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Lack Of NHL Players At Pyeongchang Games Hurting Olympic Product

Dropping men's hockey ratings underscore the extent to which viewers tune in to see stars at the OlympicsGETTY IMAGES

NBC Sports Chair Mark Lazarus said ratings for the men's hockey tournament at the Pyeongchang Games are "off roughly" in the high 20%-low 30% range, according to Richard Deitsch of SI.com. This is the first Olympics without NHL participation since '94, and Lazarus said the broadcast windows between Pyeongchang and the '14 Sochi Games are "pretty similar so it is close to an apples to apples comparison." Lazarus: "It is bad for hockey everywhere. Our numbers are off and if you look at the RSN numbers for every NHL team over this week-long period, at least when I looked at it, all but two teams were off versus a year ago in this window. So it is not good for anybody's hockey ratings" (SI.com, 2/19). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Alex Putterman wrote the drop in ratings is "certainly no shock, but it nevertheless underscores the extent to which viewers tune in to see stars on the hockey side." It is "easy to understand why the NHL doesn’t want its players in the Olympics, but it’s also quite sad to see one of the Games’ most compelling events stripped of some of the drama and intrigue that comes from watching the world’s best players share the ice." Fans cannot "conclude too much about Olympic ratings until the Games are complete, but one trick for boosting future viewership seems pretty foolproof: beg the NHL to come back" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 2/19).  

QUALITY CONTROL: In DC, Adam Kilgore wrote the atmosphere during men's hockey games is "charged, the games are competitive and the players give maximum, admirable effort." However, the quality of play "makes it clear that Alex Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, Zdeno Chara and all the rest are at home, that the best players in the world are not contending for a gold medal." NBC Sports' Jeremy Roenick said, "It's been good hockey. I would not call it great hockey, for sure." Kilgore noted for some, the "low-wattage names distract from an opposing viewpoint: The tournament displays the depth of talent spread around the globe" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/18). In N.Y., Bob Raissman named the NHL his "Dweeb of the Week," writing it was a "miscalculation" by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman not to send players to the Games. If the sport "had the kind of TV deals, like the NBA or NFL, worth billions of dollars you could rationalize it." When hockey at the Games "outperforms your regular season games here, you gotta sacrifice every four years and go compete for the gold." Raissman: "Just ask your players" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/17).

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: The AP's Stephen Whyno noted at the Pyeongchang Games, data on "speed, acceleration, stopping, distance traveled, shift lengths and ice time is available to teams in what could be the next step for puck and player tracking across hockey." The NHL has "worked with technology companies and invested significant money to develop a system it can use." The Olympic men's and women's hockey tournaments are a "valuable testing field that could speed up the process of getting it ready for use." IIHF General Secretary Horst Lichtner and Omega Timing CEO Alain Zobrist said that their organizations have "been in contact with the NHL about the technology." The system "includes microchips in the back of jerseys that can be tracked and cameras high above the ice at the Gangneung and Kwandong hockey arenas track the movement of the puck" (AP, 2/19).

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