Garret Craig

On Sunday night in prime time, the preliminary round hockey game between USA and Canada went far beyond expectations. The most anticipated Olympic event to take place thus far in the 2010 Winter Games (According to Nielsen, 30.6% of all internet postings related to the Games were linked to hockey) was an instant classic; a thrilling, high-scoring affair which resulted in the American upset of Canada in the Olympics for the first time in 50 years.

But this game, which sent the entire nation of Canada spiraling into a severe state of depression, was replaced on the main American network by–wait for it–Ice Dancing, the middle of three rounds, in conjunction with an exhilarating combination of tape-delayed Bobsled, Skiing, and Speed Skating.

NBC moved USA vs. Canada to the far-less prominent cable channel MSNBC, which is available to less than 70% of the households who have access to the main network. Even then, 8.2 million people tuned in to the game. Logically, we can say that the game would have seen at least a 30% increase if it was played on NBC, bringing the number up to 10.7 million viewers. And remember, that’s just the hockey fans that went looking for the game. That means 2.5 million hockey fans who wanted to watch the game, missed out.

It gets worse for NBC. Based on a formula I developed using TV Rating information for programs played simultaneously on both networks, I determined that had USA vs. Canada been played on NBC, it would have attracted about 18.5 million additional viewers, bringing the total to approximately 26.7 million viewers, which bests the 25.4 million posted by NBC during the 8 o’clock time slot Sunday night.

Perhaps most importantly, that also means 16 million casual viewers (or as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sees them, potential hockey fans) who would have seen some of the NHL’s biggest stars competing on an International stage in one of the most exciting hockey games in recent history, did not.

The prospect of increasing the hockey fan base is the only reason the NHL allowed their players to participate in the first place, and now it’s going to take quite a bit more effort to get them to participate in the Sochi games in 2014.

Thank you NBC.

Jim Devellano, Senior VP of the Detroit Red Wings for 28 years and counting, is a brilliant hockey mind. His off-season genius has no doubt been a significant factor in the creation of the Detroit dynasty that has, for 18 consecutive seasons, made the playoffs. The Wings haven’t just made the playoffs though–they have done it with relative ease, earning a top-four seed with home-ice advantage for 17 seasons straight. On top of that, Detroit has accomplished the ultimate goal, a Stanley Cup Championship, a whopping 4 times in the last 12 seasons.

But according to Jimmy D, the Red Wings would need a “miracle” to end up among the elite of the league in the 2009-10 season. He has decided, just 13 games into this year, that “it’s going to be a grind,” and that “we’re competing with bread and milk.”

To be fair, the Red Wings are dealing with some big off-season losses (Hossa, Samuelsson, Hudler, and Conklin). But as Wings’ General Manager Ken Holland will tell you, they are certainly not in a rebuilding or transition year.

“Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are two of the best players in the world and they’re in the prime of their careers,” Holland says in response to Devellano’s comments.

Their supporting cast isn’t bad either.

Justin Abdelkader, Ville Leino, and Darren Helm are still developing, but all three have proven that they are capable of posting solid numbers. Then there’s off-season additions Jason Williams, Todd Bertuzzi, and Patrick Eaves, who have all impressed (me at least). They are excellent role players and are very capable of filling the gaps left by a flurry of early-season injuries. You can also throw in hard-workers like Daniel Cleary and Thomas Holmstrom, who’s 8 goals lead the Red Wings.

Once injured stars Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula return to the lineup, the Red Wings could easily be one of the top offenses in the league.

Holland adds, “Our top four defensemen (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Ericsson, and Stuart) rank among the best in the league and Chris Osgood (who made 29 saves in a shutout of Boston just two nights ago) has shown what he can do in goal.”

So maybe the Red Wings started slow, but this is definitely not something to panic about. In fact, this has happened before, and more than once. The 2006-07 team started 3–4–1 on their way to an 113 point season and a Central Division title. In October 03′ (a year even more comparable to this one, featuring an injury-plagued team, and a Red Wings patented “goalie controversy”), Detroit went 5-5 in October on their way to a 109-point finish and a Presidents Trophy for most points in the regular season.

Look for the Red Wings (who are 4-1-1 at Joe Louis Arena coming into play tonight) to extend their 2-game win streak, and eventually return to the top of the division. They will play San Jose (#2 in the Western Conference) at home tonight, followed by a Saturday night showdown at their Original 6 rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

20,066: The number of fans who will stuff into Joe Louis Arena tonight to witness the most hyped sporting event in Detroit since October 2006. According to ESPN.com, 814,474 cheered the Wings’ through the regular season, compared to 695,997 in Pittsburgh, who watched their team from Mellon Arena, the oldest arena in hockey today. I would imagine the Penguins would like to move to the Consol Energy Center in 2,010 with a Championship banner. Losing in the finals twice in a row would crush the young Pens, and this time, out of the Pens’ 9 UFA’s, who knows how many General Manager Ray Shero will lose to the Red Wings?

On that note, we’ll look at our next number of interest: 4,959, the number of news articles and blog posts published in the past month analyzing and debating Marian Hossa’s “controversial” decision to jump ship from Pittsburgh after last year’s final loss, and move to the team who “gave him the best chance to win the Stanley Cup.” This is the story-line everyone’s talking about. Hossa will have to step it up for Game 7, he’s netted 6 goals in the entire playoffs, but in the finals, only 3 assists. Tonight will more than likely define Marian’s career, and possibly make up Ken Holland’s mind on the tough choice to either let Marian go, or work some more cap magic and bring him back long-term. Wings’ fans can only hope that when the puck drops, his mind will rush back to last year, when he came so close, but it didn’t matter. Hossa has proven he knows how to lose. Now, in what could be the most important game he ever plays, he needs to step it up, or be remembered as the forward who was almost elite, almost a Champion. He has 60 minutes to prove that’s not him.

It’s been 373 days since Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin watched Detroit celebrate on Pittsburgh ice. 373 days they’ve been waiting for tonight, when they have the chance for revenge. To make us feel as they did last year. To make Hossa regret his decision to leave. A chance for Sidney Crosby to finally prove himself to his hundreds of thousands of critics.

For Wings’ fans, it’s been 104 games of yelling at the TV. Those 6,240 minutes thousands of us spent on the edge of our seats, mean nothing if we lose this game. Because now there’s one game. Winner takes all.

A loss for either city, especially Detroit, would be crushing. In the last 10 months, we’ve seen our football team make history by going 0-16, we’ve seen our once unshakable auto industry all but die, and recently, the complete demolition of Tiger Stadium, a Detroit landmark that meant so much to so many people. Detroit needs this win.