The big game over the weekend was the gold medal men’s hockey game featuring USA and Canada. But the question on everyone’s mind is, “Will the recently increased hype of the USA hockey team translate over to the National Hockey League?”
There is a simple answer and that is, “No.”
The United States had won their previous meeting in the Olympics 5-3.
This was quite the story in the games Sunday. USA trailed for a majority of playing time until the last 25 seconds, when Zach Praise scored the game-tying goal. USA would eventually lose the game in overtime.
Sports announcers have talked about how the Olympics are going to affect the NHL. While its certainly something to fill airtime, simply put, it isn’t going to affect the NHL.
In the 1980 Olympics when the United States did actually win gold, and to tremendous nationwide hype, there weren’t people who automatically switched over to watch or listen to NHL games.
The fact is our country’s strong suit is not hockey and probably will never be hockey. We just all like to feel that we are being Americans in rooting for the United States over Canada. USA played outstanding their first game against Canada, but deep down, I knew it was going to be hard to repeat that performance.
The Olympics are just a short fad that only lasts for a couple of weeks every four years. The women’s hockey team placed second in the Olympics to Canada but I know for a fact that people aren’t going to go out and watch women’s ice hockey. It is the same for the men’s hockey team, they did well; nobody is going to start watching the NHL because the Olympics went well.
Turning the tables, if the United States would have won that game, most people still wouldn’t watch professional hockey. It might have lured a few more people, but it wouldn’t be anything to write home about. Anything that takes more commitment than watching a few games every four years is just too much for some people.
I grew up in a hockey household. When I was a little kid my dad would pop-in the tape of the Pittsburgh Penguins winning their first two Stanley Cups in the 1990-1991 season and again in the 1991-1992 season. From then on, I was hooked on hockey.
Hockey is a game that is popular in the Midwest and on the East Coast, but it isn’t popular in other parts of the country, which is understandable. If I lived in Arizona, I wouldn’t want to be reminded of how cold it can get outside.
If the Olympics could stimulate professional hockey, then I would be all for it. I will admit that I didn’t watch most of the USA and Canada game, because not only was there a “Karate Kid” Marathon on, but the fact is I would rather watch NHL hockey than watch Olympic hockey.
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