Yawn, Yawn, Yawn, Dear God Yawn

I’ve long maintained that North American hockey fans are not interested in finesse-style hockey, be it the regular season, the playoffs, or even the Stanley Cup finals. The evidence pours from different media sources like goals flying by MAF glove side.

The latest and greatest (from the Canadian Press):

A lack of Canadian content in the Stanley Cup final has had a dramatic impact on TV ratings.

CBC drew an average of 2.11 million viewers Saturday for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. That represents a drop of nearly 500,000 viewers over last year's opening game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators.

But how can this be? This is “the dream matchup.” Sid the Kid, Gino, and the high-flying Pens against precision-powered veteran Red Wings.

Who wouldn’t want to watch this?

If you believed the 40 mph slap shots Gary B has been feeding you, you would actually expect ratings to be up with the amount of talent and skill on display.

What a farce. If anything, the spotlight has shed light on the fact that Cindy Crosby is a whiner, an occasional diver, and a babied superstar that has gotten away with more stick work than my brother at a Chinese buffet (he big boy). If anything, the fence-sitting fan has tuned in to see the league’s face covered with patchy, thin hair that would make any 14 year old jealous.

The Stanley Cup finals, thus far, have been anti-climatic, a steam roll with limited intensity, European hockey at its finest.

And while the finest of Gary B’s stars are on the big stage, those outside of Hockey-North America are tuning into the NBA playoffs and Dancing with the Stars.