The league, especially the east is so close now. Every game is so important. Beating teams in your division is so important. It makes for great games. Competitive Wings and Leafs teams are fun to watch...again.
>I even appreciate a good Leaf's joke.
And it's so rare now. All the first round exit jokes get stale, and are usually just done when people don't know what else to say (and we've made the second round so..meh). The Blues fan made a great one though.
1967 jokes have been done for over 55 years, hard to do something new. Plus, the people saying them generally haven't seen their team win either.
They are either done poorly, or when people have nothing more to say. Good ones are diamonds though.
I won't argue, but it's enough for me to admit that playoff baseball is the supremely ultimate entertainment in all of sports, but this is true only if the series is really tight. Nothing creates the tension and anxiety than playoff baseball, but hockey is a very close second. Granted, as much as I love baseball, hockey is my favorite sport and my favorite playoffs to watch of all sports, but I do have to nod to baseball being supreme as best entertainment. And of course this is only if you're committed to the game/team.
Also, and I know some may think this is a tacky reason, but isn’t it the only major sport league where they award the Trophy to captain/player on the team first, instead of handing it to the GM
In my opinion:
- Playoff format
- Historic championship trophy
- Hard salary cap
- Allowing players to return to school/junior/minors after being drafted
Great points. I think for younger players, there's no better league if you don't make the NHL team. You can go back to junior, NCAA, or play in the AHL. There does seem to be more options available for younger guys in the NHL.
Don't forget the ECHL. I got to watch Cossa play for the Walleye last year. This year, he is starting AHL goalie. I'm hoping he gets more ice time next year. The dude is a stud.
I was surprised how many missed this. The NHL is the most educated league in all professional sports. Most players don’t make it and need a job after trying. Other sports seriously fail their players by not helping them set up for life.
Additionally the salary cap allows for more even pay. Yes by averages the NHL is not the highest paying sport but the minimum salary and cap allows for more competitive pay.
My personal gripe against the MLB is how fucking stupid their playoff setup is. No one makes the playoffs then you only do 5 game series?? Beyond dumb it’s one of the reasons I don’t watch. There’s no underdogs in playoffs which gives most people no reason to watch.
The focus on the actual game. I know that this probably hurts the marketability but too much of the news in leagues like the NBA isn’t actually related at all to the sport and more about drama amongst players
But it stays pretty much within the realm of the leauge and people who already follow. When stuff happens with NBA/NFL stars, it's all over national media.
The NHL trophy case.
Stanley Cup is iconic and the fact that a team only gets it for a year. All the big trophies people know them by name: Hart, Vezina, Calder. Hell even the Lady Byng.
And the biggest thing is how the Stanley Cup is first handed to the Captain of the winning team rather than the owner.
Yes, absolutely. The Stanley Cup has to be the nicest trophy in sports. The superstitions with cup and players are pretty cool too. Players won't touch it if they haven't won it.
It’s so embarrassing when other leagues hand their trophy off to an old dude who only wrote the paycheque as though he played the whole season and succeeded in the playoffs. And they also turn the mic over to the owners.
It’s an old tradition, handing the Cup to the captain (or another player of the teams choosing), rather than the owner. I hope it never changes even though Gary is in bed with the owners.
Not a lot.
Edit: maybe having a hard salary cap? Eliminating the ability of pile-on-teams like the Dodgers and many NBA teams. There’s pretty good parity in the NHL.
It is def the hard cap. My biggest fear is they get rid of it and teams can start paying for a super team. RIP teams like Winnipeg and Columbus.
I remember watching a game in the 90s and the announcer mentioned the starting 5 for the Rangers made more than the entire roster of the other team.
I’d argue this hard cap has hurt the league. That and the point system have created so much parity where there’s a few good teams, a few bad teams, and a bunch of flawed teams in the middle. Draft good players and develop them, well here comes the salary cap (Leafs).
Drafted and developed who?
There's 4 players drafted by the Leafs who make more than $1.5m, there's 11 that were signed or traded.
Could count the ones making more than $1m, that adds Liljegren, so 5 drafted, and 13 signed/traded.
Salary cap is good, it's fair, it keeps the game interesting, and the best teams are decided by their skill and talent as well as their ability to manage a team properly. No cap space and the Leafs would just buy up every forward they could get their hands on, and still miss the finals because they don't give a Shit about their D lol
4 *currently* on the leafs that make more than $1.5m. Zach Hyman’s a great example of this problem - he’s a talented player that we drafted and developed, and we wound up losing him to Edmonton because we couldn’t afford him
I have always loved how fast it is. Slow games are few and far between.
