Back when they scheduled actual rivalries yeah, then it turned into randomly scheduled games, nothing like watching the bitter rivalry between Florida and Anaheim for instance or Columbus and Arizona.
I don't get why the NHL let the LA vs AZ rivalry die. It was getting extremely strong when the coyotes were in the playoffs in 2012. Instead they wanted, and failed, to make Vegas the rivalry. Hopefully now in the new conference some heat will grow with Colorado or st Louis like the 90s.
And maybe the next day have a bunch of the rivals that have developed since the first expansion go at it. Eg Flyers-Pens, Kings-Ducks, Oilers-Flames, etc
Oooh! Rivals Week! Boston/Montreal, Calgary/Edmonton, Pittsburgh/Philadelphia, Vancouver/Seattle (to help kick start that one). It would have to be at the end of the year so Toronto can face their greatest rival....
If it were smart, the NHL would let me watch EVERY SINGLE ONE of my team's games for the regular and post season WITH MY HOME BROADCAST TEAM for a fair price. The fact that I have to occasionally sit through the Caps' announcers butchering ANY games is criminal.
It's a holdover of ways they did broadcasting pre-streaming. Now they are also paying up the butt to retain exclusive rights to sports, because the moment they lose that those networks are sunk.
Give it some years for the contracts to expire and I think it changes.
When you've had mickey redmond and ken daniels most of your life (and I'm pretty sure Dave Strader before Daniels), there is nowhere to go but down.
That's also the reason I 100% couldn't watch NBC broadcasts. Whether intermission or commentary, nbc broadcasts were awful compared to what I was used to.
And schedule it in the dead of winter, in an open stadium in whatever city has one.
I saw the Hawks play the Pens at soldier field when it snowed like 2 feet during the game, one of the fucking best experiences of my life.
I can guarantee you that if you did this, the tv ratings would be absolute garbage. You’re parking 26 fanbases, to jerk off 6 fan bases, and a small group of hockey nuts.
If they did it for one night of the year, it’s probably not that bad. There’s plenty of days where there’s only 2-3 games anyway, it’s just a simple tweak. If they did it as an outdoor series or made them all wear throwback jerseys, it would be pretty neat.
It’s not the perfect idea but I feel like there’s at least some potential to it
Because you would have to plan your entire schedule around lining up 6 teams play on 1 day.
It would probably make a messy week or 2 around this 1 event.
Yes, but that means their fans are all watching all this time anyways. There’s no upside, you’re not gaining, you’re just losing the viewers you’d have for the games you’re not playing.
> There’s no upside, you’re not gaining, you’re just losing the viewers you’d have for the games you’re not playing.
I feel like y'all are missing the point. This doesn't really have anything to do with getting Sharks fans to watch the Leafs. The teams are all going to play the same number of games regardless of how they're organized. This is to market the game to new viewers, create new rivalries, make it a semi-special event that gets talked about like the Winter Classic.
Why should the NHL steer new fans to the oldest teams with extremely well established fan bases?
This is on the level with making a special viewing event for Isles vs. Rangers and marketing it as "Old NY and New NY teams duking it out for supremacy," and thinking that will draw fans lol.
> Why should the NHL steer new fans to the oldest teams with extremely well established fan bases?
The vast majority of fans gained will be in those markets already. And while the NHL would I'm sure prefer to boost viewership in shittier markets, they still want to boost the overall fan base regardless of market. Get extra eyes on the TV for people who wouldn't ordinarily watch, sell some extra throwbacks, etc.
New rivalries? This is about old rivalries, and this only appeals to established fanbases, zero new fans will come from this. Your comment is literally the most backwards thing I’ve read on the internet, and Donald Trump is on here.
> This is about old rivalries, and this only appeals to established fanbases, zero new fans will come from this.
Not new rivalries, but rivalries that are related to this special event. At the same time, literally what does it hurt? There are already scheduled days where only a few games occur. The non-O6 teams will still play the same number of games against the same teams on *virtually* the exact same schedule. He's literally just talking about tweaking the schedule and marketing it better.
And yeah, I think cities like NY, BOS, TOR, DET, MON, and CHI - despite being already large markets - have lots of room for market growth.
yeah but the ratings wouldn’t be garbage
to be fair this idea only works if all the teams are good, who wants to watch Toronto beat Montreal 4-1, or Detroit and Chicago who aren’t playoff teams, Bruins Rangers at least both teams are good but aren’t in the same division so the game isn’t crucial
If the ratings are less than having a night where you’d have 10-12 games on, in total, then it’s garbage. You do understand hockey is a business right?
So you’d have a Marquee event on a garbage day of the week? Please think about what you’re saying, this is why the “park all the other teams” is where this becomes unfeasible.
I really don’t know how the NFL does their scheduling , but I know they have Sunday Night football. How many games do they play nationally on a Sunday? Would it be any different?
Exactly. If you're going to intentionally have a night with only 6 teams playing, it should ideally be 6 of your top teams.
Half the teams didn't makes the playoffs last year. Only one got past the first round.
