A sidelined Ovechkin hurts U.S. audiences but not necessarily overall North American numbers

There will be much hand-wringing over the Washington Capitals' stunning exit in the first-round of the National Hockey League's 2010 Stanley Cup tournament. Most of it will be in the Caps' front office, but a close second will be the disappointment shared by U.S. television rights holders Versus and NBC, both of which were loving their first-round playoff ratings and must have been salivating at the prospects of an eastern conference showdown between Alex Ovechkin and the Caps and Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That Ovechkin-Crosby is no longer in the cards will also cause some long faces at the NHL's corporate offices in New York. And that's understandable from those who bank on star marketing to build a larger footprint in the U.S.

Yet if it is job one of the commissioner's office to create aggregate value through optimal revenue generation and profits -- for itself and its member franchises -- there is no need for any heads to hang.

This is a tale of two countries. What in this case is bad for hockey in the U.S. is good for the game in Canada and not necessarily bad for the NHL.

The bottom line is that another series for the Montreal Canadiens will be good for the NHL and its partners; most notably its Canadian broadcast and corporate partners. At the micro level, it will sell more tickets and pump up higher box office totals (especially with at least two games at the 21,273-seat Bell Centre, the second-biggest building in the league with the highest-priced tickets of any of the remaining eight playoff clubs).

It will engage more fans and drive larger overall television audiences, largely because CBC and RDS will drive numbers north of 3.5 M and even 4 M per game in Canada alone. Those ratings will help make more money for the NHL's single-largest broadcast rights buyer; the CBC.

It's true that fewer Americans will be watching the conference semifinals and finals than if Ovechkin and the Caps were on the marquee. The net outcome with the Habs in and the Caps out is positive for the core business of the NHL, however, because so many more people will be watching in Canada.

The NHL might not see it that way, because it is rarely prone to recognizing that on a per capita basis, 10 to 20 times more Canadians watch NHL hockey than do their American counterparts. What it should see is that when your business partners make money, it's good for your business. And in this case, no one pays the NHL more money for rights than the CBC and its Hockey Night in Canada franchise.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket

Crosby's overtime goal makes instant Canadian hockey -- and Winter Olympics -- history

September 28th, 1972: Paul Henderson, assisted by Yvan Cournoyer and Phil Esposito, 19:26 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow.

September 15th, 1987: Mario Lemieux, assisted by Wayne Gretzky, 18:34 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ont.

February 28th, 2010: Sidney Crosby, assisted by Jarome Iginla, 7:40 of overtime, Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver.


Could it have been scripted any better for Team Canada and Canadian hockey? Could there be a better or more dramatic ending to Vancouver 2010?

A Sidney Crosby overtime goal to defeat the United States 3-2 to win gold for Canada in the marquee event of the 21st Winter Olympiad; a goal that set a new record for gold medals won -- 14 -- by a country at an Olympic Winter Games.

It was the single last action by an athlete at these Games.

Crosby's shot -- and commentator Chris Cuthbert's call of his "golden goal" on CTV and that of Pierre Houde on RDS -- becomes a defining moment in Canadian hockey history. It becomes an iconic flashpoint for our national heritage and culture, as it does for the game of hockey and Vancouver 2010 itself.

It immediately took its place on the podium of the biggest goals in Canadian hockey history.

That podium includes Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Super Series between Canada and the old Soviet Union, the 1987 Canada Cup winner over the Soviets scored by Mario Lemieux on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Wayne Gretzky and now Crosby from Iginla in overtime in the Vancouver 2010 final.

There will be debate about which goal goes down as the biggest. Henderson's rescued our hockey pride against the backdrop of the cold war era and did so on faraway ice in Moscow. It is often referred to as the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history and is dubbed the "Goal of the Century". Lemieux's was arguably the most beautiful and decided a memorable Canada Cup of three 6-5 games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.

To me, Crosby's goal carries the widest audience, the biggest reward and the largest impact.

The goals by pre-digital Henderson and Lemieux were watched on television and heard on radio in English and French. Crosby's goal not only comes on the three screens of the Internet era of TV, computers and mobile devices, it comes on the massive media and global television stage created by Vancouver 2010, CTV, NBC and official national broadcasters around the world. It was called in multiple languages on multiple platforms. And it was scored in overtime in the most-watched hockey game in history.

Henderson's won an historic eight-game exhibition series between the world's hockey superpowers. Lemieux's goal won the Canada Cup, the unofficial world cup of hockey. Crosby's marker won Canada the biggest hockey tournament in history and an Olympic gold medal. It also gave Canada a stranglehold on the gold-medal podium at Vancouver 2010 and set the record for most golds by a country in a Winter Games. Those are the biggest prizes of any of the three goals.

Yet what distinguishes Crosby's overtime winner from the other iconic goals in Canadian hockey history is its larger impact. Crosby was scoring not only for his hockey team and his country, but for the larger Canadian Olympic team of 203 athletes. His goal came in a 12-team tournament that was part of a larger worldwide competition featuring 2,700 athletes from 82 countries. It mattered to more than the two countries facing off.

That's why it'll hold special status as the most important goal in Canadian hockey history...and Canadian sport history.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays 9 a.m. - 12 noon PT
Twitter.com/TheSportMarket & Facebook.com/TheSportMarket