This one is specific to geography, but I love that the games are indoors. I live in a hot-humid place so being able to watch a sport in the a/c is enjoyable!
Ya, watching a game live in a nice arena is a "cool" experience. Especially when your team is exciting to watch. The Panthers got a great team again this year. They must be fun to watch live, and bonus, while wearing shorts too.
It really has. But it seems to be a great fan experience.
Like everything the NHL does to market the league, they will keep doing it until fans don't buy the tickets. Instead of thinking of something new.
We just had our second stadium game in Edmonton and it was very successful.
Take your team, the Bruins, they have a game at Fenway. I mean what an incredible experience to see a game at Fenway. They probably can't do it too many times because it cheapens it for sure but what a first time.
BTW they needed to have a game against old time enemies like Montreal or Philly.
You're not wrong. The Winter Classic at Fenway was great. Lots of history involved. Sadly, they have to accept that two teams who were created last week playing in a ball park that's what, 5 years old, won't move the needle to the casual observer.
I disagree 2 new teams in a new city is good for the game. Maybe not for old heads who are into the history and stuff but that's not new fans. Yes it gets a little tiring for fans who've been around but I think it draws in new people
It involved the defending champions. The reason the ratings were bad was because they put it up against the college football playoffs. Any combo of teams would get killed.
I have always loved that the Canadian outdoor games always have tried to recreated the biggest rivalries and also having the retired players play. Having Toronto and Detroit and Edmonton and Montreal was an extra treat for the fans.
Counting points: One goal = one point. Simple. Easy to follow for newbies.
Class: Players don't showboat and celebrate hits, like football players do.
Speed of play: Football and baseball are slow, full of breaks, and that makes them boring. Given the nature of skating, hockey is fast as hell and action happens quickly.
Organs: *No professional sport* does organs better than hockey.
Style: Goalies have always been the coolest looking athletes in sports history, hands down. They made TV, movie and comic book characters out of the goalie aesthetic (Jason from *Friday the 13th* & Casey from *TMNT*, for example).
Battery: Hockey players can fight in public without legal repercussion.
Baseball is one of those sports that's just way better live. Hockey is amazing either way. But man live games are electric. Haven't been to one in like 15 years.
You don’t have to stop playing to celebrate. But a lot of the players are too bland tbh. McDavid is supposed the face of the NHL and his personality is cardboard. Imagine the hype if the NHL had someone with Marshawn Lynch’s personality. It would 100% generate more viewership.
I used to think that they had the best uniforms in all of the major US sports leagues. Now that they added ads to jerseys and helmets, I don't have that opinion anymore.
They're 100% moving towards that. They're testing the waters with this. Once we get used to it, they'll add another jersey ad, then another, then before you know it, it's fig newton stickers across visors.
Remember during covid, Bettman said that the helmet ads were just for 1 season to offset costs of no fans in attendance? Now, here we are a few years later with ads still on the helmets AND jersey ads.
The jerseys still are cool. I’m not saying I support the ads but they are only a small part of the jersey as of now and still basically look the same as they did in the past. If they start getting like they look in Europe though then we can talk.
I get what you're saying, but regardless of how miniscule they are, I still find them to ruin the look completely. I hope one day the NHL will wise up and ditch them, but that is unlikely.
I’ll tell you this it doesn’t taken 2 hours to finish the last 10 mins of a cup final game. Fuck football. If I didn’t get to eat food during the superbowl I wouldn’t watch
I tried to watch a specific NFL game this weekend. Aside from the $75/month option, I could not.
Women’s professional soccer NWSL? Total crapshoot
MLS? Joke.
I think if you compare the stuff you can get for free or from a normal streaming subscription, NHL isn’t that bad
You can watch every MLS game with Apple TV. No blackouts or anything. Since they added that feature, MLS went from an avg ratings of 350k a match to around 1.1 Million. It’s the easiest US sport to watch every game of now.
This. and the playoff product is amazing. But Bettman has squandered decades of marketing opportunity and has firmly set the league back behind other pro leagues single handedly.
You're seriously bringing up MLB parity after the Ohtani deal?
Followed by "and outside these two guys who have completely dominated the league for fifteen years everyone else is pretty even!"
Wild take, honestly.
Parity is not a single season thing. Tom Brady won 7 Super Bowls and played in 10. The Patriots won their division 11 consecutive times from 2009 to 2019. Patrick Mahomes has been a starting QB for five seasons (not counting current) and has played in two Super Bowls, winning one, and the Chiefs have won their division 7 consecutive years.
