Does America now love hockey?
If you watched Canada beat the United States in overtime Sunday night in the Olympics, you were not alone. Far from it. From Puck The Media:
The 27.6 million viewers for Sunday’s gold medal game was 10.5 million more (up 61 percent) from the Canada-USA gold medal game from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (17.1 million viewers). The 15.2/30 rating for yesterday’s game was four-and-a-half rating points higher than the 10.7/24 for the 2002 gold medal game and was the highest-rated hockey game of any kind since the USA vs. Finland 1980 gold medal game (23.2/61). The “Miracle on Ice” semifinal game between the USA and Russia had a household rating of a 23.9/37.
27.6 million viewers for a hockey game? I guess it didn’t hurt that it was actually a good, exciting game. Much like how some people watch NASCAR in the hopes that they will see a crash, it’s possible that some people tuned in Sunday in the hopes that Sidney Crosby would punch someone in testicles.
Does this mean Americans are now in love with hockey and will now watch the NHL? My guess is that Gary Bettman sure hopes so.
United States men’s hockey team picked a bad time to lose it’s first game
The United States men’s hockey team lost in overtime today to Canada 3-2. It was a demoralizing win. It’s bad enough to lose to Canada, it’s even worse when it’s none other than testicle puncher Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal.
I really don’t care much for Sidney Crosby.
At least NBC showed the game on the main NBC channel in full high-definition glorious splender. Not that it makes up for showing all those prior hockey games on MSNBC and CNBC, non-HD channels.
The U.S. team might have only won the silver medal, but they have nothing to be ashamed of. After all, they beat Canada 5-3 only a week ago. U.S. Goaltender Ryan Miller, who normally plays for the NHL Buffalo Sabres, played fantastically the entirely Olympics.
Proof Jesus loves America a lot more than he loves Canada
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The United States beat Canada last night 5-3 in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic Hockey. The game was so big, so important, that NBC televised the game on non-HD MSNBC. How great is that? Who needs HD for hockey with it’s wide format and it’s superb picture quality? One might think that NBC would actually put some importance on hockey since they televise at least some NHL games.
I guess not.
Capitals versus Penguins
The Washington Capitals head into Mellon Arena tonight to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s the first time the two teams have met on frozen water to play hockey since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. In that game the Caps totally collapsed and lost to the Penguins 6-2.
It was a disgusting, demoralizing loss. The Penguins went on beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals.
As long as I’ve lived here in Maryland, the Penguins have been the biggest rivalry of the Capitals. The Penguins always seem to be the team to end the Stanley Cup playoff run of the Capitals. It happened in the 1994-95 season, the 1995-96 season, the 1999-00 season, the 2000-2001, and of course the 2008-09 season.
Even before moving to Maryland, I hated the Penguins. That feeling has only intensified since living here.
The game tonight will feature two of the sport’s best players, that testicle puncher Sidney Crosby and the Russian male model Alex Ovechkin. Some like to say that Crosby and Ovechkin are to the NHL what Bird and Magic were to the NBA, except of course Bird and Magic played basketball and neither Crosby or Ovechkin is black. Other than that, the two rivalries are just a like.
It’s imperative that the Capitals defeat the Penguins tonight. I have it on good authority that every time the Penguins beat the Capitals, God kills a puppy and the devil gives Adolf Hitler a big glass of ice cold water.
Hockey player shows his displeasure by slashing his own goalie’s ear
There is nothing like good old fashioned southern hockey. Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard failed to secure the rebounding puck which resulted in a goal for Atlanta Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk. Ballard was so beside himself that he swung his stick like a baseball bat at the goal. The problem is that goalie Tomas Vokoun’s head got in the way.
Opps. I hate when that happens.
I’m not expert in childish behavior, but couldn’t Ballard come up with some other way of showing his emotions? Perhaps he could suck his thumb or break one of his favorite toys.
Hockey goal of the year
David Perron of the St. Louis Blues scores what has to be the goal of the year on the New York Islanders yesterday.
There ought to be a rule against checking a man’s skull into the glass from behind
There was a scary moment last night during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche. Tuomo Ruutu from the Hurricanes leveled this dirty and illegal hit on Darcy Tucker from the Colorado Avalanche:
Tucker was knocked out cold from the hit and left a puddle of blood on the ice. He regained consciousness as he was being carted off the ice. The gash on his head required 40 stitches.
The NHL levied a messily three game suspension on Ruutu for the hit. That just doesn’t seem enough punishment. Tucker will be out of commission for at least 10 days. Ruutu should at the very least miss as many games as Tucker. Better yet, Ruutu should be deported back to Finland where he belongs.
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