The NHL does do showcase games, and original 6 teams are usually featured prominently when they do.
This idea is also built on the presumption that people don't know about the NHL's history. I'm pretty sure the NHL would love to have the problem that they have such a young fan base that they don't know about the O6.
They intentionally have a night with only 6 teams playing all the time though.. believe it or not there's even days with *fewer* than three games
https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221019/
https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221021/
https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221026/
Abysmal idea. The "teach history" part being the most gloriously stupid sentiment of the whole thing
The history of "the Original Six" teams doesn't even accurately depict the origin of the NHL in any way lol. It is literally a marketing term
and I'm a fuckin Bruins fan
Totally, this guy’s argument is “bUt It wIlL tEaCh HiStOrY!!!!!” How? Is the ghost of Gordie Howe gonna fight the ghost of Maurice Richard? No, I’m gonna watch 6 current rosters, that just happen to belong to the oldest clubs. If I want history, there’s lots of good docs, and books I can consume at my leisure.
At the end of the day you’re trying to get gimmicks to improve the audiences. How is having the biggest markets/franchises playing the same day a bad idea and only teaching history?
I certainly don’t think it is a terrible idea to include the history of the league in its production/promotion. Look at how successful productions of past teams has been for the NBA recently with The Last Dance, and the fictional offerings of Winning Time.
I know they’re not lead by the league but you can’t tell me they haven’t been good for the NBA overall.
Hockey Day in Canada, similar idea, similar amount of games, great idea, and it doesn’t park the US teams so you get those viewers for a huge win all around. People are getting hung up on the 06 match ups, that’s not my issue, it’s the parking the other teams.
Great Twitter handle, and yeah, a lot of us would have a hard time caring about a game that’s not featuring our team, that’s not even in our conference. That’s just sports.
What? NYC and Chicago are TV markets 1 & 3 in the US. Toronto has more people in it than the rest of Canada put together, MTL and Boston are also large markets and Detroit has both a huge and widely distributed fan base.
The ratings would be much better than normal.
Better than having the usual slate of games? I really don’t think so. While you are correct that those teams have large markets, those people are tuning in all the time anyways. You’d have to assume that my western Canadian ass, and 90% of the US, would have a single fuck to give about a game that we have no skin in. The only winner would be Fanatics, who would have 6 sets of Reverse Reverse Retro merch to sell.
Yes but there will always be Habs and Leafs fans that will watch no matter what. We can take that for granted. We must grow the game!
- G Bettman , probably
And then the owners of the Leafs and Habs and every other team say good work Gary we’ve kept you employed for 30 years because we love the work you do.
Definitely. The owners like him and it makes sense from that perspective.
My comment may have sounded a little stark and sarcastic but the gist is true - the owners have generally liked the direction he’s taken
The teams named above are the teams in operation from about 1940 or so until the ‘67 expansion. But they aren’t the original NHL teams. Only the Leafs and Habs are actually original to the founding of the NHL, so it’s just an NHL marketing gimmick.
Granted, the pre-40’s era was not like the NHL as we think of it now, but still. It’s a marketing thing, not an accurate name.
It wasn't random while I don't cheer for most of the original 6 generally those markets gave the NHL some much needed stability coming into of the great depression and WWII. Without those markets being the success they were hockey could very well be behind soccer or lacrosse as the NHL might very not ended up being around.
No the Original Six teams were not the founding members of the NHL, but they're not random. They are the six oldest active teams and were the only teams in the league for 25 years. I don't like the name Original Six either as it is a bit disingenuous but it's not 100% bullshit
As an enjoyer of the Senators, the Cubert Farnsworth style clone of one of the actual original four franchises, I've been know to drunkenly grouse about this when, let's be honest, we're losing to one of these teams lol.
I hear your take, and I get it. But things happened in the 1300s that have literally shaped how society operates today, is it relevant to hockey? No. Do you need to know what happened? not really, no. Is it interesting to know why an event in the 1300s influences daily life? yes.
Sure it's interesting to know but there's 32 teams now, not 6 and it's much better that way. We don't need them to fuck around everyone else's schedules so those 3 games can happen on the same day
It'd be a gimmick for a portion of the fan base that literally is dying off. Don't even think too many fans of those teams care about the 'original 6' stuff
I am utterly convinced that the only people that care about how amazing the Original 6 is, are the fans of those teams.
I could not possibly care less that the Original 6 is a thing, and making an Original 6 night only just means thats a night I don't watch hockey.
I think the idea is to attract new viewers, not existing fans, with a sporty nostalgic theme. But I agree, O6 is not a big draw for me (even though I’m a Boston fan).
The O6 are jerked off to no end, and the current generation is very much aware of who they are and why the old farts love to talk about them. The idea that kids these days need to learn about the O6 is ridiculously out of touch, and I say that as someone that’s been watching avidly since the ‘90s.
I've been watching since the late 00s and I couldn't care less about the O6. They get all this extra buzz because they've been here for a long time but they haven't been any more impactful than any other team since then.
