Toidi

OK, the NHL needs all the media attention it can muster, so what do they do? The NHL chose to jeopardize the quality of play by insisting the Wings and Pens play back-to-back games (#1 and #2) to start the Stanley Cup finals...just so they could get good media attention over the end-of-May weekend on NBC. So what does the NHL's Amazing Wiztard Bettman do next? Instead of scheduling Game 6 for Monday night (tonight), he brilliantly opts for Tuesday night, which puts the NHL up against Game 3 of the NBA finals. Great move Bettman...head-to-head against the NBA finals! When Tuesday night's Nielsen ratings come out next week, it will confirm that Bettman's scheme would be better described as "head-in-ass" against the NBA. This reeks of a major ratings bet between the two ego amigos: Bettman and Stern.

StlBluesfan4ever

Even though I don't agree with the sceduling, (game six on tuesday and potential game seven on friday) the fact the stanley cup could be won tomorrow (while the NBA will at least need two more games to crown a champion) should give the NHL the edge.

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David Krejci

Basketball finals are still going. Gee I didn't know.

nossagog

I won't fault Bettman too much. One of the reasons they moved up the Cup Final was to get going before the NBA did. And the TV ratings for the first two games were good on NBC. If the cup final had been as originally scheduled, the NBA would have started on the Thursday before the NHL, and the ratings would have been worse. Also, there would have been no Saturday night games, which is a staple in Canada. And there still would have been two conflicting games with the NBA finals. They also would have lost the interest built in the first three rounds by having 10 days off before the cup final, which also would have affected the quality of play.

In the end, the NHL exec's were damned if they did and damned if they didn't move the cup final.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland

Toidi

As I predicted:

AP news article: "NBC said Wednesday that the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 on Tuesday night earned a 4.1 overnight rating and 7 share. That's down 7 percent from the 4.4 for last year's Game 6, when the Red Wings clinched the title. Unlike in 2008, this season's game went up against the NBA finals."