7:30 a.m. doesn’t exactly seem like the perfect time to watch a hockey game.
Unless, of course, it’s Olympic hockey, which since the introduction of professionals into the fold in 1998 has been bar none the biggest and brightest showcase in the world of hockey, a sport still on the margins in the majority of the U.S. and not even on the sporting radar for the majority of the world.
The Olympics, not the National Hockey League, is the one thing that can get the general sports fan ”“ at least outside of Canada ”“ talking about hockey.
At no time was that more apparent than on Saturday morning, when in a Cold War revival the United States and Russia went toe-to-toe in the most anticipated event of the Games so far.
It didn’t disappoint and even exceeded expectations, as a blistering 2-2 tie was ended in one of the more dramatic shoot-outs in recent memory, with T.J. Oshie scoring all four of the Americans’ goals and goalie Jonathan Quick making five of eight saves to send the U.S. to victory.
Oshie’s profile is likely to raise just a tad as a result. In the 24 hours after his heroics, Oshie’s Twitter account, @Osh74, had gained 130,000 followers and gotten a tweet of congratulations from the No. 1 fan in chief himself, President Barack Obama.
The president wasn’t alone. NBC Sports Network generated its highest overnight rating ever with a 3.3, beating out the previous record of 3.1 for game 3 of last June’s Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks.
That’s a game starting at 7:30 a.m., getting the highest ever rating for the network, beating out a Stanley Cup game between two of the biggest and most supported NHL clubs.
Add in the record 600,000 viewers who took in the U.S./Russia game through live streaming on NBC’s website and phone app ”“ and it’s a full-fledged ratings bonanza.
All this despite the junky early-morning timeslot, and the fact NBC’s overall Olympic ratings are way down compared to the Vancouver Games of four years ago.
Considering the hundreds of videos that have come out on social media in the 48 hours since, showing celebrations from viewing parties across the country when Oshie’s last shoot-out goal went in, they are numbers that aren’t hard to believe.
Simply summed up, as ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose put it: “If you overslept for this game, you’re a loser.”
That may be going a bit far, but the point is well taken. All in all, this was just the latest sign that when it comes to hockey, the Olympics have the NHL beaten at its own game.
But why does Olympic hockey capture the imagination in a way the NHL has never, and likely never will?
There are a few obvious reasons. The Olympics come along for two weeks every four years, while the NHL is an annual event, with an overly long season and an even more drawn-out playoff format. The Olympic players are more involved and the games are more pertinent, every missed chance, big save and great goal changing the vision of the tournament itself.
The Olympics also give everyone a rooting interest. No matter if you’re a hockey diehard with season tickets or someone who doesn’t know the difference between a dangle and a deke ”“ for clarification, they’re the same thing ”“ everyone can get behind their national team.
The patriotic angle also has a unifying effect. For instance, it’s unlikely that any Bruins fan will ever root for Max Pacioretty, a forward for the rival Montreal Canadians, during the NHL season. But if the New Canaan, Conn., native scores the game winner to win his country a gold medal on Sunday, his name, like Oshie’s, will forever be lauded in Beantown, and around the country as a whole.
But the most important aspect of why Olympic hockey is better than the NHL brand comes down to something very simple: the rules, and specifically, the size of the ice.
The Olympic-sized ice measures 210 by 98 feet, as compared to the 200 by 85 feet of an NHL rink. The 10 by 13 difference may not sound like much, but the extra space makes for an entirely different and more offensive game.
Instead of dumping the puck into the other team’s zone and chasing it in, which inevitably leads to long sequences of the puck tied up against the boards, teams can possess the puck into the opposition’s zone. This allows a players’ skill to really come out, particularly sweeping offensive moves, and there is more wide-open, attacking play throughout a game.
The difference in style of play is also a big reason why neither Canada nor the United States have won an Olympic gold outside of North America since 1952, as their players, used to the smaller rinks, have struggled to adapt their games. That’s especially rankling to our neighbors up north, who fancy themselves the gold standard in the sport, only without the results to prove it.
So far in Sochi both countries are three for three in the quest to end that drought. And with each favored to win their quarterfinal-round games, the Americans and Canadians look to be on a collision course for a mouth-watering semifinal on Friday.
If that matchup does come to be, it may not be quite as epic, or live up to the standard of the U.S./Russia game; not many hockey games ever will. But it will undoubtedly be a better game than anything we’ll see in the NHL this season, both from the players on the ice and for the millions watching from back home and around the world.
Don’t think so? Just ask Mike “Doc” Emrick, the long-time hockey broadcaster and NBC’s lead play-by-play man who likened the atmosphere and sheer excitement of the U.S./Russia game to a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.
So what Emrick is saying is that a preliminary-round game in the Olympics, which neither side actually had to win to stay alive, was on par with the most momentous occasion the National Hockey League can possibly offer.
Sounds about right.
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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Writer Cameron Dunbar on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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