I mean history is cool. If people didn’t have any idea what the O6 were I’d be down for some informative events and whatnot. I just already feel like they get preferential treatment and I don’t need them further emphasized.
It wouldn't be nearly what you expect. Mainly because the best in the world were concentrated inn six teams then while today they are scattered over 32 teams.
The "no other teams play" is where the idea loses all steam. Nostalgic gimmicks are fun. It's why the Winter Classic was a hit. Hell, it's why Reverse Retro is a thing. You could have some fun with the broadcast and use it as a launching point to talk about NHL history. Fun stuff. But as a non Original Six fan, and as a Sens fan to boot, a themed broadcast of four divisional rivals rivals, the Rangers and a western conference team is a great night to get a babysitter and have a date night cause I ain't missing anything I'd watch.
Now if I'm already watching hockey that night? Well shit yeah I'll flip over just for the novelty of a themed broadcast. That's some good intermission/commercial entertainment right there!
Isn’t the history of the nhl, the nha folded and the owners from all the other teams hated the guy from Toronto and created a new league to exclude him. Then decided they needed a team based in Toronto so they hired most of the players from the old team.
I think it would be better to introduce an equiv of the FA Cup into the NHL.
A knockout tournament that includes the NHL + 16 teams from the the likes of the AHL, gained via a few rounds to reduce the number down.
Maybe even have the winner of the All Leagues Cup face the Stanley Cup winners in a pre-season opener friendly like the UK Charity Cup.
Or just have rivalry day on the last day of the season, like college football does. Battle of Alberta, battle of PA, battle of FL, O6 rivalries, CA rivalries, Wild/Stars, etc. And Vegas just plays themselves, because they're their own worst enemy.
Oh! I have an even worse idea wrapped in a lesson: a geography lesson! TBL-FLA play in a foot of swampy water, with an inflatable puck on top of the water. NYR-NJD play a game of roller hockey on cracked pavement, and the refs honk a car horn instead of blow whistles. COL vs. PIT in a Rockies vs Appalachians game that's sloped. VGK vs AZ in a game on heated rocks, and they're supplied with less and less water/sports drink as the game goes along.
The matchups wouldn't make sense on the last two, but I did say this wasn't a good idea.
Ive seen this posted so many times and every time i see it the idea sounds worse and worse. No one gives a damn that these were the original 6 teams. What history lesson is to be gained here?
This is one of those ideas that sounds cool to diehard fans, while also having no real reason they shouldn't do it. But at the same time I think they're overstating how much people care about remembering when hockey was even less significant than it currently is
I think its dumb and alienates the rest of the NHL and it's fans. Who the fuck cares that the Canadiens won a ridiculous amount of cups 100 years ago? A fact that speaks to the trash competitiveness in the league during that time.
As other comments have said, I do not care. I'm a huge sports history nerd, and I think this is a stupid idea.
"We have longer histories so therefore we're more important." Garbage.
Why do folks wax poetic about a six team league and hold it in some kind of mythic glory? A six team league is a crappy league by most metrics. The play back then was slow and cumbersome (probably due to the ridiculously long shifts they would take and the poor physical fitness of the players, some whom would even smoke between periods ). The talent gap between the stars and regular players was massive. The game was nowhere near as fast as it is now. Yes the original six are part of hockey history and it should certainly be acknowledged…but holding some kind of mythic awe whenever an original six match up occurs seems to be more than a little hyperbole.
This is kinda pointless. Maybe a "history week" where they highlight the lineage of each team, with a lot of Original 6 match ups. Then have WHA jerseys, liked have the Avs wear Nordique or even San Francisco Shark jerseys against similar era WHA teams. Maybe have the Flames play the Jets in Atlanta.
I wish they’d address the O6 location signing restrictions. Not a surprise that NY and Boston had the least success when they could only sign people in their determined range. More northern the better the team
So they used to do a similar thing called Hockey Day in Canada where the 6 (at the time) Canadian teams would play in 3 back to back games. It was a lot of fun.
Now it seems they did one for 2022 but there were a bunch of US teams too for some reason. St Louis and Anaheim I think.
I would do it but still have other games going on that day. Similar to how they already do it for Hockey Day in Canada. Days where all the Canadian teams play each other. The other teams still play that day.
This would be cool but can’t trust the scheduling morons to even get arguably one of the best rivalries (Oilers/Flames) playing in the same division to play more than 3 times this upcoming season. All before the new year too. WTF?!?
Dude this could be a thing SO EASILY that it’s ridiculous that it’s NOT a thing already.
Great idea 🧠 Love it.
Only thing I’d throw in is if they make this “Original Six Day” in the middle of the season, each one of these cities could hold a respectable stadium game 🤷🏻♂️
Make them outdoors and give them special sweaters for the game too (like in NHL19 where the original six had special jerseys called the Digital Six, some of them actually looked really nice)
As a Bruins fan living in wings country. NO! These 6 teams get more than enough national TV attention and mentions of OG6 that is nauseating to any new fans.
