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The NHL Needs An Attention Getter
by Paul on 01/27/08 at 09:32 PM ET
Comments (3)
from Mark Spector of the National Post,
Yes, the NHL has realized that it needs some mustard. The problem is, it doesn’t have any hot dogs.
Its players are a bunch of humble Canadians and quiet Europeans. As Jason Arnott said this weekend, Owens wouldn’t last 30 seconds inside an NHL dressing room.
“Not a chance,” said Arnott, a typically Canadian boy from Wasaga Beach, Ont., with typically conservative views on the game. “You hear of a lot of changes. How they’re trying to change the game, trying to make the nets bigger, trying to change the integrity of the game. I’m kind of against that.
“The shootouts are great for the fans. They love it,” he said. “I don’t know how much the guys really love it, because it is pretty individual.”
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Comments
Personally, I LIKE a sport with a lower than normal quotient of jackasses.
The NHL doesn’t have a clue how to market the personalities that it does have, so what point is there wishing for more? The media should put in a little more effort and talk to someone other than the biggest stars.
(Either that, or fill the void by acting like donkeys themselves.) 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/28/08 at 07:01 AM ET
Arnott said something of note… Hockey is NOT an individual sport. It is perhaps the MOST team dependent sport there is. And I personally believe that is why that game does not sell in the U.S.
The sports that are popular in the U.S. have that individual element to it, Baseball = for sure, football = yep (even though the individuals who succeed do so because of their team, but one man can take the spotlight), basketball = yes, more so than hockey, nascar = duh, yea, golf = hmm, yes yes yes, and I could do on…
I think that anyone who watches and loves hockey has that “team” aspect clearly in hand… it really is all about the group as a whole - and no matter how good one player does it in no way guarantees a win (unlike the other sports, bball perhaps not as much as the others).
I don’t think the NHL has to change, I think they appeal to a certain group of people - that’s life. What they have to do is sell hockey for what it is. If people don’t like that, so be it - there is more than enough interest in North America to support this league without changing a thing. They just need the teams in the right locations!!
Posted by WingMan from The Q C on 01/28/08 at 08:40 AM ET
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I’m curious as to why this subject has been coming up lately. Does hockey really need those types of players to succeed? I’ve always gotten the impression that the TO’s of the sporting world were looked down upon as being jerks by both the fans and the media.
Oh, and the author forgot to mention that fighting is why there are not any hotdogs or showoffs or whatever you want to call them on the ice. Thats why you don’t see any sharpe incidents, pom pom waving or players riding their stick to center ice after a goal. Players police that crap out of the game.
Posted by Mike from Michigan on 01/28/08 at 05:46 AM ET