Electrophile

Marketing is important, but it's only as important as the product is popular. Meaning, you could create an ad campaign to shame all other ad campaigns for a car that runs on human poop, but if there is no demand or at the least very little demand, it doesn't matter how much you market that car, no one will buy it. The same applies here to the NHL. It doesn't matter if Sidney Crosby is the face of the NHL or Pavel Datsyuk is. If there is little desire to watch the sport outside of markets that have a team, or at least hockey-oriented markets, you're not going to get a lot of pull. How much money would you want the league to spend on something that will garner little if any, return on their investment? I mean, you may get a few upticks in specific markets, but is that going to be worth the amount of money laid out to get them?

I'm utterly devastated that my Starsky and Hutch joke went unnoticed.

The Yankees had a bad season, we bitched and moaned for awhile, got over it, now wait for Spring Training. The Red Sox had a bad season, they s***-canned their manager and GM. Glad we don't operate like that.

The NHL is never going to have the same kind of audience or marketing presence as the other three major sports in this country. That ship has sailed. I don't see the point in getting aggravated over it.

Holy wall of text, Batman.

1. Easier schedule re: traveling 2. Easier schedule re: teams 3. Fewer west coast trips, meaning the fans don't have to stay up until the witching hour just to see who wins

Yeah, because when I think "Detroit, MI", the first region that comes to mind is the Southeast. What next, Vancouver in the Central?

I said "on the ice". You can't have 10 skaters on the ice at one time.

Considering we had at any one time, 6 HOF'ers on the ice, winning the Stanley Cup that season was a foregone conclusion. It was pretty anti-climactic, really. Not that it wasn't exciting, it's always exciting to win, just that it didn't have the same feeling that '97 did.

+1 For s***s and giggles though, here is my pick: 1. Detroit 2. Nashville 3. Chicago 4. St. Louis 5. Columbus

You're right. Hockey isn't a safe sport. The players have the equivalent of sharpened ginsu knives on their feet, they have sticks in their hands, and the vulcanized rubber disk they hit with said sticks, can travel upwards of 100 mph (161 kph for our metric friends). That doesn't mean steps shouldn't be taken to protect the players as much as possible, without conversely, taking away key aspects of the game. Slashing happens, whether intentionally or otherwise, but when it happens, it should be punished. That doesn't mean Bouchard should have been suspended, because I think suspensions require intent, and while I think he intended to slash him with the stick, I don't think he intended to slash him in the face, which is the key.

Just my $0.02, but I like that Shanahan is explaining what the infraction was, what action was taken, and why it was taken. You can argue whether some of these suspensions have been warranted or not, but at least they're not being passed down with no explanation as to why.

I think that pretty well states that in that person's opinion, there have been too many suspensions thus far. Also, no, I don't think Bouchard should have been suspended two games for that. Never said I did. I was choosing to comment instead on the awesomeness of the posted video.

Kinda shocked it took 13 posts for someone to mention Pavs & Hank.

The best part of that video? Avs fans booing, and then the Avs losing. Good times. Also, interesting that people are complaining about too many players being suspended thus far, when normally the complaint is that players aren't punished nearly enough. So it looks like the league is damned if it does, and damned if it doesn't.

Matt Cooke is a boil on the ass of the NHL.

I know the Tigers are the main draw right now, but still. You'd think there would be a bit more life here. I hope there's some more activity around here for Thursday's game.

Starsky and Hutch are going to be devastated.

It sucks that we have to wait until Thursday for another game. Boo. Also, what's with that ridiculous Taco Bell commercial? Taco Bell is not gourmet food. Don't make it look like something you'd see on Iron Chef.

RED WINGS WIN!!!

YAY! Both Euro Twins have a goal tonight. Sweet.

Watching Pavs and Hank work magic like that makes me eternally grateful that they play for my team.

The stream is amazing quality, at least on my end. Even in full-screen it looks good. +∞ to you for this. Am I the only one who thought that chant sounded like "Let's Go Red Wings"?

Ford Arena/Ford Coliseum sounds good, if we must have corporate feces smeared all over the building. Use something at least native to Detroit or Michigan, if you absolutely have to. Anything but something containing the word "Amway."