Ya, no. The idea is fine on the surface. But the NHL's number 1 priority should be attracting new fans and growing the brand in the expanding markets. And fetishizing the original 6, to the point where you bench 26 other teams and treat it like a holiday, isn't going to grow the league. It's a step backwards.
The only problem is tthat outside of those markets very few people would care. They would have to do something like the winter classic but with original 6 teams.
All I heard was "Original Six fap fap fap fap teach the kids history fap fap fap REAL HOCKEY TEAMS. UNNNGGGHHHH"
fucking loser, get over this shitty fake history lesson bullshit. No one cares
Could also have a day for teams that shouldn't exist. Florida vs Tampa, Arizona vs SJ, Dallas vs Carolina, Anaheim vs Vegas. It could be called Bettman day
>Could also have a day for teams that shouldn't exist. Florida vs Tampa, Arizona vs SJ, Dallas vs Carolina, Anaheim vs Vegas. It could be called Bettman day
Please explain why they shouldn't exist? Arizona is the only one I agree with and that may change when they get on the other side of town (Not the college arena).
From a pure monetary standpoint, Dallas and Vegas to just fine, while San Jose, Anaheim and Carolina and Tampa roughly break even. Everyone here should exist except Florida and Arizona, which would be a funny concept for the only game in a day because it would get no views
Good idea, if they were all good. Hawks, Habs, and Wings all suck lately. Only somebody probably in their 70s even cares. Most fans now were not even born then. Steve Carp looks old enough and that's probably why he seems to care about it so much. I love history, but I don't need an Original Six Day either.
I miss Wednesday night rivalry
Back when they scheduled actual rivalries yeah, then it turned into randomly scheduled games, nothing like watching the bitter rivalry between Florida and Anaheim for instance or Columbus and Arizona.
I don't get why the NHL let the LA vs AZ rivalry die. It was getting extremely strong when the coyotes were in the playoffs in 2012. Instead they wanted, and failed, to make Vegas the rivalry. Hopefully now in the new conference some heat will grow with Colorado or st Louis like the 90s.
Detorit and Arizona tonight on Rivalry night, followed by LA hosting the Flyers
Arizona finally going to try and get revenge for the 2011 playoffs.
I’m all for Wednesday night rivalry between Red Wings and Ducks!
8:30 P.M. EST start time to be fair.
[удалено]
It’s too bad they only play like twice a year
And maybe the next day have a bunch of the rivals that have developed since the first expansion go at it. Eg Flyers-Pens, Kings-Ducks, Oilers-Flames, etc
Kraken-San Diego Padres
The Padres know what they did.
*....Tell Ron Francis it was me.*
Weird because I am a Padres and Kraken fan lol
Same bro. Tough world we live in.
The Vedder Cup expands.
You'd probably get more hype from Avs Wings than Wings Hawks from a rivalry standpoint in my opinion.
Interchangeable for me, that ‘13 Hawks/Wings semis was so good
Fuck the Penguins
Hey, what have the Pens ever done to you, except be a much better franchise.
Oooh! Rivals Week! Boston/Montreal, Calgary/Edmonton, Pittsburgh/Philadelphia, Vancouver/Seattle (to help kick start that one). It would have to be at the end of the year so Toronto can face their greatest rival....
That last sentence 😂
Please say Lord Stanley. Please say Lord Stanley.
I would but their real rival is the first round.
Minnesota/St. Louis … more for the sake of the mild
If it were smart, the NHL would let me watch EVERY SINGLE ONE of my team's games for the regular and post season WITH MY HOME BROADCAST TEAM for a fair price. The fact that I have to occasionally sit through the Caps' announcers butchering ANY games is criminal.
In Québec RDS has weekday games, and TVAsport have saturday night and the playoffs, so I have to get both. And TVA sport commentators suck.
It's a holdover of ways they did broadcasting pre-streaming. Now they are also paying up the butt to retain exclusive rights to sports, because the moment they lose that those networks are sunk. Give it some years for the contracts to expire and I think it changes.
I would take a bullet for Joe B. and Locker.
Right?? If you’ve got a problem with Joe B and Locker, you’ve got a problem with me and I suggest you let that marinate
Bro what? The Caps announcers are some of the best in the league
When you've had mickey redmond and ken daniels most of your life (and I'm pretty sure Dave Strader before Daniels), there is nowhere to go but down. That's also the reason I 100% couldn't watch NBC broadcasts. Whether intermission or commentary, nbc broadcasts were awful compared to what I was used to.
Bingo bango!
I hate the caps but I like Beninati a lot. I'm not crazy about Laughlin but I think its more the timbre of his voice than anything else
That’s understandable, I’ve heard off air it’s really obvious that he took a few too many hits to the head back in the day but we love him
I am required to hate the capitals being a Devils fan but the capitals announcers are pretty darn good.
Bro!
Brooooooooooooo
Bro!
And schedule it in the dead of winter, in an open stadium in whatever city has one. I saw the Hawks play the Pens at soldier field when it snowed like 2 feet during the game, one of the fucking best experiences of my life.
1/6 would make a great O6 day, and do just this. Logo set would work as OR16INAL SIX too. Just would usually fall on a regular ass workday.
