No Need for Afternoon Games

Gary Bettman has done many things to help the National Hockey League. However, his choice to implement afternoon games in the playoffs is a big mistake.

         

        Did anyone realize that there were two NHL games this weekend? For those of you that didn’t know about this, I don’t blame you. Tampa Bay came back in thrilling fashion, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to take the game 4-3 over Boston. Vancouver could only muster 13 shots on net, but four of them snuck through Antii Niemi. The result was a 4-2 Canucks win. They’re now one victory away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994. But most people didn’t even know that games were going on. Why? Both contests were played in the afternoon.

            I really don’t understand why the NHL schedules games to be played in the afternoon. Commissioner Gary Bettman claims that he’s trying to reach out to American fans. In certain parts of the States, plain and simple, people just don’t watch hockey. Ponder this. If you’re in Florida on a Saturday afternoon, are you going to sit inside and watch a hockey game, or be outside enjoying a beautiful day on the golf course? I think that’s an easy answer.

            It’s also Victoria Day weekend here in Canada. Lots of people are at their cottages and finally enjoying some good weather. Instead of sitting inside and watching hockey, they’re using the time to get their boats out, sit on the dock, work on their tans and enjoy a noon cocktail (hey it’s 5:00 somewhere, right?). If the games were scheduled at night, these cottagers could spend all day outside, then have a nice meal and spend the night watching these exciting playoff games.

            Fans are also used to watching different sports during the afternoons. There were so many sporting events going on, from David Toms winning at the Colonial to Jose Bautista clubbing another two homers just to name a few.

            Both games that were played this weekend were thrilling. It’s just too bad that not many people could tune in. Hockey is a game that’s meant to be played at night. Figure it out Gary Bettman and schedule games when they normally would be. It’s only going to increase the viewers that watch the games and create more popularity about the sport.