-- the Red Wings, Stars and Flyers—are built on a team concept.

Exactly why I love the NHL and loath the NBA.

Posted by aaron from phoenix, that makes me a transplant on 05/14/08 at 11:14 AM ET

Three of his five points seem to be more centered around marketing than of actual on the court/ice comparisons. How marketing advantages translate to better game excitement/intensity is beyond me. Personally, I enjoy a more team game. I in fact stopped watching the NBA in the early 90s because it evolved away from the team aspect. The one glaring thing that the NBA does need to improve on is the gap between playoff games. Teams have had two and three days off between games on a regular basis. IMHO, that kills game intensity from both a player and fan prospective.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 05/14/08 at 11:15 AM ET

yeah… some hockey guy. Doesn’t think Dats/Z or Lidstrom are among the best players in the league… first off - Ovechkin’s great and Malkin’s great -but Lidstrom is hands down the best player in the league.

second - this silly idea that these potential sweeps makes LESS drama… to a real hockey fan, it seems like one of the most dramatic finals in a long long time is brewing. Anyone who’s been paying attention should be on the edge of their seats waiting for this one to play out.

lastly - glamor!? please… that’s one of the main problems with professional basketball in the first place… all glamor no heart… aaaaw look at the prettyboys with all of their pretty sets of teeth. 

absurd.

Posted by Ryan from Chicago on 05/14/08 at 11:18 AM ET

I haven’t had time to read the article yet, but no matter how you slice it, only the last five minutes really matter in the NBA (regular season or playoffs). What I mean by that is, if the score is within 20 points with five minutes left, either team can win. That’s when it becomes a contest.

In contrast, every minute matters in the NHL—even more so in the playoffs.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 05/14/08 at 11:23 AM ET

Dats and Zets arent superstars?

yea he watches the NHL

Posted by Chris from st. Louis on 05/14/08 at 11:24 AM ET

this silly idea that these potential sweeps makes LESS drama…

Well, I think he’s got a point here.  Not much to talk about in these last two rounds as five of six series have started with a 3-0 series lead.

Yeah, it might make for an interesting finals, but I don’t know if there’s anything additive.  Finals are generally interesting, as teams from opposite sides of the NHL universe get to meet for the first time in ages.

Posted by Earl Sleek from Los Angeles, CA on 05/14/08 at 11:28 AM ET

Every time you flip on an NHL game, someone is headed to the penalty box, often for something that wouldn’t even get you in trouble at the office if you did it to a co-worker.

As if the same can’t be said for basketball? In basketball, if you sneeze on a guy, he falls over and gets penalty shots!  Granted, phantom calls in the NHL have been lame but you CANNOT compare the NHL to a game where every 30 seconds penalty shots are being awarded, especially in the last 5 minutes.

Does anyone else find basketball boring due to the constant scoring?  That’s one reason I find hockey exciting - the goals really mean something in the final score rather than having been diluted by the 85 other points scored.

Posted by drimo on 05/14/08 at 11:32 AM ET

How are Detroit and Pittsburgh not glamour teams? He must be a big fan of Nashville and Columbus...As for penalties… in the NHL they actually call penalties on the “superstars” as opposed to the NBA where every “star” gets to go to the free throw line if he misses a shot. That is how Kobe Bryant can go 10 for 35 and still have 45 points..As for being competitive every NHL game is competitive. In the NBA the home team wins by 30 every nite. Look it up..there have been about 3 decent basketball games played in the NBA playoffs so far....

Posted by kevin on 05/14/08 at 11:37 AM ET

Pinhead.

1.  Of course the best teams are “built on a team concept” - it’s a TEAM GAME!

2.  The only reason the series keep getting tied after four games is because no one can win on the road - except the Pistons.  If you stink away from home of course it looks more competitive.

3.  The defending champs are also a game away from being knocked out - and aren’t these the same San Antonio Spurs that EVERYONE complains are boring?  I mean every single year?

4.  First, what the heck is a “glamor” team?

Second, Boston and Los Angeles are a rivalry only to the old guys.  And Boston won’t win squat if they can’t win a game on the road here or there.

5.  Which sport has numerous floppers?  It isn’t hockey.

So basically he wants teams of jerks who are always in the running for the Cup.  He must love Sean Avery!

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/14/08 at 11:42 AM ET

There’s more to the NHL than just the Eastern Conference.

Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 05/14/08 at 12:00 PM ET

The article isn’t very good, but I agree that for the neutral sports fan, the NBA playoffs have been much better. The Cup playoffs this year haven’t been special, especially the last 2 rounds. Pens beat Rangers in 5, some close games but nothing great. Flyers v Habs were a little better, still only 5 games and some bad goaltending (from the Habs) to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Wings vs. Avs had potential and was a disaster. Sharks v Stars wasn’t bad but wasn’t an epic. The first round had some good ones, which you’ll almost never see in the NBA these days. But the middle two rounds have been awful for the NHL, and the 2nd round has been excellent in the NBA (only the Pistons/Magic has been unextraordinary).

The average, unattached sports fan needs drama to draw them to a particular event. The Cup Playoffs usually have tons of it, but not this year.

The Finals have the chance to be a great marketing showcase for the league. I think the Wings will walk over the Pens in 5, but if it goes to 6 or 7 it could make up for these very drab playoffs.

Posted by HL on 05/14/08 at 12:04 PM ET

I think you’re being too generous saying he’s got a couple good points But I’ll be generous too and give him 1 1/2 good points.