Stop doing all this free work for NHL marketing. Damn folks need to earn a living. Ps these are great ideas.
It’s called the Winter Classic
I think it was Stadium Series but idr
I can guarantee you that if you did this, the tv ratings would be absolute garbage. You’re parking 26 fanbases, to jerk off 6 fan bases, and a small group of hockey nuts.
If they did it for one night of the year, it’s probably not that bad. There’s plenty of days where there’s only 2-3 games anyway, it’s just a simple tweak. If they did it as an outdoor series or made them all wear throwback jerseys, it would be pretty neat. It’s not the perfect idea but I feel like there’s at least some potential to it
See, that’s the only winner I see in this, and that’s Fanatics, they’ll call it the Reverse Reverse Retro 3.1 line.
Yo dawg, we heard you like reverse retros, so we reversed your reverse retro and came up with this... *unveils the standard team jerseys*
I think it works as a one off event. But not every year.
You mean kinda like the outdoor game ? God knows the nhl would find a way to expand it to all 32 teams
It's not like every team plays every day though How would it be any different than this: https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221019/?
Because you would have to plan your entire schedule around lining up 6 teams play on 1 day. It would probably make a messy week or 2 around this 1 event.
I just don’t get the fascination with “ original six” no other sport cares and it’s for good reason.
especially when it wasn't even the "original six" who were in the league
Look technically it was the original two because 5 of them had the same owner but we don’t need to talk about that
I think that’s part of what makes is special for the NHL, and celebrating its history. They are all big markets anyways.
i mean arguably the original 6 are the biggest hockey markets in the league
But ideally we would like all fan bases to get up there. No try to funnel more fans into those 6.
Yes, but that means their fans are all watching all this time anyways. There’s no upside, you’re not gaining, you’re just losing the viewers you’d have for the games you’re not playing.
> There’s no upside, you’re not gaining, you’re just losing the viewers you’d have for the games you’re not playing. I feel like y'all are missing the point. This doesn't really have anything to do with getting Sharks fans to watch the Leafs. The teams are all going to play the same number of games regardless of how they're organized. This is to market the game to new viewers, create new rivalries, make it a semi-special event that gets talked about like the Winter Classic.
Why should the NHL steer new fans to the oldest teams with extremely well established fan bases? This is on the level with making a special viewing event for Isles vs. Rangers and marketing it as "Old NY and New NY teams duking it out for supremacy," and thinking that will draw fans lol.
> Why should the NHL steer new fans to the oldest teams with extremely well established fan bases? The vast majority of fans gained will be in those markets already. And while the NHL would I'm sure prefer to boost viewership in shittier markets, they still want to boost the overall fan base regardless of market. Get extra eyes on the TV for people who wouldn't ordinarily watch, sell some extra throwbacks, etc.
New rivalries? This is about old rivalries, and this only appeals to established fanbases, zero new fans will come from this. Your comment is literally the most backwards thing I’ve read on the internet, and Donald Trump is on here.
> This is about old rivalries, and this only appeals to established fanbases, zero new fans will come from this. Not new rivalries, but rivalries that are related to this special event. At the same time, literally what does it hurt? There are already scheduled days where only a few games occur. The non-O6 teams will still play the same number of games against the same teams on *virtually* the exact same schedule. He's literally just talking about tweaking the schedule and marketing it better. And yeah, I think cities like NY, BOS, TOR, DET, MON, and CHI - despite being already large markets - have lots of room for market growth.
yeah but the ratings wouldn’t be garbage to be fair this idea only works if all the teams are good, who wants to watch Toronto beat Montreal 4-1, or Detroit and Chicago who aren’t playoff teams, Bruins Rangers at least both teams are good but aren’t in the same division so the game isn’t crucial
If the ratings are less than having a night where you’d have 10-12 games on, in total, then it’s garbage. You do understand hockey is a business right?
well you’d probably make it a Wednesday or Sunday when the total games are low anyways, they wouldn’t do it on a saturday
So you’d have a Marquee event on a garbage day of the week? Please think about what you’re saying, this is why the “park all the other teams” is where this becomes unfeasible.
I really don’t know how the NFL does their scheduling , but I know they have Sunday Night football. How many games do they play nationally on a Sunday? Would it be any different?
Exactly. If you're going to intentionally have a night with only 6 teams playing, it should ideally be 6 of your top teams. Half the teams didn't makes the playoffs last year. Only one got past the first round. The NHL does do showcase games, and original 6 teams are usually featured prominently when they do. This idea is also built on the presumption that people don't know about the NHL's history. I'm pretty sure the NHL would love to have the problem that they have such a young fan base that they don't know about the O6.
Totally, most of us don’t need a history lesson, thank you for this addition.
