NHL in the US. Big trouble?
10/5/2007 at 2:52 PM
Very interesting roundtable dicussion here about the game in the US. I didn't realize that Detroit and Colorado of all places were unable to sell out their home openers:
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3049301&categoryId=2957349&n8pe6c=2
The league has its problems, but IMO one of their biggest mistakes is phasing fighting out. Like it or not fighting is one the things your fringe American hockey/sports fan associates with hockey and one of the things that distinguishes it from other sports. Just about every time you see a movie or show that talks about the game there's a half-hearted reference to dropping the gloves. Without it you have to wonder if those types of fringe fans who form their impressions based on movies, stereotypes, etc have difficulty relating to the game.