Anaheim, Calif. – On the arena concourse an hour before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night, the line to get into the Anaheim Ducks’ souvenir shop was so long and so immobile, it looked like the San Diego Freeway during rush hour.
The seats were filling in, the buzz of anticipation for the opener in the series against the Ottawa Senators was palpable, and as the three-day Memorial Day weekend wound down, hockey – at least in this building – was king.
Nearby, the baseball Angels were an hour away from the first pitch against the Seattle Mariners. A couple of miles to the west, thousands of area residents and tourists were navigating Disneyland. And it’s probably safe to assume, too, that nobody skipped visits to the region’s beaches to stay home and watch the hockey game.
The NHL’s Finals don’t bring life to a halt in the Southlands – or South Dakota. Television ratings, even in the area as a competing market, won’t be impressive, either on Versus, or on NBC later in the series.
That’s just the way it is.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman knows he again will hear about it, as part of what has become an annual rehash of familiar dismissal of the NHL Finals’ impact virtually anywhere this side of the Canadian border.
“Nielsen TV ratings are but one measure,” Bettman said before the game. “It doesn’t define us. The research also says we have somewhere around 50 million fans, some avid, some casual.
“What it tells you is that people who follow this game, who are passionate about this game, don’t watch it on television in the United States as much as we’d all like. But you know what? There probably are two or three other sports who do better than we do, and there are a bunch of niche sports that don’t even come close. We don’t have to apologize to anyone for what we are.”
For years the lightning rod for criticism about the state of the sport, whatever the state of the sport is at any given time, Bettman has become known for what seems to be a pattern of denial.
He has been called on that tendency far more often than when his friend and former boss, NBA commissioner David Stern, indulged in similar gamesmanship, but Stern’s how-dare-you-question-me reactions to criticisms of his recent rulings probably has given him more of an idea of what Bettman has been through.
At times, Bettman’s reputation as the maddeningly predictable spin doctor has been deserved, as when he avoids admitting that aspects of his “grow the game” master plan have failed. Quite often, however, he has taken more heat than is warranted, primarily because of the often narrow- minded agendas of many of his most vehement critics.
He actually is at his best when he deviates from what can come off as semi-scripted filibusters and wings it. If you’re going to be bashed anyway, why not let down your guard – especially in a sport in which stitches to the face or a black eye are badges of honor? And he also is in a position of strength: He has a long-term contract with at least five more years to run, and he shepherded the league through a lockout and dark season that left scars, but got the owners their coveted salary cap.
His mantra of late, as when he talks of those “platforms,” has been an emphasis on “new” media, such as NHL.com and agreements with such outlets as YouTube generally favored more by young consumers than those who remember Bobby Hull’s gap-filled grin. The press corps from U.S. papers outside Los Angeles at the Finals again is small – there again are no reporters from the self-professed “Hockeytown,” Detroit, for example – and Bettman views that with regret, but as part of a bigger picture.
“We think we can continue to grow across all the platforms, and we will,” Bettman said. “But I think it’s a little unfair to define us based on the traditional television ratings. For people who want to knock us on the basis of that, go ahead, but we’re not going to apologize for what we are.
“This game and the players associated with it are the best in all of sports, and we’ll find our own level over time. This isn’t a 60-minute game. This game gets played year after year, generation to generation. We’ve been around since 1917. We’ll be around for hundreds of years going forward.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
