The Hockey Stop

This past Memorial Day weekend my parents visited Los Angeles from Washington, DC and I wanted to show them the renaissance taking place downtown so we hopped on the subway (no Jack Bauer sightings to report) and ventured into the heart of Lakerland -- the Staples Center and the adjacent L.A. Live entertainment complex. My parents are still following the NHL playoffs despite the disappointing end to the Caps' season at the hands of the hated Pens and we were determined to find that elusive channel called Versus since, like many other basic cable subscribers, I don't receive the former Outdoor Life Network (but I do get three ESPN channels!).

Following an excellent guided walking tour of the historic core, we went on a journey to find a single TV showing the Pittsburgh-Carolina game in a sea of purple-and-gold clad Lakers fans clamoring for a good vantage point of the Los Angeles-Denver game in the bars and restaurants surrounding Staples.

Now, the fact that every television set within a 50-mile radius of Los Angeles was showing the Lakers game is entirely understandable (we finally found one TV showing the Pens-Canes game at a downtown hotel thanks to a couple of Avs fans from Denver who weren't much into the Nuggets).

But it is what happened the previous night that convinces me that if the NHL has any intention of spreading its fan base beyond traditional puckheads, the league must re-sign with ESPN when its contract with Versus expires in 2011.

The Blackhawks-Wings series should have garnered the national attention at least somewhere close to the level of the Cavaliers-Magic NBA playoffs series. The matchup featured two of the NHL's Original Six teams. One: the defending Stanley Cup champs. The other: a proud franchise making a comeback in the third-largest media market in North America behind rising young stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

So, you would think a large sports bar in Los Angeles would be showing Chicago-Detroit Game 3 (which the 'Hawks won in OT) on at least one TV screen amongst at least 30 showing the Cleveland-Orlando game. Nope. I asked the server why every single TV was showing basketball and she responded with an emphatic and assured "It's the playoffs!" before calling the manager over to change the channel to Versus.

When we finally settled in to watch the game I overheard a couple of buddies asking what channel Versus was on: "Isn't Versus on channel 9,000?" said one friend to the other in a mocking tone.

I asked my colleague, Variety managing editor Stuart Levine, who recently wrote an article about Versus' improved ratings during these NHL playoffs, if he thought it was a mistake for the NHL to leave ESPN for Versus.

"While I think Versus is doing a nice job with the NHL playoffs, and their production has been terrific, having the games over there lacks the buzz that hockey so desperately needs had the action been on ESPN. Like it or not, ESPN is the sports behemoth and anything telecast on there will usually get more play and coverage -- whether it's worthy or not."

Levine added: "If Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby was on ESPN, it would've been huge, and made a big impression beyond traditional hockey cities, i.e. the West Coast and Midwest towns."

For years hockey fans have complained about the sport playing second fiddle on ESPN, but until Versus gets the penetration of ESPN and is picked up by every cable provider and hotel, classic games such as Caps-Pens game 2 in which both Ovechkin and Crosby scored hat tricks, will not generate much excitement outside of Washington, Pittsburgh, Canada and Russia.

And yes at least some of the playoff games are televised on NBC. That's great. But it's not enough. Not when Versus is carrying Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, meaning many won't be able to watch what is possibly the final game if one of the teams sweeps. All the Stanley Cup Finals games should be on NBC. And Versus can keep Professional Bull Riding while the NHL goes to ESPN and gets the national attention it deserves.

Here is the Stanley Cup Finals TV schedule:

Saturday, May 30

5 PST/8 EST: Pittsburgh at Detroit, NBC

Sunday, May 31

TBD: Pittsburgh at Detroit, NBC

Tuesday, June 2

5 PST/8 EST: Detroit at Pittsburgh, Versus

Thursday, June 4

5 PST/8 EST: Detroit at Pittsburgh, Versus

June 6

5 PST/8 EST:* Pittsburgh at Detroit, NBC

June 9

5 PST/8 EST:* Detroit at Pittsburgh, NBC

June 12

5 PST/8 EST:* Pittsburgh at Detroit, NBC

* – if necessary