Florida vs Carolina East final is a nightmare for Bettman, NHL

[Buffalo Rick]

This is not good for the NHL in general. Of course if Denver wins in the NBA it wont exactly be great for the NBA either.  If the Leafs had won there would have been far more interest in Canada.  I am not totally counting Edmonton out but I have picked Vegas to beat them.  I stand by it.  If its Vegas vs Dallas they would be the only teams remotely interesting.  Nobody gives a damn about Florida or Carolina, an all South hockey final.    Hockey just isnt big in the Southern US.  The Leafs should have beaten Florida.  They are a better team with worst goaltending.   Carolina should take care of the Panthers.  It may at least salvage a decent final.  

[Tomdog]

Florida was the far better team. That Toronto has goal tending issues was no surprise. That Toronto has defending issues was no surprise. 
Florida has grit, a solid goalie and an aggressive forecheck. 
Their trying to defend a one goal lead for a period and a half came back to bite them. 
Hopefully the other teams left are paying attention, because they will have their hands full with Florida. 

[NHL HHOF]

Eric Staal to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round. The team he won the Stanley Cup with in 2006. It's Eric Staal and Marc Staal vs. Jordan Staal and iron man Brent Burns in the third round.

 

I am hoping for a Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars Stanley Cup final. Eric Staal vs. Joe Pavelski. This would be Eric Staal's third time in the Stanley Cup final, and the third time for Joe Pavelski as well. If the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup, Eric Staal will have his second Stanley Cup ring, and Florida will have to re-sign him. He has to play three more seasons to make up for what he lost due to the 2 shortened covid seasons, him not being signed by any NHL team in 2021-2022, and the 2004-2005 cancelled NHL season. He has to score 15 goals a season for the next three seasons to retire with 500 goals. If the Dallas Stars win, Joe Pavelski gets his first Stanley Cup. If they lose, Joe Pavelski still has another season on his contract with Dallas. Joe Pavelski is 51 goals shy of 500, and unlike Eric Staal, Joe Pavelski can still score 25 goals per season. He will get his 500th goal in the 2024-2025 NHL season. Evgeni Malkin will be the 48th member of the NHL 500+ goals club, Joe Pavelski will be the 49th, and number 50 will be Patrick Kane or Eric Staal.

 

As for the TV ratings for a Dallas Stars / Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Final, they could probably pull in 3.5 million viewers nationally, and maybe another 3 million from Canada. 

Edited May 13, 2023 by NHL HHOF

[Tomdog]

I think as long as the competition is good hockey people will watch. 
It’s when the extreme over achieving cinderella team runs into a powerhouse that people turn away. 
Florida vs Dallas could be an awesome series if the teams come through without major injuries. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Not sure why what should be one of the East's better teams (Carolina) and a great story team (and one who have been building upwards the last few years too in the Panthers) would be a 'nightmare'.

Isn't that why the playoffs are set up the way they are? So that the best teams get in?
Why would anyone want a mirage Maple Leafs team that CLEARLY wasn't ready to take the next steps in the East Finals?
Why would anyone want the still very flawed Rangers whose young high draft picks like Kakko and LaFreniere have YET to show up on time?
Why would anyone want to see a Boston team who trounced everyone in the regular season....yet somehow couldn't make ALL the adjustments needed to win in the postseason?
And yes, why would anyone want to see a Tampa Bay Lightning team who clearly aren't the same team that made three straight Cup Finals previously?

Because some of those teams are in big markets? Because some of them are more well known than the current Panthers and Hurricanes?
Please.

The league wants to grow? Well, then, the league has to accept, promote, and be happy for ANY team that earns their way to where they got....whether they are a big market Toronto/New York/Chicago team, or a smaller market Coyotes/Panthers/Hurricanes type team.

This thinking that only certain markets are preferred in high profile series or match ups is EXACTLY the kind of thinking that keeps the NHL 'small'.

I am glad Carolina and Florida made the East Finals.
Think of the entertainment.