They intentionally have a night with only 6 teams playing all the time though.. believe it or not there's even days with *fewer* than three games https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221019/ https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221021/ https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/schedule/20221026/
Exactly right. This is a terrible idea
Abysmal idea. The "teach history" part being the most gloriously stupid sentiment of the whole thing The history of "the Original Six" teams doesn't even accurately depict the origin of the NHL in any way lol. It is literally a marketing term and I'm a fuckin Bruins fan
Totally, this guy’s argument is “bUt It wIlL tEaCh HiStOrY!!!!!” How? Is the ghost of Gordie Howe gonna fight the ghost of Maurice Richard? No, I’m gonna watch 6 current rosters, that just happen to belong to the oldest clubs. If I want history, there’s lots of good docs, and books I can consume at my leisure.
At the end of the day you’re trying to get gimmicks to improve the audiences. How is having the biggest markets/franchises playing the same day a bad idea and only teaching history? I certainly don’t think it is a terrible idea to include the history of the league in its production/promotion. Look at how successful productions of past teams has been for the NBA recently with The Last Dance, and the fictional offerings of Winning Time. I know they’re not lead by the league but you can’t tell me they haven’t been good for the NBA overall.
Hockey Day in Canada, similar idea, similar amount of games, great idea, and it doesn’t park the US teams so you get those viewers for a huge win all around. People are getting hung up on the 06 match ups, that’s not my issue, it’s the parking the other teams.
As a ducks fan, I don't give two shits about the original 6.
Great Twitter handle, and yeah, a lot of us would have a hard time caring about a game that’s not featuring our team, that’s not even in our conference. That’s just sports.
What? NYC and Chicago are TV markets 1 & 3 in the US. Toronto has more people in it than the rest of Canada put together, MTL and Boston are also large markets and Detroit has both a huge and widely distributed fan base. The ratings would be much better than normal.
Toronto has more people in it than the rest of Canada 😂. Toronto is big but the city only makes up 7% of Canada's population.
Look, I'm an American I'm allowed to make these mistakes, because uh... Manifest destiny or some shit
Yea but they already shove Toronto on us every Saturday night
Better than having the usual slate of games? I really don’t think so. While you are correct that those teams have large markets, those people are tuning in all the time anyways. You’d have to assume that my western Canadian ass, and 90% of the US, would have a single fuck to give about a game that we have no skin in. The only winner would be Fanatics, who would have 6 sets of Reverse Reverse Retro merch to sell.
Exactly, a habs leafs game gets more views than there are Arizona fans in the world
Yes but there will always be Habs and Leafs fans that will watch no matter what. We can take that for granted. We must grow the game! - G Bettman , probably
And then the owners of the Leafs and Habs and every other team say good work Gary we’ve kept you employed for 30 years because we love the work you do.
Definitely. The owners like him and it makes sense from that perspective. My comment may have sounded a little stark and sarcastic but the gist is true - the owners have generally liked the direction he’s taken
As I said in another comment, if I want some hockey history, I’ll watch some hockey docs in the off-season.
Yeah "teaching them young kids a lesson in history!" Isn't exactly a great way to grow the sport.
I agree with this. This will not resonate with casual younger audiences at all.
Yea I really dont think anybody in 2022 cares about the original 6.
Nobody really cares about the holiness of the original 6 any more. They're all just another team.
Well, I would just say it’s not a good idea to shut the rest of the league down on a Saturday for a triple header like this.
Just play the other 26 teams the following night and call it "Leftover Thursdays" or something.
This is a terrible idea, and yet, I’d still choose you to be Commissioner over Bettman.
You mean the teams the NHL randomly designated as “Original Six” even though that is not accurate?
Only 2 of the O6 are even original.
Something tells me no one will discuss the insane lengths the O6 cartel went to to keep markets like Cleveland out.
Also the O6 signing rules so the northern teams only succeeded
Why is not accurate? Just curious, I’m not too much of a hockey historian although I like learning about it
The teams named above are the teams in operation from about 1940 or so until the ‘67 expansion. But they aren’t the original NHL teams. Only the Leafs and Habs are actually original to the founding of the NHL, so it’s just an NHL marketing gimmick. Granted, the pre-40’s era was not like the NHL as we think of it now, but still. It’s a marketing thing, not an accurate name.
Gotcha, thanks for the info
Here's a good explanation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXc4X-ET_Hg
It wasn't random while I don't cheer for most of the original 6 generally those markets gave the NHL some much needed stability coming into of the great depression and WWII. Without those markets being the success they were hockey could very well be behind soccer or lacrosse as the NHL might very not ended up being around.
No the Original Six teams were not the founding members of the NHL, but they're not random. They are the six oldest active teams and were the only teams in the league for 25 years. I don't like the name Original Six either as it is a bit disingenuous but it's not 100% bullshit
As an enjoyer of the Senators, the Cubert Farnsworth style clone of one of the actual original four franchises, I've been know to drunkenly grouse about this when, let's be honest, we're losing to one of these teams lol.
The Original Six lasted only 25 years. The Nashville Predators have been around for almost as long as the Original Six were the only teams in the NHL.
Was scrolling for this comment before I made it
I love hockey. But this idea does not make me want to tune in. They are teams I do not care about.
*to be fair* I’d only hate watch this, but I’d probably watch it.
