I think the main problem is that media outlets hire producers and writers that don't like hockey and so they don't cover it. I've seen first hand how those that don't like it ignore it all together while the few that do make sure ot gets into every show or paper. Tarik, what has your experience in media been like?

There was a wrap up of the buffalo series here in the Yemen times. That along with the preakness results were the most surprising things I've seen in that paper...

Isaac

I find it frustrating, that the media outlets (especially in DC) keep saying that Hockey creates no interest, so they don't cover it, or worse, when they do cover it, it's backhanded coverage. Radio is the worst, and it a big reason why I don't listen to sports talk anymore. I understand that Hockey is not mainstream, but if they could at least respect the sport and the fans when it is being covered it could help.

I hope that the Post has declined to cover it for a more reasonable excuse than that it is difficult and expensive to get to Ottawa. I know from personal experience that there are several daily flights from Dulles to Ottawa, and the cost isn't that much so as to make it prohibitive.

But my experience since moving from Canada to the Washington area a few years ago has been that covering anything else is preferable to covering hockey. The latest NHL on NBC fiasco during the Preakness is just a prime example.

I realize that the Washington Sports Market is saturated with Redskins, Wizards and now Nationals coverage. And the transient population means that if there are hockey fans out there that they will be supporters for teams other than the Caps. But could there be a way to capitalize on this and work marketing and press coverage to an advantage?

One of the points the story makes is editors can track interest by traffic on the website. But if there is not story, there is nothing to click! Sorry the Post is not providing better coverage--it is going to be a great series.

And the Indy is a small market auto race.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

If media outlets covered hockey on the same level they cover other sports, there would be more fans and more interest in the sport.

If there were more fans and more interest in the sport, more media outlets would cover it.

Obviously, we now know that the media outlets aren't going to help us out so the league needs to step up and market the game a lot more than they currently are. We all know what makes this game so great, but the NHL is doing a horrible job of conveying that message to the American public.

The lion's share of the blame for the lack of interest in hockey has to go to the NHL itself. The league doesn't market the sport at all! I can't remember the last time I saw an ad anywhere for the NHL that wasn't on NBC or Versus. (And don't even get me started on the lack of presence on the Internet.) I think second place on the blame list goes to the players themselves. They want the major sport salaries, but they don't want to do any of the work to promote themselves or their sport to a wider audience.

The league needs to start taking a page from the NASCAR and UFC books and learn how to market the game. The NHL's got more to offer than any so-called racing or fighting "sports", but thanks to a total failure of leadership by Bettman and his staff, when it comes to popularity it ranks slightly above lumbersports.

The wire services will cover the Stanley Cup. And, as a previous poster said, editors can monitor interest and adjust the number of column inches they devote (up or down) based on click-through traffic on their paper's websites.

There's little point in sending local staff writers when 1) there isn't a local angle and 2) the series doesn't rise to the level of an EVENT (like the Super Bowl, World Series, Indy 500, or Triple Crown.)

People who aren't already hockey fans don't tune in, and many people who are hockey fans tune out. After all, June is a summer month and hockey is a winter sport. If the NHL weren't so desperate for the gate revenue they collect by scheduling a 30 team/82 game season, they'd recognize that by April, latest, the hockey season should be wrapped up.

(The strongest league, the NFL, plays the shortest season.)

A lot of great points, and to address a few to keep this dialogue going:

Yes, there is a way to market to transient hockey fans living in the dc area but no one, including the Caps, have put the energy into figuring it out. I'm pretty confident that a number of the poeple who post here regularly could, if brought together.

The lions share of the blame does fall on the NHL and Bettman's admin. They have done a horrible job of doing anything except pander bad ideas. Glowing pucks, increased reffing presence on the ice (there are 3 teams out there) and all the rest we fans hate (feel free to compile that list) have marginalized the sport. They don't market successfully at all in the U.S. and that has a tremendous impact. The insular player dynamic has hurt it as well. No drama=no media. How much humble pie can be served?

The media outlets need to respect the sport and its fans. If none of the producers is interested in Hockey they won't produce hockey stories; if the management doesn;t like hockey then they won't hire people that like hockey or ensure it gets into the paper, on the tv, or on the radio, nor while they chastise talent for slamming it all the time.