Two good teams are actually in the East Finals. Yes. Florida IS good!
They had a bumpy regular season, figured things out towards the end, then took off from there taking down two supposed "Beasts of the East" teams.
Let's not forget the Panthers were an up n coming team already going back about three seasons or so.

And also entertaining should be the rants coming from Toronto over what happened in those crusty five games for the Maple Leafs.
I think teams like Tampa Bay and Boston, even the New York Rangers, may retool a bit, see how they could better supplement their high end talent, and try to make another run next season.
Toronto?
It wouldn't surprise me if they hit all kinds of panic/frustration buttons and clear out a bunch of people from the front office on down!

Meanwhile, 'unmentionables' like Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, maybe even Columbus (ok, ok...maybe NOT Columbus  ), continue to be contenders or make better progress as annual contenders moving forward.

Florida at Carolina.
That is the Eastern Final.
Enjoy it.
You have no choice.
Fortunately, they are two good teams to watch, "hockey fan".  

[pilldoc]

6 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

This is not good for the NHL in general.

 

Why?  Please explain.  @TropicalFruitGirl26 did a great job stating why it IS Good.  Please digress ......

 

6 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Hockey just isnt big in the Southern US.

 

Tampa would disagree .....

 

 

A step further ..... 2022-23 Ave. Attendance figures ...

 

 

Carolina was ranked #2 ...slightly a ahead of TB.  Hmmmmm ...2 out of the top 3 teams are in the US South......

 

 

Sitting at #10 ...not sure if you want to call Dallas, TX a southern state or not but they sit at #10.  Right above the Blues

 

 

And since you are going to ask .... Sitting at #26 and #27 respectively .......

 

 

Florida slightly edged out Buffalo.  In the grand scheme of things Florida is only behind Carolina / TB by ~3,000.

(Florida plays at FLA Live Arena --seating  capacity of ~ 19200...so for the 2022-23 season they were about 87% full.)

(Buffalo plays at Keybank Arena -- seating capacity of ~19100 .. so for the 2022-23 season they were about 82% full)

 

6 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

The Leafs should have beaten Florida.

 

Someone forgot to the the Panthers that ....that is why they play the game on ice ......

 

[Buffalo Rick]

I am saying on a national stage the rankings for these Eastern finals will be “nobody cares”.

[Math]

Also, an important thing to mention is that attendance numbers are not real attendance, it's paid tickets. For example it's always "sold out" in Montréal with their typical 21,078 spectators because all seats are sold but not every ticket found a buyer on platforms like StubHub or TicketMaster (I mean, paying $500 for front seats to see a bottom team, yikes!). I was at the Habs-Stars game in Montréal last automn and while the official attendance was 21,078, around 90% of the seats were filled. It's more remarkable in Florida where true attendance was not 10k-12k, but closer to 5k in the regular season.

 

They rely on sold tickets because it's easier to consider in terms of budget and revenues. Once a seat is sold, organizations don't really care if there's a butt in it. And in today's hockey with the salary cap, revenue share, etc. Attendance has becore much less important. In the 1970s-1980s, the Panthers would have already moved a long time ago.

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

6 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

I am saying on a national stage the rankings for these Eastern finals will be “nobody cares”.

 

Even if true, that is MORE of a reason for the NHL to do everything in their power to MAKE people care!

For all its faults, the ONE thing I do like that the NFL does, for instance, is promote their matchups.
Even the crusty, $#I%%y, bottom of the barrel matchups like, say, Jacksonville at Detroit....oooooo, big game time, eh?

And now, with Aaron Rodgers especially, playing for the Jets, the lowly, perennial loser Jets will get LOTS of air time and coverage and all their matchups will likely get big pushes.....and they might even, controversially, get favored status against a legit better team like, say, oh, I dunno, MAYBE, YOUR Buffalo Bills!

