Late Opener For Duck Season

There are a multitude of reasons that the NHL's television ratings are hovering slightly below Tommy Thompson's Q Score these days. It certainly doesn't help that the Stanley Cup playoff games are being televised by a "network" whose usual programming features heavy doses of rodeo and kickboxing and is located in the wasteland channels on most cable systems, sandwiched between "The Hallmark Channel" and "FitTV."

I also wonder how much the recent Stanley Cup Final matchups have hurt ratings. With Anaheim surviving a late onslaught by the Wings Tuesday night, this year's Finals will feature the Ducks facing off against the Ottawa Senators. While hardcore hockey wonks like JB Doubtless and Learned Foot will no doubt appreciate the intriguing nuances of the matchup, I imagine most casual hockey fans won't exactly be captivated by it.

This year's pairing comes on top of these recent Finals:

2006 Carolina Hurricanes versus Edmonton Oilers

2004 Tampa Bay Lightning versus Calgary Flames

2003 New Jersey Devils versus Anaheim Mighty Ducks

2002 Carolina Hurricanes versus Detroit Red Wings

Looking at the list, you only find one "Original Six" team. Half the Finalists are fairly recent expansion teams or, in the case of Carolina, a team that had relocated and has yet to really establish any kind of history or tradition. While having Calgary, Edmonton, and now Ottawa is great for Canada, you really have to go back to 2001 when Colorado (with Raymond Borque) faced New Jersey to find a Finals that had any real compelling storyline or teams that would attract TV viewers in the United States.

So far this year, the Stanley Cup (or the Stanley Strap as JB prefers to call it) playoffs have been a bit of a letdown, which hasn't helped ratings either. Although there have been a few great individual games, there haven't been a lot of overtimes and, with only one series going to seven games, we have been left with a decided lack of drama.

When they finally get around to dropping the puck again (nice scheduling there NHL) on Monday night, I hope to see this change and would love to see seven hard-fought, close contests in the Finals. With Ottawa hoisting the Cup at the end of course. It's bad enough that the Lightning and Hurricanes have recently had their names engraved on the hallowed trophy. If the team with the gayest (in the playground sense of the word) name in all of sport--Mighty (cringe) Ducks--wins the Cup, Lord Stanley will be spinning in his grave.