dirty hit early in the first period, that and Tampa fans booing Don Cherry

[Clawson]

My only complaint was that dirty hit early in the first period, that and Tampa fans booing Don Cherry

←

Ya but what do they know about excellent hockey guys. The probably have a shrine to Barry Melrose in their basements.

[gunnar hendershow]

Ya but what do they know about excellent hockey guys. The probably have a shrine to Barry Melrose in their basements.

←

Tampa didn't know hockey existed until the early 90s.

[Clawson]

2-0 Calgary on a short-handed goal. WOOHOO.

[Clawson]

Yelle with a beautiful shot makes it 3-0.

[SeanDMan]

3-0.

What an awesome goal on the breakaway. Great hard work by Yelle on a lazy defensive play. And it looks like Tampa will need to overcome a 3 goal deficit if they want to win game 1.

[sahyder1]

Ya but what do they know about excellent hockey guys. The probably have a shrine to Barry Melrose in their basements.

←

Why did they boo Cherry? I heard Melrose got booed too. I started watching the pre-game show too late. Atleast we get Chris Berman for the pre-game too. I like ESPN's team for this finals. JD, Bill Clement and Gary Thorne calling the games. Berman doing the pre-game with Darren Pang and Barry Melrose with John Saunders replacing Berman for the intermissions. Sam Ryan, Steve Levy and that new reporter (something Andrews I think) doing the interviews and extra stuff.