Poor Puck Timing

Wow. The sun is shining, the temperature rising and hockey is finally heading to the post season. About damn time. Is it me or does the NHL regular season feel like it never ends? This mid-April rite of spring is nothing new, but maybe that's my beef. I shouldn't be throwing slabs of beef on the barbecue while watching hockey.

The NHL needs to seriously look at things. I know there is no clear solution on when to start the season. And reducing the number of games stands about a snowball's chance in June, oh wait, they are still playing hockey then, maybe there are snowballs. Owners don't want to give up revenue dates and really, isn't that what the game is about, money?

Its not only a Pro hockey thing. The WHL is still weeks away from wrapping up before the Memorial Cup even begins in May. The SJHL, bless its soul, has crowned a champ, but the Royal Bank Cup, still in the future.

To me, once the snow blindness of winter is gone, all I can see is golf, biking, and ball. Even in hotbeds of hockey such as Saskatchewan, the appeal of getting out of a cramped stuffy house that most of us have been held prisoner in for 6 long winter months, is far more exciting than Game 7 of the Cup finals.

Solutions? I have but a few. I just think that hockey is doing itself a disservice by not showcasing its best product at an optimal viewing time. Summer ends in late September. Let's drop the puck then. There we gain two weeks. Now scrap that entire sham of an all-star weekend/break. Now we have another week. Cut the schedule back to 70 games. That will give you another three weeks. There, We just gained five weeks and are playing for the Holy Grail at the end of April, before the links, paths and diamonds are open.

And if these changes were even marketed the right way in the least, there could be a chance that revenues could actually go up. Really! In Canada all the dates are sold out already, but now with 6 fewer home dates, you drive up demand. Games now are at a premium. As well, TV rights should also be clamoring to pay top dollar for fewer dates. And now, when the playoffs roll around in late February, there is no competition for the almighty buck on the sports scene. If you're the only show in town, then you should be the most watched, even in the US of A. More viewers equals more advertising money.

Maybe just maybe you could grab some of the NFL junkies looking for a sports fix after the Superbowl and suck them into the excitement that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Right now these chronics are just biding their time for the first pitch of MLB, but catch them while they're weak and they might just like the fastest game on ice.

The playoffs are truly the greatest time in sports, so maybe this makes no sense at all, but then again, does playing hockey in June?