The season is too damn long. Hockey in June is just plain stupid. No one cares about hockey in June except teh die hard fans. The sport is played on ice for $^*#$ sake! Almost everyone i discuss hockey's faults with (in an effort to get a bead on things) mentions this point. Every single one. The NFL is the shortest and thus is the most dramatic because every game counts and is observed obsessively becasue it could all be over in the blink of an eye.

VS sucks.

Well, this is a good start. THoughts?

I am tired of hearing the "small market" argument about the Stanley Cup finals. Every year everyone groans that so-called small market teams like Tampa Bay, Calgary, Carolina or Edmonton get to the finals. First of all, if they're so small market, why were they awarded franchises by the league? If market size were the only criterion then I guess the NHL should just go back to the original six... Secondly, the media loves to point to the year that the Rangers won the Cup as "great" for the NHL and drawing attention to the league. What a load of c*** - have you ever met a SINGLE hockey fan who said they got hooked onto hockey by watching the Rangers in the finals? Not one, right? Hey, if the media had its way, baseball would be nothing but an endless Red Sox-Yankees series. Finally, if it's about market size in sports, why do the Green Bay Packers get eveyone jazzed when they make it to the playoffs? A sport doesn't need a large market to grow popular; it just has to be popular on the merits of the game itself.

OK, that's off my chest - I'll shut up now.

Someone should do a comparison over the last 15 years or so of the number of recreational hockey leagues/high school teams/youth leagues in the Washington DC area vs the amount of hockey coverage in the local media....

I think that would raise some interesting questions regarding the disconnect between the media, the sport and its fan base.

Disappointing, indeed. It seems to me that all of the reasons for the lack of coverage are in the end going to be the same reasons, or excuses, that cause print newspapers to lose their audience to the internet, which provides everyone with their own personalized news, but unfortunately at the expense of doing what we seem to have forgotten is one very important aspect of journalism: exposing people to things - views, ideas, and, yes, even sports - that they may not otherwise be exposed to and that they may take value from in some way, even if that value is mere entertainment. The NHL is clearly in serious need of some of this kind of exposure and it is a shame that they will not get it. There are stories to be told about these Cup finals and they are going to quietly get passed over in favor of undoubtedly less interesting ones (um, Michael Vick and illegal dog-racing, anyone?). It is sad, for instance, (and here's your local angle, McLean!) that the Post hasn't done an article on Bryan Murray's first trip as a coach to the Finals, since it was he who first coached the Caps into a competitive team over twenty years ago (he should have won a cup back then!). I'm sure I am not the only Cap fan who agonizes over memories of repeated early playoff exits under Murray's leadership, and who can consequently pull for the Senators to finally garner Murray the coaching cred he deserves. Sens in five.

When I'm already watching a game on NBC I see an ad for hockey. When I'm already watching a game on Versus I see an ad for hockey.

Preaching to the choir...

Who is the ad wizard who came up with that one?

I know the Kings are there, but Anaheim is in the 2nd largest TV market in America. Not exactly small market if you ask me.

Hm. glad i saw this article. i was going to try and write about the same thing today. now I don't have to do so. :>

I was in Cumberland this weekend, and the Cumberland Post or Times had two AP articles in the paper about the NHL Finals. I was very surprised to see these. Not having seen a print version of the Washington Post in some time, I wonder if the same two AP articles were in the post?

I was in Cumberland this weekend, and the Cumberland Post or Times had two AP articles in the paper about the NHL Finals. I was very surprised to see these. Not having seen a print version of the Washington Post in some time, I wonder if the same two AP articles were in the post?

My copy of today's Post had Ottawa as the winner of the game last night on the little summary on page 1 of the sports section "Game 1 to Senators" With the score Senators 3 Ducks 2. Their "editors" couldn't even get this right. I wish they would just admit they don't like hockey and don't want to cover it.

I have heard the guys on ESPN radio admit the reason golf get the attention in Sports Center is that most of the staff obsesses on the game. At the Post, golf, lacrosse, yachting all get more hype than hockey. Which probably shows how out of touch they are with the people like us who would appreciate more that a single wire story about the first game of our sport's championship series.

Annandale, you should see some of the things editors miss on the website versions of articles. I understand that it must be a hard job, adn there will inevitably be a mistake here or there... but come on