Lack of Canadian teams in playoffs will benefit the growth of hockey

By Christian Bouchard

Millions of hockey fans across Canada will be hitting the road to recovery during the playoffs, but there is still good news – there is nowhere to go but up.

The nightmare and seemingly unthinkable has quickly become reality. For the first time since the 1969-70 NHL season, there will be no Canadian hockey teams represented in the playoffs. A Stanley Cup drought in this country which dates back to 1993 is going to continue another year. In fact, it will probably be even longer as a Canadian team has not even reached the Cup Finals in over five years.

When it comes to the big stage, Canadians expect nothing but gold for Team Canada. However, as of March 30, 2016 of the 10 teams in the bottom standings of the NHL, seven of them were Canadian. This is including the bottom three of Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver.

Perhaps the lack of Canadian pride in this year’s playoffs won’t leave many Canadians proud. But more importantly, when looking at the bigger picture, this is a great stepping stone for the growth of hockey.

Currently there are 23 American teams and seven Canadian teams in the NHL. Despite being dominated by the presence of NHL teams south of the border, Americans tend to watch less and less hockey during the playoffs every year.

Two of the three highest rated games on NBC since the network took over NHL coverage from ESPN in 2006 involved the Chicago Blackhawks. More than 8.27 million viewers watched them win the Cup in Game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers in June 2010 and 8.16 million watched them top Boston in Game 6 in June 2013. The only game to top those was a Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks in June 2011, the dramatic ending to one of the most combative series in NHL history.

This is great news for the advancement hockey. When the Blackhawks are in the Cup Final, the city of Chicago watches. Game 6 against Boston produced a 30.2 rating in Chicago. When the Blackhawks aren’t in the Cup Final, America doesn’t seem to care. Game 5 of the 2014 Final between the Rangers and Kings produced a 5.4 rating in Chicago. But fans in Boston also seem to care come playoff time. The city of Boston had a 33.0 rating for Game 6 against the Blackhawks and a 6.3 rating for the Rangers and Kings.

The lowest rating in recorded history came in 2007 when the Anaheim Ducks won the Cup. The rating was a 1.2. Perhaps the presence of the Canadian team Ottawa Senators are to blame.

That’s what Americans are known for in the postseason. Turning off the television and getting their summer on instead of watching pucks fly deep into the playoffs. It’s for this reason why the NHL desperately needs a massive local audience from at least one of the Stanley Cup Final participants in order to have a respectable rating.

But this brings up another question. Why don’t more American hockey fans watch the Final?

Basketball.

Like it or not the NHL must battle with the NBA for viewership as they both begin playoffs around April. But as history shows, the NBA will have more viewers regardless of a lack of Canadian presence come playoffs. In fact, the highest viewership total for the NHL would equal the lowest rated NBA Final game in 23 years, Game 2 between the Nets and Spurs in 2003.

The reality is the big loser in the struggles is not the NHL. Canadian hockey fans who continue to throw good money after bad teams who never seem to get much better are those who lose. Four of the seven Canadian teams played at capacity or better this season (Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal and Edmonton) and no Canadian team played at anything less than 93.9 percent capacity (Ottawa). Those are remarkable attendance numbers when you consider that in just two more years, the Stanley Cup drought in this country will begin being measured in quarter-centuries.

Despite not having a single Canadian team in this year’s playoffs, fans of hockey should be excited. Regardless of who is in the playoffs, Canadians are going to be watching and cheering for great hockey. In order for the game to evolve, the NHL needs a larger viewership from Americans. The problem is fans from several time zones away may such as in Golden State may not want to watch a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. It would make more sense to tune into a Warriors game and cheer on the reigning MVP Steph Curry as he tries to win another championship.

The NBA and NHL will forever be in a viewership battle come playoffs. But only this year, the NHL will have a major opportunity to grow their fan base. This is thanks to all seven Canadian teams.