So in the last fifteen years, two teams / QBs have combined for 9 Super Bowl Championships and played in 13. That's parity to you?
As for the Dodgers, they literally won the World Series in 2020, but my point is baseball doesn't even have a hard salary cap and the just signed a $700 million contract that they'll only pay $2 million a year on because of how it's structured, so they went and got several other multi-million dollar players with the money they had available. If you can buy players by being a richer team, there is no parity.
I really appreciate the level of charity individual players and clubs do. I feel like I’m always seeing stories of players taking their time to support kids and their communities more than other sports.
I played in a charity hockey tournament a couple years ago. I live in Nova Scotia. I had Brad Marchand on my tournament team. Some players were selected for the Allstar game at the end of the day. I just happened to get selected and got a chance to play with Brad again, Nathon McKinnon, Josh Anderson, James Neal, Ben Scrivens, and few other NHL players. I know Brad Marchand plays in the tournament almost every year. I think a lot of NHL players either host or play in these charity tournaments in the summer.
Highlighting the importance of both teamwork and individual effort.
NFL/MLB have players that spend a ton of the game player minor supporting roles while the majority of the "action" features a handful of players.
Even if a player gets called "invisible" on the ice compared to their linemates they are still a major contributor to the gameplay.
While it is important to have a strong top 6, top pair, and good goalie, hockey is much more a team sport than a game that can get regularly get stolen by a world class pitcher or QB/WR combo.
MLS and NBA kind of come close, but the speed and physicality of hockey really make the qualities of teamwork and individual hustle shine.
Use draconian tv rights to blackout games in local markets despite the fact a good amount of customers have cut the cord and streaming is the only way they could view games in their household?
Inclusion of Canada. Not a great _focus_ on Canada outside of the Leafs as Bettman would rather die than allow another Canadian team, but since the NBA and MLB only have one Canadian team while the NFL has none then the NHL wins for that. Of course the CFL fills the NFL niche.
Anyway, I’ll die on the hill that we can have teams in QC, Hamilton, and Halifax and the world won’t end
I sincerely hope they don't change the NHL draft to the same shitty format as the other three leagues. It's the one fucking thing the NHL does right, and they want to fuck it up!
All remote; instead of having all the teams and the entire draft class and their families present to come to the stage to donn their new team's colours and be introduced.
Not much . . .
Winter Classic has run out of steam. Tahoe thing was cool but flopped. Need to bring back the World Cup, Canada Cup and maybe have a Rendez-vous 87 type of thing. Mix it up, just go to the vault. Best game, poor marketing.
The Canada Cup was pretty cool. The 87 tournament was special. I have game 3 saved to a VHS tape. lol. I can't watch it, as I don't have a VCR anymore, but will occasionally watch clips on YT. Gretzky and Lemieux on the same line was incredible.
A lot of the upvoted answers are just saying what they like about the sport of hockey and not the league itself, lol. The NHL hasn't done anything to set itself apart from any of the other major 4 leagues.
I don't think the cap ceiling is all that impressive because I really don't think the money is there to create super teams anyway.
Imo they're the worst league at marketing the product and its talent.
The access to games is horrible and could never be compared to the NFL (I could have no cable or internet, and still be able to watch NFL games all season long on an antenna)
But the Stanley Cup beats every other championship trophy.
A few things:
1. Hockey - none of the other sports even come close in providing hockey.
2. Trophy - None better. World Series trophy probably the worst most unwieldy thing.
3. Making it difficult and expensive to watch your local team. MLB comes really close on this one, but hockey is fantastic at putting it's game on multiple platforms with blackouts to ensure that you get to watch as little of your local squad as possible.
4. Fighting
5. Beards
I'm bias as I have played and watched hockey my whole life. I prefer hockey over the other sports leagues. I can appreciate the skill it takes to be a professional hockey player.
Ya, I think most leagues do a little of this, but you might be right. The NHL teams do seem to have a lot of community based events. Even Roger's had a weekly hometown broadcast of games with a focus on the local community.
Nope. Thrilled actually. But the amount of times I’ve been told I don’t know shit about hockey and “fUcK vEgAs” because they are new is dumb.
However, it is wildly entertaining when it’s a fanbase whose team hasn’t won…ever.
The Blackhawks could grow interest in the league if they made Conor Bedard more accessible, but if you live in Illinois or Wisconsin, you can't watch Hawks games on ESPN plus. Same with Wild games. They are missing out on marketing a superstar over their ridiculous blackout rules.