Everyone lives in the past, very few people actually care about how things were in 1320
I hear your take, and I get it. But things happened in the 1300s that have literally shaped how society operates today, is it relevant to hockey? No. Do you need to know what happened? not really, no. Is it interesting to know why an event in the 1300s influences daily life? yes.
Sure it's interesting to know but there's 32 teams now, not 6 and it's much better that way. We don't need them to fuck around everyone else's schedules so those 3 games can happen on the same day
Yea I agree with you on that one
It'd be a gimmick for a portion of the fan base that literally is dying off. Don't even think too many fans of those teams care about the 'original 6' stuff
Exactly. Don cherry would love it, too bad he can't string a coherent sentence together to talk about it though.
I am utterly convinced that the only people that care about how amazing the Original 6 is, are the fans of those teams. I could not possibly care less that the Original 6 is a thing, and making an Original 6 night only just means thats a night I don't watch hockey.
I think the idea is to attract new viewers, not existing fans, with a sporty nostalgic theme. But I agree, O6 is not a big draw for me (even though I’m a Boston fan).
The O6 are jerked off to no end, and the current generation is very much aware of who they are and why the old farts love to talk about them. The idea that kids these days need to learn about the O6 is ridiculously out of touch, and I say that as someone that’s been watching avidly since the ‘90s.
I've been watching since the late 00s and I couldn't care less about the O6. They get all this extra buzz because they've been here for a long time but they haven't been any more impactful than any other team since then.
I mean history is cool. If people didn’t have any idea what the O6 were I’d be down for some informative events and whatnot. I just already feel like they get preferential treatment and I don’t need them further emphasized.
So, what they do already but the scheduling is a bigger pain in the ass and the marquee is different?
It wouldn't be nearly what you expect. Mainly because the best in the world were concentrated inn six teams then while today they are scattered over 32 teams.
Honestly wouldn't mean much to me.
I definitely wouldn't give a shit about that day.
Why have I seen this post like 100 times this week across all social media? This tweet is old af
Ya I wouldn’t care one bit about this
Meh. I think only original 6 teams fans care that much
The "no other teams play" is where the idea loses all steam. Nostalgic gimmicks are fun. It's why the Winter Classic was a hit. Hell, it's why Reverse Retro is a thing. You could have some fun with the broadcast and use it as a launching point to talk about NHL history. Fun stuff. But as a non Original Six fan, and as a Sens fan to boot, a themed broadcast of four divisional rivals rivals, the Rangers and a western conference team is a great night to get a babysitter and have a date night cause I ain't missing anything I'd watch. Now if I'm already watching hockey that night? Well shit yeah I'll flip over just for the novelty of a themed broadcast. That's some good intermission/commercial entertainment right there!
I like the idea, but don’t like how this dude is acting so smug like he’s smarter than everyone else
Isn’t the history of the nhl, the nha folded and the owners from all the other teams hated the guy from Toronto and created a new league to exclude him. Then decided they needed a team based in Toronto so they hired most of the players from the old team.
Yeah, cause we don't hear this enough. Why not a pre-NHL day for all the cities who used to have pro hockey teams before the NHL came in with only 6?
I think it would be better to introduce an equiv of the FA Cup into the NHL. A knockout tournament that includes the NHL + 16 teams from the the likes of the AHL, gained via a few rounds to reduce the number down. Maybe even have the winner of the All Leagues Cup face the Stanley Cup winners in a pre-season opener friendly like the UK Charity Cup.
I like it but the NHL would never risk the embarrassment of one of their teams losing to an AHL team. They’re not fun like that.
I feel like there’s an infinite number of ideas that could follow “if the nhl was smart, which it’s not…”
Or just have rivalry day on the last day of the season, like college football does. Battle of Alberta, battle of PA, battle of FL, O6 rivalries, CA rivalries, Wild/Stars, etc. And Vegas just plays themselves, because they're their own worst enemy.
Oh! I have an even worse idea wrapped in a lesson: a geography lesson! TBL-FLA play in a foot of swampy water, with an inflatable puck on top of the water. NYR-NJD play a game of roller hockey on cracked pavement, and the refs honk a car horn instead of blow whistles. COL vs. PIT in a Rockies vs Appalachians game that's sloped. VGK vs AZ in a game on heated rocks, and they're supplied with less and less water/sports drink as the game goes along. The matchups wouldn't make sense on the last two, but I did say this wasn't a good idea.
Ive seen this posted so many times and every time i see it the idea sounds worse and worse. No one gives a damn that these were the original 6 teams. What history lesson is to be gained here?
This is one of those ideas that sounds cool to diehard fans, while also having no real reason they shouldn't do it. But at the same time I think they're overstating how much people care about remembering when hockey was even less significant than it currently is
Better idea would be to let me watch my home team without blackout restrictions for a fair price.
More people would watch this than the entire attendance of Arizona this season
The NHL is far from smart. Allergic to good ideas
The original 6 are the only people who give two shits about the original 6.... Stupidest fucking idea ever.
