From the drawers of the Top Secret Fyles:
Once the calendar year turned from 2022 to 2023, every hockey fan across the U.S. and Canada figured, “It’s going to be the Boston Bruins against ‘you-fill-in-the-blank team’ in the Stanley Cup Final.”
A funny thing happened once the postseason started.
The 65-win and 135-point Bruins, who revolutionized those categories during the regular season, got bounced from the playoffs by the Panthers. Florida owned only one postseason series victory over the past 26 campaigns before toppling the Bruins in overtime in seven games a few weeks ago in Boston.
It seemed highly likely an “Original Six” squad was going to parade the game’s majestic Stanley Cup trophy around somebody’s rink in mid-June.
Or even perhaps, a Canadian-based franchise, like either Toronto or Edmonton, was going to end that country’s 30-year drought this season. Nope, didn’t happen either.
We are now left with four franchises in non-traditional markets contending for the Stanley Cup, all conceived no earlier than 1993 in their current state, vying for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Hockey’s four best franchises play their home games either down south or in the desert. The other 28 NHL clubs have already broken out the golf clubs, and perhaps doing some fishing near the most scenic body of water.
There’s no “Original Six” or wave the Canadian flag here.
Dallas and Florida (Fort Lauderdale-Miami market) are football towns, Carolina plays in ACC-crazy basketball territory where 3-pointers, slam-dunks and rebounds are kings, and Las Vegas until six years ago was more famous — and still is — for all-night casinos and smallish wedding chapels than for pro hockey.
The hockey purists, however, will be glued to their TVs for riveting action, breakaways and an occasional four-overtime thriller. The rest of America not so much. The national TV ratings in the U.S. will be abysmal for the Final.
Radio airwaves in Canada will be talking about a Stars-Panthers, Stars-Hurricanes, Golden Knights-Panthers or Golden Knights-Hurricanes matchup and, no matter what, thrilling hockey will be produced right before your eyes.
However, American-based national radio-talk shows, hosted for instance by Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd and Doug Gottlieb won’t even give the Stanley Cup Final a sniff over the radio box. You have to go to SiriusXM satellite radio to find engaging Stanley Cup Final talk.
In the long view, nothing will grow hockey bigger or better than the sport gaining and expanding a broad, passionate fan base in the South and other areas of the U.S., and more fans watching games on TV.
Times sports copy editor Richard Fyle can be reached at rfyle@wdt.net
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