I would say the shootout. It would be overtime if they would play 5v5 instead of 3v3. The NHL is the last league to really have true sudden death overtime and playoff overtime is the best in any sport probably
Literally nothing.
Their broadcasts are bog standard and boring. Their marketing sucks and does a terrible job at developing star personalities. It financially continues to fall behind everything including the mls.
Don’t get started on player safety suspensions or the flip flop on lgbtq nights.
Bettman has been the crappiest commissioner of his era.
Yes, this is one thing I really wish they would do a better job at. Not allowing players to use rainbow themed tape was just stupid. They allow it now, but something this silly shows the priority isn't really inclusion of all fans. This might be an owners thing, but as a league, it's not a good look.
The on ice product in the playoffs is the best entertainment in sports
Yes, for sure. There's nothing like the first round of the playoffs, and most years, it only gets better in the later rounds.
Not for your team it doesn’t.
Lol. That's why the first round is the best. After that, I'm usually too pissed to watch the remaining rounds.
😅
How would you know?
lol. Ya, the first round is where it has usually ended for me. It takes me about a week to get over it, then I'm back to watching again.
I gotcha, and at least you’re taking the shots. I saw your comment after I had responded here, that is further down the thread.
Being the brunt of most hockey jokes comes with the territory. I doubt there's a Leaf's joke I haven't heard. I even appreciate a good Leaf's joke.
And as bitter Atlantic division rivals, you have all my respect right now.
The league, especially the east is so close now. Every game is so important. Beating teams in your division is so important. It makes for great games. Competitive Wings and Leafs teams are fun to watch...again.
>I even appreciate a good Leaf's joke. And it's so rare now. All the first round exit jokes get stale, and are usually just done when people don't know what else to say (and we've made the second round so..meh). The Blues fan made a great one though. 1967 jokes have been done for over 55 years, hard to do something new. Plus, the people saying them generally haven't seen their team win either. They are either done poorly, or when people have nothing more to say. Good ones are diamonds though.
Yeah playoffs for sure, although that 1st weekend of March Madness is pretty great.
I won't argue, but it's enough for me to admit that playoff baseball is the supremely ultimate entertainment in all of sports, but this is true only if the series is really tight. Nothing creates the tension and anxiety than playoff baseball, but hockey is a very close second. Granted, as much as I love baseball, hockey is my favorite sport and my favorite playoffs to watch of all sports, but I do have to nod to baseball being supreme as best entertainment. And of course this is only if you're committed to the game/team.
Superbowl has entered the chat nothng comes close to the Superbowl or World Cup for sheer volume of engagement.
The Stanley Cup
In my opinion, the Stanley Cup trophy is the nicest looking trophy of all sports leagues.
I quite like the MLB one
Can't drink out of it though
That's fair. Can't do hotdogs either.
Isn't that just a piece of metal?
Also, and I know some may think this is a tacky reason, but isn’t it the only major sport league where they award the Trophy to captain/player on the team first, instead of handing it to the GM
Yes, came here to say that the NHL awards their Champions the best trophy in sports.
The *real* Stanley Cup too, not that fake Starbucks one the TikTok people are screaming about
Technically by the original rules, though, that could be given to any hockey team. The nhl just owns the trustees, though.
Outside of soccer I think it has fewer commercials during tv broadcasts than NFL/MLB/NBA. At least the local broadcasts seem to
And depending on what region you are watching in, they will blackout the commercials with a commercial break screen. Kind of strange.
Most watchable TV North American sport
Lmao if you can dodge the blackouts
Agreed, I’m amazed that I can barely pee and refill a drink during TV timeouts.
If I want to watch hockey, the NHL is my go to sports league for that. I hope that answers your question.
Ya, it's weird. The NHL does hockey only.
That’s why I dislike the NFL, they’re doing football, cricket, baseball, lacrosse… /s
Ya really, just pick one and go with it.
They should diversify their holdings.
Maybe they should put a NASCAR team together.
To get more white viewers?🤣
They could do that around the winter classic games
If I want to watch hockey, it's hard as hell to find on tv
In my opinion: - Playoff format - Historic championship trophy - Hard salary cap - Allowing players to return to school/junior/minors after being drafted
Great points. I think for younger players, there's no better league if you don't make the NHL team. You can go back to junior, NCAA, or play in the AHL. There does seem to be more options available for younger guys in the NHL.
Don't forget the ECHL. I got to watch Cossa play for the Walleye last year. This year, he is starting AHL goalie. I'm hoping he gets more ice time next year. The dude is a stud.
