Will a Canada/US final mean Olympians in 2014?

Let me first introduce this fine piece of wood, and knock on it furiously.










By now, even those living under rocks or in rural Texas have heard about the US and their huge upset against Canada Sunday. NBC, in its infinite wisdom, relegated the game to MSNBC, where neither lack of HD or availability stopped it from becoming the second-highest watched hockey game in the United States since the Miracle on Ice. The US-Canada final from Salt Lake in 2002 remains on top, but all bets are off if (IF!) Canada can show up to the Slovakia game the way they did against Russia, and the US scorers can break through the Finnish system into the finals. Hockey news, both about the Canadian and American teams, have not only dominated CTV-affiliated websites, they've even cracked front pages of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and other pages usually reserved for mock NFL drafts and LeBron rumors.


















True story: I wrote that joke before heading to ESPN.com and found this as their homepage. Below the LeBron to Knicks article, you can also see a pre-draft QB ranking.

So now that hockey has made its way to the front page of even the Worldwide Leader, will Bettman recognize that the Olympics raises the profile of the game and its players? Maybe not yet, but if (knock, knock, knock) Canada were to meet the United States in the finals (and NBC chose not to relegate it to NBC Ocho: En Espagnol!) the ratings in the US could be enormous, not to mention the inevitable TV records set here in Canada. Even if disaster strikes, and Slovakia and plays Finland, it'll boost oversees support for the NHL, exactly what the league is trying to do by opening 3 games in Europe next season (including one in Finland).

Would the games be drawing the same crowds if these games were amateurs, and essentially the World Juniors: February edition? Let's put it this way: I couldn't even find a mention for the TV ratings of this years Canada-US final. That's because even the most casual fan realizes that the only way the Olympics should be played are with the best players in the world. Ovechkin has already stated he'll take his own break for Sochi if the NHL isn't participating: after last night's crushing defeat against the Canadians, you can bet most Russians will be doing the same to find some redemption on home soil. Their last game isn't even 24 hours old, and I'm already excited to see how they respond in Sochi. If the NHL has a problem with the condensed schedule, cut back the preseason and start in mid-September.

Now it's just a matter of convincing the owners. Once they see the publicity the Olympics bring to their players and their sport, it has to be a slam dunk. A US-Canada final may be the ally-oop they need (hey, a basketball reference! This is, after all, a basketball blog right?)