The point is, the NFL hypes the holy HELL out of their matchups, whether it is well known teams like Dallas vs Philadelphia or some 'WTF matchups' on Thursday Night Football, like Atlanta at Arizona.
The NFL, for better or worse, cares enough about their product to hype every team, and everything in it!

And if somehow a pair of Cinderellas or a team that has absolutely NO BUSINESS playing in an NFC or AFC title game get there, you can bet the NFL will promote the heck out of it.

The NHL should be doing that.
Should be pushing the likes of "What will Columbus do this offseason?", or "How can the Winnipeg Jets get back to top tier status?", and ESPECIALLY, "Tune in fans, as the South East heats up even more with the Panthers and Hurricanes in what should be a barn burner of a series between two up n coming teams....do the Canes finally get their Cup since 2006? Or do the Panthers steal their thunder?"

NHL does that enough, and people WILL care, and not just continue the running joke that the NHL is just 7 or 8 teams and the rest are a bunch of nobodies.

[radoran]

1 hour ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Not sure why what should be one of the East's better teams (Carolina) and a great story team (and one who have been building upwards the last few years too in the Panthers) would be a 'nightmare'.

 

Wait, so you're saying HJ is wrong?

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 minute ago, radoran said:

 

Wait, so you're saying HJ is wrong?

 

 

Wait, now, what I am saying is, there is the distinct possibility that he doesn't have all the facts.

I mean...hard to get ALL the facts when you are too busy writing mountains of "Come Back Home" letters to Ryan Miller and Lindy Ruff.  

[radoran]

39 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

NHL does that enough, and people WILL care, and not just continue the running joke that the NHL is just 7 or 8 teams and the rest are a bunch of nobodies.

 

The running joke is actually the 7 or 8 teams' fanbases that think the rest are a bunch of nobodies.

 

Here are the Cup champions since the lockout:

Carolina, Anaheim, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Colorado.

 

Two original six teams, 15 (Detroit) and 10 (Chicago) years ago respectively.

 

Pittsburgh and Colorado had won Cups previously.

 

Three "non traditional" franchises and oddballs like Washington and St. Louis.

 

There have been four Canadian teams in the Final since then. The Habs* last year, and then 12 years ago for Vancouver and 16 (OTT) and 17 (EDM).

 

Heck, the flagship "Eleven Cup" original six team hasn't even made the Final in a league with more than six teams, and people who just became legal to drink in the United States have never seen them out of the second round.

 

The hottest and most vibrant Final fanbases recently have been in Vegas and Nashville. Even Carolina's "Storm Surge" has gotten traction.

 

"Traditional" market fanbases?

 

The Flyers can't even sell out a game practicallygiving the tickets away.

[flyer4ever]

I guess the little bett turd couldn't rig this the way of the draft lottery. Poor little bett turd.

[pilldoc]

1 hour ago, Math said:

Also, an important thing to mention is that attendance numbers are not real attendance, it's paid tickets

 

true .... I forgot to take that into account.

[OccamsRazor]

6 hours ago, NHL HHOF said:

I am hoping for a Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars Stanley Cup final.

 

 

I had the Canes vs Stars in the finals looking good so far.

[Buffalo Rick]

5 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Even if true, that is MORE of a reason for the NHL to do everything in their power to MAKE people care!

For all its faults, the ONE thing I do like that the NFL does, for instance, is promote their matchups.
Even the crusty, $#I%%y, bottom of the barrel matchups like, say, Jacksonville at Detroit....oooooo, big game time, eh?

And now, with Aaron Rodgers especially, playing for the Jets, the lowly, perennial loser Jets will get LOTS of air time and coverage and all their matchups will likely get big pushes.....and they might even, controversially, get favored status against a legit better team like, say, oh, I dunno, MAYBE, YOUR Buffalo Bills!

The point is, the NFL hypes the holy HELL out of their matchups, whether it is well known teams like Dallas vs Philadelphia or some 'WTF matchups' on Thursday Night Football, like Atlanta at Arizona.
The NFL, for better or worse, cares enough about their product to hype every team, and everything in it!

