NHL's wish granted, even if it doesn't seem so

To the cynics out there, and there are many, the NHL should have been a lot more careful about what it wished for.

Or, put another way, it is always possible to argue with success.

Gary Bettman prefers to look at the product on the ice, which has been compelling. (Getty Images)

The league's goals heading into the lockout of 2004 were simple and clear cut: Create a more level economic playing surface, produce a more exciting product and give every franchise regardless of location and revenue stream a legitimate shot in the brave new world spawned by an overhauled collective bargaining agreement.

Check, check and check.

So what's the problem? Well, nothing, if you believe a Stanley Cup Finals featuring the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers is the ticket to growing the game by capturing the hearts and minds of mainstream sports fans after a self-imposed year in absentia. Take off that Stanley Cup replica headpiece if you do.

Truth is, no one but the most die-hard of fans really noticed the NHL was gone, a situation that would be more tolerable if the masses would notice the game has come back. But judging by the meager television ratings for what has been a very exhilarating and drama-filled playoff run, that hasn't really happened.

The NHL's Nielsen metrics continue to lag far behind everything from poker to Arena Football to some children's TV shows -- so low that they have been off the scale in some instances. And with a championship showdown that features a pair of exciting underdog-type teams that have compelling talent but little widespread appeal, things aren't likely to change.

"I know that everybody thinks you need to have teams like the Rangers or Philadelphia or Detroit to get people excited, but the reality is when you get into June, it's always been all about the local fan base anyway," said Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford. "You could probably say that about any sport that gets this late into a season, except maybe for the NFL.

"I don't know if that's necessarily something to be seen as a problem."

Ever the optimist, Commissioner Gary Bettman certainly doesn't think so.

"The market size is irrelevant," Bettman said last week in Buffalo during his tour of conference finalist cities. "The most important thing is how compelling the product is on the ice, and the games have been spectacular."

But like the tree that no one hears falling in the forest, it doesn't seem to matter. The NHL broke its long-standing ties with ESPN during the lockout, replacing the cable-sports giant with the fledgling OLN network that has given the league a much greater priority, but has a much more limited reach in the United States. The league also struck a rights-free deal with NBC to replace ABC as its network of choice, but even through that partnership, there has been limited impact.

Bettman said the important thing is to take a long-term view.