Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[Mike]

Detroit will stay in the West for the reasons WingsFan mentions.

[Optimus Prime]

Vancouver wins 1-0, Kesler is stallion playing with a tweaked groin since game 5 against SJ, he clearly has found another gear. Luongo posts the shutout which was huge. May lead Conn Smythe now should the Canucks win it all.

[geo weidl]

Came home in time to watch the third period. Canucks all over Beantown with Thomas keeping them in the game.

[geo weidl]

Ten bucks says betman is pissed about this.


Game 1 of the Final Draws 4.5 Million, Up 5% From 2010

June 2, 2011 by stevelepore1 Comment

The opening game of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final moved to Wednesdays and got a boost on NBC.
The network’s broadcast of Game 1 between Boston and Vancouver drew 4.53 million viewers in primetime, up 5% from Game 1 in 2010, between Philadelphia and Chicago, which drew 4.34 mullion viewers on a Saturday night. It’s also up a tick from Game 1 in 2009, which drew 4.51 million viewers on a Saturday night. Prior to that, every Stanley Cup Final opener since 1999 had aired on cable’s ESPN or VERSUS. The game drew a 1.8 in the coveted Adults 18-49 demo, up 6% from last year’s Game 1. The game won the 10 p.m. ET hour in Adults 18-49.

[Jamie H]

??? I don't get it. Wouldn't he be happy about better ratings?

[lineygoblue]

Nobody can explain Bettman

[WingsFan]

Boston is pretty tick off no penalty for biting, Burrows won't be suspended for (alleged) bite either.



Note Game 1 drew a 25.5 rating in Boston. For some perspective, Game 1 of last year’s Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals drew a 19.1 in the market.

[geo weidl]

??? I don't get it. Wouldn't he be happy about better ratings?

Just a little sarcasm Jamie, with the nhl not letting coyotes move to Canada and talking about whether san diego would be better for the nhl in the finals than the Canucks.

[geo weidl]

In Canada as well, the viewership was at an all-time high for game 1.


CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broke its own NHL playoff viewership record during Wednesday night's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins, with an average audience of 5.6 million and a peak of 7.8 million.
It was the highest-rated broadcast of an NHL regular season or playoff game on CBC, beating out the 1994 Cup final between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers which drew 4.96 million viewers.
The highest-rated all-time CBC viewership was the 2002 Men's Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S. (8.96 million).

[Jamie H]

Gotcha, I figured you were making a joke at Bettman's expense. The dude is so stupid when it comes to hockey that sometimes it is hard to see jokes in anything talking about him.

[geo weidl]

Here is hoping bettman gets it.

Winnipeg NHL team reaches season ticket goal


WINNIPEG - True North Sports and Entertainment reached its goal of selling 13,000 season tickets for Winnipeg's new NHL team, and it happened only minutes after online sales to the general public began at noon on Saturday.



The tickets sold out in just 17 minutes, but the company said the online queue was actually full in two minutes and that the remaining 15 minutes were required to process the sales.

[Hannibal]

I expect that the ratings will drop pretty quickly if the pre-lockout gameplay continues

[WM Wolverine]

NHL needs the population of the west and south to be successful, even if they don't give a shit about hockey... [end sarcasm]

NHL unlike other major sports gets a lot higher % of its revenue from ticket sales, ticket sales is where the money is at in the NHL and Bettman wanted the game to grow even in areas where there was little interest in hockey...

Not the best example, but the B10 added Nebraska (pop <2mil) who had a rabid fanbase for football while they ignored Syracuse which resides in a state (New York) with close to ten times the population.

[geo weidl]

NHL unlike other major sports gets a lot higher % of its revenue from ticket sales, ticket sales is where the money is at in the NHL and Bettman wanted the game to grow even in areas where there was little interest in hockey...

I always thought bettman wanted more the corporate sponsors than he did the fan base which is why the fewer Canadian teams. Watching last nights game, there is no way in the west and south you would see a fanbase where people of all ages and race standing together by the thousands in streets and outside malls viewing outdoor tv screens rooting for Vancouver.

[WM Wolverine]

You might've been right, the arenas in Canada were getting less than desirable and the south & west were so willing to build new ones which promised large gates, well at least for 2-3 years before they found out they didn't enjoy the sport.