And if somehow a pair of Cinderellas or a team that has absolutely NO BUSINESS playing in an NFC or AFC title game get there, you can bet the NFL will promote the heck out of it.

The NHL should be doing that.
Should be pushing the likes of "What will Columbus do this offseason?", or "How can the Winnipeg Jets get back to top tier status?", and ESPECIALLY, "Tune in fans, as the South East heats up even more with the Panthers and Hurricanes in what should be a barn burner of a series between two up n coming teams....do the Canes finally get their Cup since 2006? Or do the Panthers steal their thunder?"

NHL does that enough, and people WILL care, and not just continue the running joke that the NHL is just 7 or 8 teams and the rest are a bunch of nobodies.

Don’t be too Tough on the Detroit Lions, they are turning the corner.  They can win the central and I’m picking them to slug it out and win.  Some have them getting to SB.  Let’s see if Florida fans show up like these Seattle fans

[OccamsRazor]

2023 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Carolina Hurricanes to Florida Panthers Fans: No Tickets for You

 

https://floridahockeynow.com/carolina-hurricanes-to-florida-panthers-fans-no-tickets-for-you/

[radoran]

7 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

2023 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Carolina Hurricanes to Florida Panthers Fans: No Tickets for You

 

https://floridahockeynow.com/carolina-hurricanes-to-florida-panthers-fans-no-tickets-for-you/

 

Florida did the same thing with Leaf fans.

[Buffalo Rick]

11 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

Florida did the same thing with Leaf fans.

I really don’t know if it’s fair to block any sports fan from buying tickets.  The Leafs fans buy many tickets in Buffalo, and it actually helps the revenue.  I don’t like it that we can NEVER get a ticket in Toronto.  So maybe they need a short but not permanent lesson?  Maybe the greedy bastard got what they deserved?  

[Jimtown guy]

Personally I don’t care who us in the finals I’m watching regardless. In fact I can count on 3 fingers how many games I’ve missed so far in these playoffs. Just enjoy the game despite who is playing 

[mojo1917]

I think this is a compelling match up, but then I like hockey.

As for whether or not Gary Bettman likes it, I don't care one iota.

If Gary's goal is to grow the sport, he should be ecstatic about this matchup. 

[radoran]

53 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

 I don’t like it that we can NEVER get a ticket in Toronto.

 

Tronno fans can't get tickets in Tronno, that's why they come to Buffalo.

[Buffalo Rick]

3 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

Tronno fans can't get tickets in Tronno, that's why they come to Buffalo.

That’s true.  While at a Sabres vs Canadians game once, back when Miller was still here, they brought a couple of bus loads of Habs fans and I was seated near a few.  They told me that high scalp prices are paid when Leafx are in Montreal.  Imagine when they play in Toronto.  It might be the toughest ticket to get in sports.  My 77 Led Zeppelin tickets still have them beat. I was offered $200 each at the door going in!  In 1977!!!  Wisely I declined saying “sorry, but don’t think I’ll ever get to see them again”.  I was correct. Days before they were sold out in Buffalo , Plants son died tragically.  Tour canceled.  This two months after I saw them at old Capital Centre.  I know in the NFL the Giants and Denver are sold out years in advance.  Season ticket holders of course.  I’ll be walking into the Lions den when I go see my Orioles in Tampa in June. 

[Icechipper]

Geographical preference on tickets? Is that really a sound business practice? Even necessary?

[radoran]

31 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Geographical preference on tickets? Is that really a sound business practice? Even necessary?

 

Florida didn't want to be overwhelmed with Tronno fans.

 

I'm kind of surprised about Carolina, though, as it's not like the Panthers have some sort of rabid fanbase ready to travel and take over in Raleigh.

 

They don't even come close to selling out their own home games while the Canes are playing to near capacity this season.

 

(That said, the Panthers are selling out their playoff games)