I was recently reading an article about the widening talent gap between the East and West and, to me, it seemed to paint a picture of gloom describing the East as the West’s punching bag, among other things. While the disparity between the two conferences is hard to deny, I am here to tell you that this is really a good thing for everyone, at least for a little while anyways.
The NHL is the little sibling to many of America’s other sports giants such as baseball and football. While it is true that hockey dominates Canada, this has never been enough to propel hockey to the level of mainstream, primetime, stop everything else television like football pulls off with the Super Bowl and the type of salaries that basketball or baseball commands. A hockey fan just lives with the type of attention hockey receives in comparison but a wider audience would be welcomed. This wider audience will come from the NHL Western Conference.
Hockey on the west coast has always struggled to bring in large audiences and this new, highly competitive, conference could do just that. In the 2011-12 season the Los Angeles Kings had a total home attendance of 734,736 and an average per game of 17,920. That average at home is good enough to be ranked 15th in the NHL. Now we flash forward to the 2013-14 season and the Kings had a total home attendance of 779,734 and an average per home game of 19,017. These numbers pushed them up to 8th in the NHL. The increase in these numbers is good and they will only get better as the Kings continue to play good hockey. Similar increases can be seen in many other teams that have normally been bottom dwellers including St. Louis, Anaheim, and Dallas. Big offseason moves for these clubs will only improve their on-ice performance and hopefully improve their standings and attendance at the same time, which is good for the NHL, the players, and most importantly the fans.
On the flip side, the idea that the Eastern Conference is getting weaker is also theoretically good. Teams that have normally struggled to perform like Florida, Buffalo, and the New York Islanders are going to get a chance to make the playoffs. All three of those teams would not have a chance to make it in the West but a weaker East means it is possible. Teams like those making the playoffs will also increase revenue and potentially fan bases in atypical hockey markets like Carolina and Columbus. Again, more fans and attendance makes everyone happy.
While the East may have to deal with the West being handed Lord Stanley, both the East and West will benefit from the West’s strength and the NHL will increase in popularity. Hockey is one of the most entertaining sports to watch and deserves some more fans, so here’s to hoping that the “King will be the Kings”.
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