To what extent did the final of the 4 nations confrontation work well? Well enough to make hockey superb.
And to make it look bad.
Via Frontoffsports.com, the game between the United States and Canada attracted an average audience of 9.3 million viewers. It’s more than any NHL match in the United States.
Not this year. Never.
The NHL challenge becomes part of this new interest in the regular season and the playoffs. The challenge for other sports is to understand how to increase their own star exhibitions.
It is obvious for the NHL to confront the 4 nations an annual event. It could be logical to extend it to eight or more teams. If these games will surpass NHL normal games, why not find a way to play more?
Reduce the regular season, widen the confrontation of the 4 nations, increase the profile of the sport.
For the NBA and the MLB, there is a way to do an international competition in the season. For the NFL, there is none. And will not be.
However, within two weeks of the post-USUPER-SUPER BOL desert, the NHL has obtained a winner. And victory was too great for hockey to be ignored.
