Penguins' Game Six Win Sees Drop In Overnight Ratings From '08

NBC Earns 4.1 Overnight Rating For Stanley Cup Finals Game Six, Down 6.8% From '08

SEVENTH HEAVEN: In Dallas, Mike Heika writes the NHL will "never be as popular as the NBA in the U.S., but it's making a nice stand right now." The Penguins' win last night means the series will go to a Game Seven, which "has the chance to be the most important Game 7 in quite some time." Heika: "We have seen two of the league's biggest stars in [Penguins Cs] Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin battle against the most dynastic organization the league has to offer. ... It's all the league can ask. The sport looked like it deserved to be on NBC on Tuesday, and that's a huge step forward" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/10).

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: Last night's game aired against Game Three of the Lakers-Magic NBA Finals, and ESPN's Barry Melrose said, "I don't think that a hockey fan is necessarily an NBA fan, or vice versa, and I'm sure the NHL and NBC have done studies on this and have looked at this and feel that going up against an NBA Finals isn't going to hurt the ratings." Melrose: "It's come down to the point where they know there's not a big transition of NBA and hockey fans together, so why not have them go head-to-head against each other on the same night?" But WashingtonPost.com columnist Len Shapiro said, "It's dumb as heck. It makes no sense to me. If you had the option of playing your game on a different night -- and it sounds to me as if the NHL did have that option -- why wouldn't you do it just to do it and capture the casual fan who may like NBA basketball and would tune in to the NHL if that was the only option?" ("Outside The Lines," ESPN, 6/9). ESPN's Tony Reali said of Game Six, "Why wasn't this game on (Monday) night when they could have owned the night rather than go up against the NBA?" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 6/9).

OPEN THE DOORS: Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said of the team being prevented from showing last night's game at Joe Louis Arena, "I don't understand the dynamic of all that stuff. That makes no sense to me." Babcock: "We're all in the selling-the-game business. The more people that can see it, the better off you are" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/10).

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