TWFE predicts the Stanley Cup finals

With the NHL Stanley Cup finals starting tonight, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

So, I predict..

That I'm not going to watch.

Why? You would think that as a Red Wings fan, and that someone geeky enough to write a sports blog would want to watch and write about the NHL's penultimate series. Well, I have a few reasons for not watching...

1. Hockey shouldn't be played in JUNE!

Admit it, hockey geeks. You know it, and I know it. The season is too damn long, and there is no good reason on God's green earth that the Cup finals should start on F'n Memorial Day. The baseball season is 1/4 over, and hockey is still going on? Makes no sense whatsoever for a winter game to be played past the day that is considered the start of summer.

2. I'm more of a Detroit Red Wings fan than a hockey fan.

In fact, that statement is probably true for the majority of Wings fans. I'm being honest when I say that I love the Red Wings, but I'm no hockey expert. I never played the game at any level. I do know the rules, in that I can explain icing, offsides, and so on. I can say that I know hockey, but I don't KNOW hockey, if you get my drift. I can break down strategy in other sports enough to be dangerous, but not the one played on ice. If the Wings were in the Cup finals, I'm watching. Otherwise, I might catch some of the games here or there, but my priorities are elsewhere. That being the Tigers and Pistons.

3. What network is showing the game? What channel is it on? The Hell if I know.

I'm not going say the CBC, because as a native Michigander, that's obvious, and only works in border cities like Detroit and Buffalo. The CBC is only an option if you can tolerate the CBC's blatant Ottawa homerism, and Don Cherry's xenophobia. When you have to research what network is carrying a specific Cup game, you aren't going to have anyone but the hardest core of the hardcore hockey fan watching. The NHL's TV contract becomes more and more asinine in hindsight.

4. I'm not going to get much, if any, coverage from the local or national MSM.

The city that is known as "Hockeytown" has 2 large, nationally respected newspapers. Neither one is sending a writer to cover the Stanley Cup, they'll depend on wire copy instead. We all know how marginalized the NHL is on the worldwide leader. I rag on the MSM quite often, but I can see where they are coming from on this issue. The majority of Americans that do watch hockey are just fans of their respective team. As for the rest of America? They just don't care at all. So why waste the resources?

5. I can't get fired up about a series that has a team whose own home market doesn't give a crap.

How many people in SoCal even know that there is a hockey team in Anaheim, let alone one that is in the finals? The Ducks are another in a long line of NHL teams placed markets that could not care any less about hockey in general, let alone the NHL. Just look at the issues going on in Nashville, where a top tier team has been sold, and on the verge of moving to the great white north. The Predators aren't being supported, and the team has lost money hand over fist. Why is it even a surprise to Gary Bettman that a team in Tennessee can't draw flies? Sure, every city that has a NHL franchise does have fans, even rabid ones. But having 15,000 hardcore fans who actually show up for games does not a well supported franchise make.

I can say without question that the Stanley Cup is the best trophy in sports. It's unfortunate that the league that awards the Stanley Cup is the worst run in all of sport.