This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
While the NHL welcomes back all the hard-core enthusiasts it can attract, the league is aggressively embarking on an unprecedented marketing campaign to attract casual fans.
And it appears most players, despite having their salaries rolled back by an average of 24 percent under the labor agreement that ended the 2004-05 lockout, have bought into the new deal.
"I interviewed [Tampa Bay goalie] Sean Burke the morning before a [preseason game] start, something he normally doesn't do," Tampa Tribune hockey beat writer Erik Erlendsson said. "I apologized and he said, 'This is the new NHL. If they want me to talk to you in the morning, I'm going to talk to you in the morning.'
"The NHL, historically, has done a bad job of marketing players or the league."
Unlike the NFL, which benefits from a multibillion-dollar television contract, the NHL heavily relies on ticket sales. The league is working hard to make itself known.
The NHL's new partners include NBC, the Outdoor Life Network, XM Satellite Radio and Reebok, while the new ad campaign with EA Sports features a series of vignettes by award-winning music video director Sam Bayer.
"The hard-core fan might not like it," Erlendsson said. "But it is not for them anyway."
Longtime NHL fans appear more concerned with rules changes. Among other things, referees have been ordered to call obstruction, the defensive ploy of clutching and grabbing that slowed the action to an average of 5.1 goals a game. Add in reduced sizes for goalie equipment and expanded offensive zones and the NHL is banking on a scoring bonanza.
"Everyone realizes we have a certain amount of work cut out for us," said Chuck Menke, the St. Louis Blues' director of broadcasting. "We've given away T-shirts, player autographs, raffles. They've been used, really, as an overall 'thank you.' "
In the end, will Americans embrace the NHL, considered in some quarters a niche sport? In past years, television ratings for hockey have sometimes dipped below a 1 share, which means less than a million people were tuning into games.
"The NHL has a loyal fan base," Los Angeles Daily News beat writer Rich Hammond said. "But they're going to the games. Beyond that, are they going to draw fans to television? The TV ratings here have always been miserable."
Part of the trouble is, America's sports culture is based on the college system.
"You don't see that in Canada," Toronto-based hockey columnist Alan Adams said. "When the Miami Heat play and there are three guys from your alma mater, you can identify with them. You don't get that in hockey.
"Maybe a casual fan will take his kid to see [Pittsburgh Penguins No. 1 draft pick] Sidney Crosby. Will he go 41 other times? I don't think so."