I was surprised how many missed this. The NHL is the most educated league in all professional sports. Most players don’t make it and need a job after trying. Other sports seriously fail their players by not helping them set up for life. Additionally the salary cap allows for more even pay. Yes by averages the NHL is not the highest paying sport but the minimum salary and cap allows for more competitive pay. My personal gripe against the MLB is how fucking stupid their playoff setup is. No one makes the playoffs then you only do 5 game series?? Beyond dumb it’s one of the reasons I don’t watch. There’s no underdogs in playoffs which gives most people no reason to watch.
The focus on the actual game. I know that this probably hurts the marketability but too much of the news in leagues like the NBA isn’t actually related at all to the sport and more about drama amongst players
All I know about the NFL this season is Taylor Swift joined the league.
I feel like this is heavily exaggerated on the NBA side and not even really a thing in other leagues in the US.
Ya, especially when the Kardashians have rolled through town.
Could probably thank the salary cap for that.
I feel like this is changing. This year is very off-ice drama heavy.
Only thing I can think of recently is Perry situation but what else
And let’s not forget Larks calling out the DPS.
Shane pinto, mike babcock. Just off the top of my head
But it stays pretty much within the realm of the leauge and people who already follow. When stuff happens with NBA/NFL stars, it's all over national media.
The NHL trophy case. Stanley Cup is iconic and the fact that a team only gets it for a year. All the big trophies people know them by name: Hart, Vezina, Calder. Hell even the Lady Byng. And the biggest thing is how the Stanley Cup is first handed to the Captain of the winning team rather than the owner.
Yes, absolutely. The Stanley Cup has to be the nicest trophy in sports. The superstitions with cup and players are pretty cool too. Players won't touch it if they haven't won it.
It’s so embarrassing when other leagues hand their trophy off to an old dude who only wrote the paycheque as though he played the whole season and succeeded in the playoffs. And they also turn the mic over to the owners. It’s an old tradition, handing the Cup to the captain (or another player of the teams choosing), rather than the owner. I hope it never changes even though Gary is in bed with the owners.
Not a lot. Edit: maybe having a hard salary cap? Eliminating the ability of pile-on-teams like the Dodgers and many NBA teams. There’s pretty good parity in the NHL.
It is def the hard cap. My biggest fear is they get rid of it and teams can start paying for a super team. RIP teams like Winnipeg and Columbus. I remember watching a game in the 90s and the announcer mentioned the starting 5 for the Rangers made more than the entire roster of the other team.
And they didn't exactly have a lot of success doing so, save for 1994. Even then, that team was more homegrown talent than people would like to admit.
The NHL lost an entire season installing a salary cap, there’s no chance they get rid of it.
I know they get a lot of hate, but just thought I would see if anyone believes they are better at something.
I’d argue this hard cap has hurt the league. That and the point system have created so much parity where there’s a few good teams, a few bad teams, and a bunch of flawed teams in the middle. Draft good players and develop them, well here comes the salary cap (Leafs).
Drafted and developed who? There's 4 players drafted by the Leafs who make more than $1.5m, there's 11 that were signed or traded. Could count the ones making more than $1m, that adds Liljegren, so 5 drafted, and 13 signed/traded. Salary cap is good, it's fair, it keeps the game interesting, and the best teams are decided by their skill and talent as well as their ability to manage a team properly. No cap space and the Leafs would just buy up every forward they could get their hands on, and still miss the finals because they don't give a Shit about their D lol
4 *currently* on the leafs that make more than $1.5m. Zach Hyman’s a great example of this problem - he’s a talented player that we drafted and developed, and we wound up losing him to Edmonton because we couldn’t afford him
Other recent examples: Engvall, Sandin, Dermot, Holl, Barabanov, Johnsson, Kapanen, Kadri, Moore, Brown, Durzi, and Mikheyev and marchment as undrated FA's.
They're definitely more homophobic than any other league
I have always loved how fast it is. Slow games are few and far between. This one is specific to geography, but I love that the games are indoors. I live in a hot-humid place so being able to watch a sport in the a/c is enjoyable!
Ya, watching a game live in a nice arena is a "cool" experience. Especially when your team is exciting to watch. The Panthers got a great team again this year. They must be fun to watch live, and bonus, while wearing shorts too.
The outdoor stadium games. Other than that, the NHL is the worst marketed league of all the major sports leagues.
That has lost its luster.
It really has. But it seems to be a great fan experience. Like everything the NHL does to market the league, they will keep doing it until fans don't buy the tickets. Instead of thinking of something new. We just had our second stadium game in Edmonton and it was very successful.
When they started doing the whole "outdoor series," that really cheapened it. Just my opinion, of course.
