"I don't mean to sound defensive... but some of you might find this offensive."
- The coach from the NHL Network commercials
No, I'm not going to call my offense my defense and my defense my offense. But I am doing something that could easily be considered offensive. It's only for a short period of time... and trust me, I do not feel good about it.
I'm turning to the darkside.
After a lifetime of hating the Rangers, I'm rooting for them in their first-round series against the Devils. It's not going to be an easy thing, but I feel like it's the right thing to do. Consider it an endorsement; after all, we're in an election year.
Why, you ask? Two main reasons come to mind.
1) I've gone on record many, many times as stating that a good Rangers team is good for the league. I want to see the NHL restored to its former glory... a glory, coincidentally enough, that peaked when the Rangers won their last Stanley Cup in 1994. A Rangers playoff run is something the NHL desperately needs. It will generate interest in hockey in a major market. It will increase TV ratings. It will get people talking about hockey in an area where basketball isn't in direct competition. All of these things aren't just good - they're necessary.
What does a good team in a major market do for a sport? Well, think about how many people in New York are talking about basketball now that the Knicks are awful. Think about how many New Yorkers follow college football and college basketball, given that the top teams are hundreds of miles away. Think about how little baseball is discussed in New York when the Mets and Yankees are out of the playoffs. And most people consider New York to be a baseball town. So, then, if baseball can't even sustain itself here when the local teams aren't good, how could hockey possibly be expected to succeed?
We all know hockey fans are generally a niche group of hardcore supporters. But the NHL needs the casual fan to succeed. That's where the Rangers come in. They're a big-market team. They're supposed to be good. Or at least that's what people who don't follow hockey would think. A Cup run for the Rangers would do a lot of good toward capturing the imagination of these people - the people the NHL needs to convert into hockey fans.
2) Going along with the first point, if casual fans are going to be watching playoff hockey - by far, the most exciting tournament in sports - they deserve to watch quality hockey played by quality teams. By that, I mean that they should not be subjected to the horrifically unwatchable style of hockey fashioned by the New Jersey Devils.
Aside from seeing their own teams succeed, hockey fans only ask for a few things out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They want good, exciting hockey played in front of passionate fans. They want highlight-reel goals. They want games that go to triple overtime... but not too many of them. They want to see superstars show their brilliance, long-suffering grinders achieve glory, and new players emerge to stake a claim to elite status. The Devils can provide none of these things. Do you really want to have the Devils - a team with no offense, a boring style, and a half-empty arena - be the team that's charged with showcasing all that's good about the NHL? Do you want this to be the team you show to your friends who don't follow hockey? God, I hope not.
Have you ever seen Devils highlights and wondered why they play that damn goal siren at deafening levels? It's because nobody's cheering for the home team, and the noise has to come from somewhere... so they play the foghorn at 200 decibels. You'll hear fans at The Rock in the first round because Ranger fans are going to fill the place. In fact, there's a pretty good chance that the Devils home games will resemble the scene at the Coliseum last Thursday, when Ranger fans celebrated in delerium as they clinced their playoff spot in enemy territory.
Will I actually applaud the Rangers as they succeed against the Devils? Probably not. But they do have my support. Unlike a lot of Islander fans, I understand the Rangers' place in the game. This is a team the NHL needs to be prominently featured among the league's elite. The Rangers might not be the free-wheeling, score-at-will team we'd all like to see, but they're far more watchable (and marketable) than the Devils. And if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that we don't need another Devils snoozefest in the Stanley Cup Final.
I'm not on the bandwagon. I'm just doing the right thing. And doing the right thing isn't always easy.
- The coach from the NHL Network commercials
No, I'm not going to call my offense my defense and my defense my offense. But I am doing something that could easily be considered offensive. It's only for a short period of time... and trust me, I do not feel good about it.
I'm turning to the darkside.
After a lifetime of hating the Rangers, I'm rooting for them in their first-round series against the Devils. It's not going to be an easy thing, but I feel like it's the right thing to do. Consider it an endorsement; after all, we're in an election year.
