What’s happened to the NHL? Does anyone know? This weekend, NBC cut off the Buffalo Sabres / Ottowa Senators Stanley Cup Playoff game for their scheduled national broadcast - WHEN IT WAS IN OVERTIME! Now I know what you’re thinking, they probably cut off that game for some breaking news. Perhaps peace broke out in the Middle East or Al Gore finally announced that he’s running for President. Well, not quite. NBC cut off the overtime play to air PRE-RACE coverage of The Preakness. Seriously. NBC cut off the series-deciding, overtime game of the Stanley Cup so that we could watch horses trot around and warm up for the race. It wasn’t even the race, just the pregame. If I remember correctly, the most exciting information that I took away from the pregame was information about the helmets and goggles that the jockeys wear.

I want to be mad at NBC for this one. I really do. But common sense (and my knowledge of the television industry) tells me that I can’t. Consider this: The Preakness attracted about 5 million viewers on Saturday. The Sabres/Senators game attracted about 1.2 million. For NBC this was a business decision. Your advertisers pay the bills. You’re going to get the best price for your advertising when you have the greatest number of viewers. When it comes to the NHL, unfortunately the numbers just aren’t there.

Here’s what bugs me. What’s happened to the NHL? How on earth could the current NHL commissioner let the league fall out of the graces of the American public in favor of horse racing? How sad is it that we’ve gotten to the point that the smart business decision for NBC is to pull the overtime game for horses trotting around?! It’s no secret that the league hit a big stumbling block during the league shutout, but the fact that the PR department and Gary Bettman - current NHL Commissioner - didn’t spring into action to regain the favor of the U.S. is appalling! The NHL has only one option to save the league: get rid of Bettman and find someone, ANYONE, who will get the NHL back into the public spotlight to ensure that hockey gets the attention and the fan base that they deserve.

What do you think? How can the NHL be saved? Can the NHL be saved?

P.S. - A big shout out to my dear friend Jeff, who got me interested in hockey. He recently suffered a big loss when his beloved Sabres lost to the Senators. Maybe next year buddy!