This years playoffs have been very anti-climatic.  Lots of sweeps and routs and it just hasn’t had that excitement factor that previous years have had with upstart teams making runs at the Cup or at least being competitive. I mean, did all the underdog teams lose their testicles this year?

But that leads to the 1/2 good point.  I’m a fan of dynasties. I think it’s great to have a top dog that everyone is shooting to take down. Look at how great it was to see the Patriots wilt in the SuperBowl this year.  But that doesn’t make parity a terrible thing in and of itself.  The last two years of playoffs were terribly exciting for hockey fans IMHO and no back-to-back championships were involved.

It’s all about competitiveness and this years playoffs just haven’t had it.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 05/14/08 at 12:17 PM ET

I honestly cannot for the life of me understand how someone could find the NBA playoffs more entertaining than the NHL. Even friends who love the sport of basketball point out to me that the NCAA tournament is exciting and dramatic and intense, and the NBA is boring, boring, boring.  Switching directly from an NHL game to an NBA game, there is absolutely no comparison in the speed and intensity.  The writer of the article must enjoy all of the timeouts and the closeups of players WALKING back up the court after a turnover.  Plenty of time to eat another cheeto.

Posted by dip from philly on 05/14/08 at 12:20 PM ET

One of my problems is that he says he thought the same thing last year.  It’s unusual to have so many one-sided series based on the recent history, so to just say last year was boring, too, when the last two playoff years have been quite different?  No thought involved.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/14/08 at 12:24 PM ET

yeah… some hockey guy. Doesn’t think Dats/Z or Lidstrom are among the best players in the league… first off - Ovechkin’s great and Malkin’s great -but Lidstrom is hands down the best player in the league.

I hate the Wings, yet I totally agree with you.  Nick Lidstrom is probably THE best player in the league.

Posted by NHLJeff from Boston, MA on 05/14/08 at 12:45 PM ET

By the way, that quote was from Ryan’s comment, not the article.

Posted by NHLJeff from Boston, MA on 05/14/08 at 12:46 PM ET

I can’t actually say that I’ve watched a game in these NBA playoffs.  I used to watch a lot of basketball, but can’t seem to get myself to sit through an entire game anymore!  Hockey, Football, Baseball (although many will probably disagree with me on that one) I can watch any time any place!  Basketball, I will watch classic games that come on every once in a while!

Posted by Mac from Canada on 05/14/08 at 12:55 PM ET

To quote Moe Howard: Everytime he thinks he weakens the nation!

Posted by BK on 05/14/08 at 07:27 PM ET

Why does it seem like those avowed haters of the NBA seem to know so much about what;s happening in the basketball playoffs and readily name and talk about its stars?

Something just does not compute! If you hate basketball so and actively ignore it why are you so informed?

Like the writer said - most NBA fans only have a vague idea about the existence of the NHL and likely do not care to follow it and are ublikely to know any of its stars - though a few might recognize the name ‘Crosby’ a portion of this subset would not be too sure why they know that name.

Sorry to say this but sometimes hockey fans are full of it!

Posted by Just Wondering from NJ on 05/18/08 at 08:46 PM ET

Just Wondering,
Think about it..it has to do with coverage.  I will watch sportscenter hoping for a 10 second story on an NHL game, and sit through 29 minutes and 50 seconds worth of NBA, MLB and NASCAR coverage to get there (my luck is that I must always just miss the NHL coverage). You can’t help but absorb some of the information on the NBA, whereas the NBA fan can find it easy to ignore the 10 seconds of hockey.  I lived in Charlotte NC for 15 years...I dislike NASCAR but after 15 years couldn’t help but be conversational about it. When “The Pass In the Grass” is the lead story on the nightly news for a whole summer, you’ll figure out who Dale Earnhardt is.

Posted by dip from philly on 05/18/08 at 09:03 PM ET

“I honestly cannot for the life of me understand how someone could find the NBA playoffs more entertaining than the NHL. Even friends who love the sport of basketball point out to me that the NCAA tournament is exciting and dramatic and intense, and the NBA is boring, boring, boring.  Switching directly from an NHL game to an NBA game, there is absolutely no comparison in the speed and intensity.”

Again a disconnect fella!

Don’t you see the comparative ratings of NBA vs NHL? People are voting with their remotes and the NBA is right now (despite the rise in NHL playoff ratings) 3 to 4 times more popular than the NHL within US households. This for a league that has (deservedly) the worst reputation for thuggishness of any major sport and that still suffers the negative effect of subliminal bigotry (which incidentally hockey actually benefits from).

The simple objective truth is that the NBA playoffs this year has caught the imagination of the folk in a way that the NHL cannot match also the league has done an effective overhaul of its image - started when Stern demanded a dress-code that players had to fall inline with. Although there were initial grumblings the culminative effect of this deliberate image remake has diminished the thug-image of the league (now if only they would get rid of the over-the-top tattoos as well). Finally, the internationalization of the NBA’s product has produced a major upswing in its fortunes and profile not only overseas but here in the States as well. This last reality is potentially the most potent advantage the NBA has over the NHL. Despite the oft stated commenst to the contrary on NHL sites and media - the NBA is much more popular overseas than the NHL and this popularity is growing as more countries play BBall on par with the USA and ship their star players over to the NBA. Consider this recent news item - NBA outreaches have now began in India the second most populous country in the world.

The post was long but I am a stickler for truth over emotion and objectivity over hope and denial annoys me.

Posted by BK from NJ on 05/20/08 at 10:52 AM ET