Wait, The NHL Is On iTunes?!?

I was on iTunes earlier today, looking for some kids TV shows to put on my iPod so my daughter doesn't flip out during a long car trip this weekend. I found what I was looking for - Yo Gabba Gabba and the Wonder Pets, in case you were wondering - but I also found something else.

That "something else" would be an entire section of iTunes dedicated to NHL games.

I had no idea this even existed. You mean to tell me I can go into iTunes and download classic games for $1.99 each? You also mean to tell me I've had an iPod for five years, accessed the iTunes store at least once per month over that period of time, and didn't know these games were available for download? That's insane.

And that, of course, is the Gary Bettman era in a nutshell. In this information age where technology is at our fingertips, it might be nice to inform NHL fans that they can download and watch full games, at their convenience, for a very reasonable $1.99 fee. Let's not forget, NHL fans are probably the most tech-savvy of all sports fans. Since newspapers are dropping NHL beats like flies as the papers themselves struggle to stay afloat, hockey fans have embraced the blogosphere to a much greater degree than the fans of any other sport. We have HockeyFights.com and tons of clips on YouTube, and hockey fans love these resources. Do you really think these same fans wouldn't love to discover the NHL's treasure trove of downloadable games?

We all know the NHL isn't the strongest promotional arm out there. But iTunes is a great way to reach out to fans - and to then allow fans to return the favor. Throughout the season, each team's official website could run a poll to determine fans' favorite games and then put those games on iTunes. I know the NHL has done a pretty good job with the DVD sets they've released, but there's a way to have these DVD sets work with their iTunes offerings. Especially in these dog days of summer, where we're all craving any sort of hockey we can get.