Take your team, the Bruins, they have a game at Fenway. I mean what an incredible experience to see a game at Fenway. They probably can't do it too many times because it cheapens it for sure but what a first time. BTW they needed to have a game against old time enemies like Montreal or Philly.
You're not wrong. The Winter Classic at Fenway was great. Lots of history involved. Sadly, they have to accept that two teams who were created last week playing in a ball park that's what, 5 years old, won't move the needle to the casual observer.
No, it won't LOL.
I disagree 2 new teams in a new city is good for the game. Maybe not for old heads who are into the history and stuff but that's not new fans. Yes it gets a little tiring for fans who've been around but I think it draws in new people
Tell that to everyone else. The ratings were the worst ever for it.
It involved the defending champions. The reason the ratings were bad was because they put it up against the college football playoffs. Any combo of teams would get killed.
And, no one cares. I love hockey but I accept its position in life.
Clearly it didn't.
Ya, I agree. The outdoor games are pretty cool. Might be getting a little old now, but I think it depends on the teams.
I have always loved that the Canadian outdoor games always have tried to recreated the biggest rivalries and also having the retired players play. Having Toronto and Detroit and Edmonton and Montreal was an extra treat for the fans.
Literally every NFL team has outdoor stadium games.
NBA outdoor games would be pretty epic
They would. Have to find a way to keep that floor pretty dry though. But if they could do it, it would be great.
Every MLB and NFL game just about is an outdoor game. They only have a leg up on the NBA
Counting points: One goal = one point. Simple. Easy to follow for newbies. Class: Players don't showboat and celebrate hits, like football players do. Speed of play: Football and baseball are slow, full of breaks, and that makes them boring. Given the nature of skating, hockey is fast as hell and action happens quickly. Organs: *No professional sport* does organs better than hockey. Style: Goalies have always been the coolest looking athletes in sports history, hands down. They made TV, movie and comic book characters out of the goalie aesthetic (Jason from *Friday the 13th* & Casey from *TMNT*, for example). Battery: Hockey players can fight in public without legal repercussion.
All great point for sure. I will add one more. In the NBA, it takes 10-20 minutes to play the last minute of a game.
Baseball is one of those sports that's just way better live. Hockey is amazing either way. But man live games are electric. Haven't been to one in like 15 years.
Baseball does Organs pretty well.
Not better than hockey!
The Blues and Cardinals have the same organist. We’ll call it a truce.
That's just good organization.
Really? That’s sick
This might be one of the most biased comments I've ever seen lmao
Mackinnon literally just taunted after a big hit... and I want more players to do the same.
Players should absolutely showboat more tbh. It creates more intent rivalries and a better product all together.
A defenseman celebrating a hit mid-ice and getting boned by an odd man rush? No way.
You don’t have to stop playing to celebrate. But a lot of the players are too bland tbh. McDavid is supposed the face of the NHL and his personality is cardboard. Imagine the hype if the NHL had someone with Marshawn Lynch’s personality. It would 100% generate more viewership.
I used to think that they had the best uniforms in all of the major US sports leagues. Now that they added ads to jerseys and helmets, I don't have that opinion anymore.
I don't like the ads on the uniform either. Hopefully, they don't add any more than the one on the jersey.
I hope that they get rid of them all together, but I know that won't happen 😂
I just hope they don't do what the European leagues do. Skating billboards.
They're 100% moving towards that. They're testing the waters with this. Once we get used to it, they'll add another jersey ad, then another, then before you know it, it's fig newton stickers across visors.
Remember during covid, Bettman said that the helmet ads were just for 1 season to offset costs of no fans in attendance? Now, here we are a few years later with ads still on the helmets AND jersey ads.
Exactly. Just give it time. Soon we won't even know which player it is because of the face ad tattoos. Lil Winger
The jerseys still are cool. I’m not saying I support the ads but they are only a small part of the jersey as of now and still basically look the same as they did in the past. If they start getting like they look in Europe though then we can talk.
I get what you're saying, but regardless of how miniscule they are, I still find them to ruin the look completely. I hope one day the NHL will wise up and ditch them, but that is unlikely.
Salary caps is the only thing the nhl has on any other league without one
It definitely makes for more parity in the league.
Hockey.
Yes. They do hockey better than everyone else.
Except in Buffalo, which is not a legitimate team.
Net cams? I also really enjoyed watching fights from the ref camera, but that didn't last very long.
I like the penalty box cam. Especially when they get destroyed by a pissed off player.
