The NFL pro Bowl has become a touch of two hands in complete pads, so they replaced it with a flag football game. The NBA Star Match has become a two -hour shot. The classic in the middle of summer is now an remaining fireworks that has been left in the rain.
The NHL has found something much more convincing.
The face-off, a tournament made up of NHL players from the NHL of the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden, started on Wednesday and ends on Thursday. All the teams will play three games, with two against the final.
Last night, Team USA obtained a place in the championship with a 3-1 victory in an exhausting force of force and fighting with Canada.
“It was One of the best experiences in my life – Just an incredible hockey game, “said match Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings center, who scored the shot, after the match. “What a start and credit these guys for responding to the bell. And the crowd, just a good night for our sport and a good night for this rivalry. »»
It was a real hockey at full speed and full contact. Do the 4 confronted nations have an additional risk for the players who participate? Yes. Does this potentially harm the interests of their NHL teams? Absolutely.
But hockey doesn’t care. Really, it’s the essence of sport. Hockey doesn’t care.
Hockey players play hockey for the love of sport, regardless of the quantity or the little money that players earn. Is it wise from the company’s point of view? Hell no. But this is what distinguishes it in a sports landscape where All-Star games have gradually become low effort and without Sizzle.
None of this will change the way other sports manage their own exhibitions at the League of the Best League that their games have to offer. But that should give all fans a greater appreciation of hockey, which seems to constantly get rid of the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, the MLB and the MLS.
Thursday evening’s match between the United States and Finland was on average nearly 1.5 million viewers in the United States-one Bump of 276% On the NHL average during the prospective hours of ESPN this year. This is the kind of answer that can lead more people to look at hockey on the balance of the season.
Hockey should absolutely have a significant presence in American sports. The skills necessary to play the game are rare. The men who spring up on the boards for their next quarter work throws prudence at the tornado and enter without flashing a field of pointed blades, wooden sticks and a rubber projectile in front of which they throw their bodies, even when He travels at 100 miles per hour and frozen at the consistency of reinforced concrete.
The fact that they bring the same effort to the games that do not count makes it more impressive. Again, when it comes to hockey players, each game counts.