Tuesday, March 2, 2010

NHL Tries Too Hard for Olympic Bounce

When radio and TV talkers speculated about a possible popularity bounce for the NHL in the wake of a strong Olympic tournament -- notably the two Canada-United States machups -- they proffered numerous possibilities for the sport to build off that apparent success.

Whether TV ratings for a once-every-four-year event really mean anything for the least popular pro sports league in the United States might take a long time to determine.

Still, the NHL showed subtlety was not part of its post-Olympics plan Tuesday night.

On the FSN broadcast of the Buffalo Sabres game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a matchup that included the Olympic tournament MVP (U.S. goalie Ryan Miller who plays for Buffalo) and the player who scored the decisive goal in the gold medal game (Canadian forward Sidney Crosby who plays for Pittsburgh), pre-game introductions included individual recognition of all Olympic hockey players participating in the game.

With the Olympic theme music in the background at the Mellon Arena, the public address announcer announced every player from each international team and the arnea spotlight then focused on each of the players, culminating with Crosby. While the approach produced some interested results, among them a big ovation for Miller in a rival arena, it also showed that the NHL does not believe its product can stand on its own.

As much as pro hockey could use a boost, it has to craft success on more than just the Olympic hype.

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