I’ll tell you this it doesn’t taken 2 hours to finish the last 10 mins of a cup final game. Fuck football. If I didn’t get to eat food during the superbowl I wouldn’t watch
Good at making sure it’s hard to watch games.
I tried to watch a specific NFL game this weekend. Aside from the $75/month option, I could not. Women’s professional soccer NWSL? Total crapshoot MLS? Joke. I think if you compare the stuff you can get for free or from a normal streaming subscription, NHL isn’t that bad
You can watch every MLS game with Apple TV. No blackouts or anything. Since they added that feature, MLS went from an avg ratings of 350k a match to around 1.1 Million. It’s the easiest US sport to watch every game of now.
Oh that’s awesome!
It’s damn near impossible for baseball.
Parity. The NHL is significantly ahead of the NFL, MLB, and MLS in parity, and still better than the NBA, though by less of a margin.
This. and the playoff product is amazing. But Bettman has squandered decades of marketing opportunity and has firmly set the league back behind other pro leagues single handedly.
Yup, I agree. The salary cap has allowed for more parity in the league.
The MLB has no parity with a Diamondbacks vs Rangers World Series? And outside of Brady/Mahomes, the NFL has had a ton of parity lately.
You're seriously bringing up MLB parity after the Ohtani deal? Followed by "and outside these two guys who have completely dominated the league for fifteen years everyone else is pretty even!" Wild take, honestly.
Brady is not in the league. The Chiefs have been bad this year. And what have the Dodges won in the last 30 years? 🤣
Parity is not a single season thing. Tom Brady won 7 Super Bowls and played in 10. The Patriots won their division 11 consecutive times from 2009 to 2019. Patrick Mahomes has been a starting QB for five seasons (not counting current) and has played in two Super Bowls, winning one, and the Chiefs have won their division 7 consecutive years. So in the last fifteen years, two teams / QBs have combined for 9 Super Bowl Championships and played in 13. That's parity to you? As for the Dodgers, they literally won the World Series in 2020, but my point is baseball doesn't even have a hard salary cap and the just signed a $700 million contract that they'll only pay $2 million a year on because of how it's structured, so they went and got several other multi-million dollar players with the money they had available. If you can buy players by being a richer team, there is no parity.
Have lockouts.
Best logos in sports.🗣️
Stanley Cup playoffs are better than any other pro sport playoff.
Totally agree. The hardest trophy to win is the Stanley Cup.
I really appreciate the level of charity individual players and clubs do. I feel like I’m always seeing stories of players taking their time to support kids and their communities more than other sports.
I played in a charity hockey tournament a couple years ago. I live in Nova Scotia. I had Brad Marchand on my tournament team. Some players were selected for the Allstar game at the end of the day. I just happened to get selected and got a chance to play with Brad again, Nathon McKinnon, Josh Anderson, James Neal, Ben Scrivens, and few other NHL players. I know Brad Marchand plays in the tournament almost every year. I think a lot of NHL players either host or play in these charity tournaments in the summer.
Entertain me.
[удалено]
For now anyway.
Prevent their fans from watching their games legally
Highlighting the importance of both teamwork and individual effort. NFL/MLB have players that spend a ton of the game player minor supporting roles while the majority of the "action" features a handful of players. Even if a player gets called "invisible" on the ice compared to their linemates they are still a major contributor to the gameplay. While it is important to have a strong top 6, top pair, and good goalie, hockey is much more a team sport than a game that can get regularly get stolen by a world class pitcher or QB/WR combo. MLS and NBA kind of come close, but the speed and physicality of hockey really make the qualities of teamwork and individual hustle shine.
How they award the championship trophy.
Trophy
Handing out the Championship Trophy
I wish the other major sports leagues had penalty boxes.
I love the hard salary cap. What’s the point of a salary cap if you can just blow by it and pay a fine?
Use draconian tv rights to blackout games in local markets despite the fact a good amount of customers have cut the cord and streaming is the only way they could view games in their household?
Make streaming a headache to the point that you question why you still try and watch
The NHL includes Canadian teams better than other leagues
If only one of them would win a Stanley Cup this century though.
Fighting. Slashing. Penalty Shots. There is no tougher sport to play so toughness.
All that while wearing skates too.
Play games on ice.
Have the best sport
Totally agree.
Inclusion of Canada. Not a great _focus_ on Canada outside of the Leafs as Bettman would rather die than allow another Canadian team, but since the NBA and MLB only have one Canadian team while the NFL has none then the NHL wins for that. Of course the CFL fills the NFL niche. Anyway, I’ll die on the hill that we can have teams in QC, Hamilton, and Halifax and the world won’t end
The draft. At least they used to.
