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Page 22 • Thursday, October 13, 2005 SPORTS —= — ^ i\ I ^ The Hockey returns with hopes of regaining its popularW Mike Demos NHL could get was far down the dial on season havo . . ... . nnt togeth^f ^ Columnist Without much ado, the NHL returned to the ice last week after a yearlong hiatus, which saw the sport suffer much in the national range. Not even ten years ago, the sport had solidified itself amongst the top four along with Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA. Now, after their most recent lockout, the NHL finds itself light-years away from the other big three sports and even well behind the PGA and NASCAR on the national scope. Part of this can be said to be the result of a faulty television deal, because as we all know, many of these sports rely heavily on the bids and advertising they get finom national TV. After years on major networks such as ESPN, ABC and even FOX for a time, the best deal the NHL could get was far down the dial on the Outdoor Life Network, which is a distant cry from ABC and ESPN. Without a national market, the league has been left to rely on the local TV markets of its teams, which leads to a double-edged swoid. Only people in those areas get their local games and if they are at home watching the game, it takes away from gate sales. If they are at the games, the ratings plummet further, which leads local stations to dropping their coverage. Before soon OLN might be chomp ing at the bit to get out of their deal and spend their money on more pertinent options such as mountain climbing, biking and hunting. Yes, this is the predicament that the NHL has put itself in. While it will struggle from a media standpoint, the league is hindering its chances at a gradual revival amongst its diehard fans, who through the first week of the KRT Campus Tim Cleason (42) battles with Antti Miettinen for positioning in a recent contest between the Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars. The NHL returned to action in September in hopes of returning to the spotlight in the sports world. Many rules were changed in an effort to increase scoring. season have showed their support by turning out in large numbers. Whether those numbers remain or not is yet to be determined, but if the NSL gets off to an exciting start, it may be a possibility. The league has tried to include excitement m their games through a number of rule changes such as the elimination of two-line passes, shrinking of goalie pads and a no exceptions policy on obstruction, leading to a feter, more wide open game which so far has led to a vast increase in scoring. Simply put, more goals equal more excitement Defensive battles might woric in the NFL, but the way hockey has been gomg, it needs all the goals It can get right now. Also, shootouts have been added as the overtime scenario, adding more excitement to the game. Whether the NHL can make a comeback is yet to be known. The increase in scoring and supportive attendance at the outset is a good sign and the league wiU need to work harf to retam those fans in the months to come. Also Ae add-on of exciting young players like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin and the return of Wayne Gretzky to the game as Uie head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes should help road draws. Locally, the Hurricanes have gjiu good mix of veteran and young should have a good shot to make ® With youngsters Cam Ward an mixed with veteran Rod Brind Canes should be an exciting teani and have already drawn well in going- . „„ceitaii> The NHL’s destiny remains ui* iiic ucoiuij this point But the way the teams s the standings, the new scoring iTial and alike remain uncertain as and alike remam uncenaui uncertainty should lead to a in ^ most which will lead to people 5^01^ least for a while longer to see how out in the end, and that is what banking on, literally. j gnie'" The road back h^ been a long ing one and all the decisions that made have not necessarily been ® ^ or the correct ones, but the bottom , tlic ... gtay anu NHL is back now and back to fans and media give them one last s ’ you know it the NHL may be a “big four” once again. Contact Mike Demos at peiululum@elon.edu or 278-72 isusP^' RUI.F. DIMENSIONS OF THE RINK • ^ addition of four feet in each of the offensive zones fewer STOPP^^^^ ^ boanis. f ^WER STOPPAGES, INCREASED “FLOW” blue line will be consi' into the zone return to tL ICING THE PUCK instigator rule ' " by lines, P V ® puck behind the goal line only in a trapezoid-shaped OFFICIATING POINTS OF EMPHASIS SHOotS? " and HoMing/ObslniCtion. tom each unstortsmanlike’comSS*"' '° “ dIrtnT.“Z^ comtetfdiving tha. W ^ “ a fall or fako .njuo. in „ aMmp, d™v p.„aiaes. the
Elon University Student Newspaper
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