The finals don't start until Saturday?!

[Eleven]

This is a mistake. The league is giving up a fair amount of the interest that it had built among the viewing public. A Thursday night start would give the teams sufficient rest and probably would still give the NHL the same amount of weekend games. (The Pistons and Red Wings don't play in the same building, so I don't think scheduling around the NBA should be an issue. Actually, it never should be an issue.)

 

Then again, this is the same league that scheduled an elimination game for 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, so they must know what they're doing, right?

[apuszczalowski]

This is a mistake. The league is giving up a fair amount of the interest that it had built among the viewing public. A Thursday night start would give the teams sufficient rest and probably would still give the NHL the same amount of weekend games. (The Pistons and Red Wings don't play in the same building, so I don't think scheduling around the NBA should be an issue. Actually, it never should be an issue.)

 

Then again, this is the same league that scheduled an elimination game for 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, so they must know what they're doing, right?

Its NBC's scheduling choice

 

As for scheduling around the NBA, the NBA has higher ratings/popularity, so if its a choice, I think the NBA would get the first choice with the NHL working around them.

 

I think NBC wanted the afternoon games because it allows them to keep the primetime spots open. I agree, I hate the afternoon games, but its all about the $$$

[Guest Sloth]

Its NBC's scheduling choice

 

As for scheduling around the NBA, the NBA has higher ratings/popularity, so if its a choice, I think the NBA would get the first choice with the NHL working around them.

 

I think NBC wanted the afternoon games because it allows them to keep the primetime spots open. I agree, I hate the afternoon games, but its all about the $$$

 

I once enjoyed watching the NBA. Now, I have never like it as much as hockey, but I did like it at one point. Charles Barkley said you could take any winning team prior to 98 and they would win the championship every single year. The reason being the NBA once played team basketball. Today, a team basically relies on a couple of players putting up a LARGE number of shots. They don't play team basketball anymore so I don't watch it. Plus, the players today have changed when it comes to sportsmanship and class.

If you want to win in the NHL, you need teamwork and chemistry. The players also seem to have better morals and values.

[That Aud Smell]

Its NBC's scheduling choice

 

As for scheduling around the NBA, the NBA has higher ratings/popularity, so if its a choice, I think the NBA would get the first choice with the NHL working around them.

I suspect the Nielsen Ratings would agree, but Harris Interactive? Not so much.

[That Aud Smell]

I once enjoyed watching the NBA. Now, I have never like it as much as hockey, but I did like it at one point. Charles Barkley said you could take any winning team prior to 98 and they would win the championship every single year. The reason being the NBA once played team basketball. Today, a team basically relies on a couple of players putting up a LARGE number of shots. They don't play team basketball anymore so I don't watch it. Plus, the players today have changed when it comes to sportsmanship and class.

If you want to win in the NHL, you need teamwork and chemistry. The players also seem to have better morals and values.

Leaving aside the thug-theory talk, I agree that, for this former casual fan, the NBA has become unwatchable. The low point came when the Heat won the title by clearing out for Dwayne Wade so he could score 1-on-1 and/or have the refs call phantom fouls.

 

When the U.S. team failed to win Olympic gold last time around, Bill Simmons from espn.com went sour grapes and basically wrote it off, saying that the international game was a game "so different" from the NBA game, that it didn't really mean that much that the U.S. failed to win the gold. This after Simmons seemed to acknowledge prior to the tournament that the U.S. needed to put the hammer down and reclaim its mantle as the best basketball country in the world.

 

For me, though, the lesson from this was clear: The U.S. still produces the large majority of the best basketball players in the world, but several other countries can field better basketball teams.

[Bmwolf21]

I have been on the NBA hate-wagon for a long time, but I've been coming back around this year. It has been more fun to watch that in recent years -- there are more good "teams," and a lot of the better teams are getting back to that team concept of spreading the ball around, getting a lot of guys involved and playing good defense. Of course there is still that 1-on-1 superstar element, and it's more prevalent on teams that don't have a lot of talent around the star player.

[Knightrider]

I suspect the Nielsen Ratings would agree, but Harris Interactive? Not so much.

 

That's an interesting poll... My first question was whether they do the poll each year in January (in the middle of the NFL playoffs) or do they vary it. An August poll might have MLB on top, or a March poll might have College Basketball on top. The other thing - between NCAA and the NFL version, football has gained 10% on the other sports over the last 23 years.

[Eleven]

Re: the NBA, I meant that the league didn't have to worry about the Red Wings and Pistons being in the same building at the same time, since they play in different buildings (unlike just about every other city with teams in both leagues). NBC would get the same number of weekend games, regardless.

 

Heard an interesting guess last night: The NHL didn't want to compete with all the season finales this week, especially American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Interesting idea, and maybe there's something to it.

[Buffalo Wings]

Heard an interesting guess last night: The NHL didn't want to compete with all the season finales this week, especially American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Interesting idea, and maybe there's something to it.

Perhaps not a bad idea....

 

Given how it's possible that the finals could have decent ratings with the Wings (NHL's America's Team??) and the league's most marketable player together, I wouldn't be shocked to hear that's why they wait a few days to start.

 

Personally, I think tonight would have been a good time to start (2-3 days between rounds)...only because I can't wait. :beer:

[apuszczalowski]

The other thing to take into account is when the series would have ended had they gone to 7 games each

 

The league has a tentative schedule set out for when each round will be played, based on each series going to 7 games. They then set official dates when the teams are decided for the series. Last night would have been game 7 of theWings/Stars series, and tonight would have been game 7 of the Flyers/Pens series, so giving a day off inbetween, Saturday was probably the earliest that the SCF's would have started anyways. It isn't really the NHL's fault or NBC, Its actually the teams faults for finishing the series so quickly. The tv stations need time to adjust their schedules too, so having only a couple days to change the schedule because of the series ending early might not be possible.

 

I'm a little more surprised that NBC isn't making it an early afternoon game

 

As for the series itself, are the Redwings, or anyteam for that matter big all over the country to be considered "Americas team"? Would a fan in Texas really tune into the Cup finals now because the red Wings made it? And do people in the US really care that much about Sidney? I figured that it will definitly bring the ratings up in Canada having him there and no Canadian team, but does he have that kind of draw in the US right now?