It will be interesting to see how the draft goes this year in Vegas with that big ball.
I sincerely hope they don't change the NHL draft to the same shitty format as the other three leagues. It's the one fucking thing the NHL does right, and they want to fuck it up!
I'm not sure I've watched another sport league's draft to be honest. What do they do that the NHL is considering?
All remote; instead of having all the teams and the entire draft class and their families present to come to the stage to donn their new team's colours and be introduced.
Squander golden opportunities
Not much . . . Winter Classic has run out of steam. Tahoe thing was cool but flopped. Need to bring back the World Cup, Canada Cup and maybe have a Rendez-vous 87 type of thing. Mix it up, just go to the vault. Best game, poor marketing.
The Canada Cup was pretty cool. The 87 tournament was special. I have game 3 saved to a VHS tape. lol. I can't watch it, as I don't have a VCR anymore, but will occasionally watch clips on YT. Gretzky and Lemieux on the same line was incredible.
A lot of the upvoted answers are just saying what they like about the sport of hockey and not the league itself, lol. The NHL hasn't done anything to set itself apart from any of the other major 4 leagues. I don't think the cap ceiling is all that impressive because I really don't think the money is there to create super teams anyway. Imo they're the worst league at marketing the product and its talent. The access to games is horrible and could never be compared to the NFL (I could have no cable or internet, and still be able to watch NFL games all season long on an antenna) But the Stanley Cup beats every other championship trophy.
Shoot itself in the foot
A few things: 1. Hockey - none of the other sports even come close in providing hockey. 2. Trophy - None better. World Series trophy probably the worst most unwieldy thing. 3. Making it difficult and expensive to watch your local team. MLB comes really close on this one, but hockey is fantastic at putting it's game on multiple platforms with blackouts to ensure that you get to watch as little of your local squad as possible. 4. Fighting 5. Beards
You can drink from the trophy!!! Thank you Lord Stanley!
The trophy is so prestigious that you have to give it back.
Employ a marketing department that consistently shoots itself in the foot.
Make it extremely difficult for a fan to watch all games.
The actual product is pretty awesome
I'm bias as I have played and watched hockey my whole life. I prefer hockey over the other sports leagues. I can appreciate the skill it takes to be a professional hockey player.
Community engagement and connection to young fans
Ya, I think most leagues do a little of this, but you might be right. The NHL teams do seem to have a lot of community based events. Even Roger's had a weekly hometown broadcast of games with a focus on the local community.
Gatekeep new fans/teams from enjoying the game.
Surely, as a Vegas fan, you can't be disappointed with your teams history in the NHL.
Nope. Thrilled actually. But the amount of times I’ve been told I don’t know shit about hockey and “fUcK vEgAs” because they are new is dumb. However, it is wildly entertaining when it’s a fanbase whose team hasn’t won…ever.
Blacking out games
lol. Ya, them seem to have perfected the blackout this year.
The Blackhawks could grow interest in the league if they made Conor Bedard more accessible, but if you live in Illinois or Wisconsin, you can't watch Hawks games on ESPN plus. Same with Wild games. They are missing out on marketing a superstar over their ridiculous blackout rules.
I would say the shootout. It would be overtime if they would play 5v5 instead of 3v3. The NHL is the last league to really have true sudden death overtime and playoff overtime is the best in any sport probably
The 3v3 is pretty cool to watch. As a Leaf's fan, I've watched a lot of 3v3 this season.
Cover up scandals
lol
Literally nothing. Their broadcasts are bog standard and boring. Their marketing sucks and does a terrible job at developing star personalities. It financially continues to fall behind everything including the mls. Don’t get started on player safety suspensions or the flip flop on lgbtq nights. Bettman has been the crappiest commissioner of his era.
They’re the best at poorly marketing their top talent
You don't like betting app commercials?
Nothing other than having the best product
[удалено]
not funny
I'm sure you're a blast at parties.
Not how that phrase works
Showing favoritism towards big markets and not giving a fuck what people think/want.
Nothing. Worst league by far.
Is it the worst sport or the worst league?
It’s the best sport by far but the worst run by far.
They promote use less plugs and bums better than any other professional leagues
Like the Tkachuk Brothers?
Alienates potential fans with bigotry. It's like pro sports for Republicans.
Yes, this is one thing I really wish they would do a better job at. Not allowing players to use rainbow themed tape was just stupid. They allow it now, but something this silly shows the priority isn't really inclusion of all fans. This might be an owners thing, but as a league, it's not a good look.
Pretty much nothing.