This captured a lot of people's attention, and the recent political undertones of the last few weeks had a lot to do with that.
Can the NHL keep people's attention spans now for the long term. March Madness is right around the corner. This will all be in the rearview sooner than later with how our society and news cycle functions.
The key IMO isn't to keep attention now. The key is to get some casual dormant hockey fans (people like me) to tune in more often and pick up some younger people to take an interest in hockey in general.
People aren't going to become big NHL fans overnight. But you can certainly use that tourney to spark some interest. I am not joking when I tell you I only recognized two American names, and that's because their dad was good when I was little.
20-25 years ago I probably could have told you which team every Team USA guy played for, at least the forwards and goalies. But the Flyers have been so bad for so long now....I doubt I've watched an NHL game in ten years. Now I just got some juice in my veins. I'll probably watch a few playoff games.
Next, getting younger people interested is important to *every* sport. Hockey is already growing in the US, new sheets of ice are getting built everywhere.
Hockey is still relatively niche. Anything that "mainstreams" it at all ultimately pays dividends down the road for the NHL. Tourney was elite PR, whoever had the idea needs a raise, way better than a classic all-star game.
EDIT: Anytime me and friends played NHL '98 and we wanted to use the best guys, we played as a country...not the respective conference/captain selected all-star teams. This very good idea was hiding in plain sight all these years.
I attended my first NHL game on NYE in St. Paul, it is very fun (also pricey). Would recommend anyone with kids to check out their local minor league team. It's fun, the kids are probably the top 1-2% of hockey players, and it's affordable.
The team in Fargo consistently outdraws the D1 basketball team down the road that has a way nicer arena.
If you got a local D1 hockey team, they are also fun and generally affordable. No need to understand hockey well, ask the guy next to you questions. My experience is they are *always* happy to explain things down to the most basic stuff.
). Is this an opinion true hockey fans share?