Why, you ask? Two main reasons come to mind.
1) I've gone on record many, many times as stating that a good Rangers team is good for the league. I want to see the NHL restored to its former glory... a glory, coincidentally enough, that peaked when the Rangers won their last Stanley Cup in 1994. A Rangers playoff run is something the NHL desperately needs. It will generate interest in hockey in a major market. It will increase TV ratings. It will get people talking about hockey in an area where basketball isn't in direct competition. All of these things aren't just good - they're necessary.
What does a good team in a major market do for a sport? Well, think about how many people in New York are talking about basketball now that the Knicks are awful. Think about how many New Yorkers follow college football and college basketball, given that the top teams are hundreds of miles away. Think about how little baseball is discussed in New York when the Mets and Yankees are out of the playoffs. And most people consider New York to be a baseball town. So, then, if baseball can't even sustain itself here when the local teams aren't good, how could hockey possibly be expected to succeed?
We all know hockey fans are generally a niche group of hardcore supporters. But the NHL needs the casual fan to succeed. That's where the Rangers come in. They're a big-market team. They're supposed to be good. Or at least that's what people who don't follow hockey would think. A Cup run for the Rangers would do a lot of good toward capturing the imagination of these people - the people the NHL needs to convert into hockey fans.
2) Going along with the first point, if casual fans are going to be watching playoff hockey - by far, the most exciting tournament in sports - they deserve to watch quality hockey played by quality teams. By that, I mean that they should not be subjected to the horrifically unwatchable style of hockey fashioned by the New Jersey Devils.
Aside from seeing their own teams succeed, hockey fans only ask for a few things out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They want good, exciting hockey played in front of passionate fans. They want highlight-reel goals. They want games that go to triple overtime... but not too many of them. They want to see superstars show their brilliance, long-suffering grinders achieve glory, and new players emerge to stake a claim to elite status. The Devils can provide none of these things. Do you really want to have the Devils - a team with no offense, a boring style, and a half-empty arena - be the team that's charged with showcasing all that's good about the NHL? Do you want this to be the team you show to your friends who don't follow hockey? God, I hope not.
Have you ever seen Devils highlights and wondered why they play that damn goal siren at deafening levels? It's because nobody's cheering for the home team, and the noise has to come from somewhere... so they play the foghorn at 200 decibels. You'll hear fans at The Rock in the first round because Ranger fans are going to fill the place. In fact, there's a pretty good chance that the Devils home games will resemble the scene at the Coliseum last Thursday, when Ranger fans celebrated in delerium as they clinced their playoff spot in enemy territory.
Will I actually applaud the Rangers as they succeed against the Devils? Probably not. But they do have my support. Unlike a lot of Islander fans, I understand the Rangers' place in the game. This is a team the NHL needs to be prominently featured among the league's elite. The Rangers might not be the free-wheeling, score-at-will team we'd all like to see, but they're far more watchable (and marketable) than the Devils. And if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that we don't need another Devils snoozefest in the Stanley Cup Final.
I'm not on the bandwagon. I'm just doing the right thing. And doing the right thing isn't always easy.
I hate those NHL Network commercials with the coach.
ReplyDeleteThe strongest the NHL ever was was in 1994 because of a solid wave of big city teams. Pittsburgh won in 91 and 92 and they beat Chicago in 92. Chicago was awesome at that time - Chelios, Roenick, Belfour - and that was huge for the city. (Now, of course, they have made the playoffs once since 97 and lost in the 1st round.)
In 93, the Islanders were solid, Pittsburgh was still big, and LA made the Finals.
In 94, the Rangers won for the first time in over half a century. It was a huge wave for the NHL, ruined by the strike-shortened-season of 94-95 and the rise of The Trap and the Devils/Wild style of playing.
I actually don't mind those commercials with the coach. Not that I like them, but they're definitely a step above "Is This The Year?" and Darryl Sittler ad nauseum. My new favorite is the OziTech knife commercial with the Austrailian guy. "Now THAT's a sharp knife!"
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