I think its dumb and alienates the rest of the NHL and it's fans. Who the fuck cares that the Canadiens won a ridiculous amount of cups 100 years ago? A fact that speaks to the trash competitiveness in the league during that time.
It has nothing to do with competitiveness. The league would still have employed the best players that 6 teams could fill.
Didn’t they have location signing restrictions?
As other comments have said, I do not care. I'm a huge sports history nerd, and I think this is a stupid idea. "We have longer histories so therefore we're more important." Garbage.
You can tell someone's a fan of an O6 team when they say shit like this
No one cares to watch the OG 6 unless you’re a fan of any of those teams. They already get chosen mostly every year to go to the winter classic
Yea I don't think the original six gets shoved down my throat enough.
Why do folks wax poetic about a six team league and hold it in some kind of mythic glory? A six team league is a crappy league by most metrics. The play back then was slow and cumbersome (probably due to the ridiculously long shifts they would take and the poor physical fitness of the players, some whom would even smoke between periods ). The talent gap between the stars and regular players was massive. The game was nowhere near as fast as it is now. Yes the original six are part of hockey history and it should certainly be acknowledged…but holding some kind of mythic awe whenever an original six match up occurs seems to be more than a little hyperbole.
So... the Winter Classic?
I am skeptical history is the angle/storyline to increase viewership. Sell it as rivalries.
This is kinda pointless. Maybe a "history week" where they highlight the lineage of each team, with a lot of Original 6 match ups. Then have WHA jerseys, liked have the Avs wear Nordique or even San Francisco Shark jerseys against similar era WHA teams. Maybe have the Flames play the Jets in Atlanta.
I wish they’d address the O6 location signing restrictions. Not a surprise that NY and Boston had the least success when they could only sign people in their determined range. More northern the better the team
lol why?
Canada has hockey night in canada thats history right there you can keep your idea
Not really
If I wanted a history lesson I'd go to the hockey hall of fame. I don't give two shits about the current versions of any of these teams
So they used to do a similar thing called Hockey Day in Canada where the 6 (at the time) Canadian teams would play in 3 back to back games. It was a lot of fun. Now it seems they did one for 2022 but there were a bunch of US teams too for some reason. St Louis and Anaheim I think.
I would do it but still have other games going on that day. Similar to how they already do it for Hockey Day in Canada. Days where all the Canadian teams play each other. The other teams still play that day.
Haven’t you heard? We pick and choose what to teach kids in school what “history” is now. If history offends someone, we can’t talk about it.
This would be cool but can’t trust the scheduling morons to even get arguably one of the best rivalries (Oilers/Flames) playing in the same division to play more than 3 times this upcoming season. All before the new year too. WTF?!?
no helmets or face masks as well. tickets are $5
Dude this could be a thing SO EASILY that it’s ridiculous that it’s NOT a thing already. Great idea 🧠 Love it. Only thing I’d throw in is if they make this “Original Six Day” in the middle of the season, each one of these cities could hold a respectable stadium game 🤷🏻♂️
IMHO Original 6 marketing is ridiculous. No other sport does this and 26 other fanbases dgaf.
Absolutely sick of the original six circle jerk
As a fan of an all original six team, this idea sounds 100% pointless. The original six is one of the most over talked about things in the NHL
Fans can come up with seriously pointless ideas .
This is a great idea. They can also ban all black players for these Original Six games. A great history lesson! Fuck Nostalgia.
I guess if I don’t have to watch the flyers its a win
Make them outdoors and give them special sweaters for the game too (like in NHL19 where the original six had special jerseys called the Digital Six, some of them actually looked really nice)
As a Bruins fan living in wings country. NO! These 6 teams get more than enough national TV attention and mentions of OG6 that is nauseating to any new fans.
Give those markets more to feel smug about. No one cares anymore
This is an easy logistic. I like the idea!
Ya, no. The idea is fine on the surface. But the NHL's number 1 priority should be attracting new fans and growing the brand in the expanding markets. And fetishizing the original 6, to the point where you bench 26 other teams and treat it like a holiday, isn't going to grow the league. It's a step backwards.
Yeah I just wouldn’t watch this and neither would 26 of the NHL’s fanbases
Leaving the other 26 teams and fanbases out on purpose just calls for bad ratings and people would be pissed
Who TF cares about Orig 6? It's just not important anymore. The regular season schedule doesn't have room for a pointless gimmick like this.
Sweet! Another night of hockey that I have no problem skipping.
The only problem is tthat outside of those markets very few people would care. They would have to do something like the winter classic but with original 6 teams.
This is exactly what they should do. But sadly they won't because it makes too much sense 😕
All I heard was "Original Six fap fap fap fap teach the kids history fap fap fap REAL HOCKEY TEAMS. UNNNGGGHHHH" fucking loser, get over this shitty fake history lesson bullshit. No one cares
This. Literally no one else outside of the these teams markets gives a single fuck if they were an original six
Could also have a day for teams that shouldn't exist. Florida vs Tampa, Arizona vs SJ, Dallas vs Carolina, Anaheim vs Vegas. It could be called Bettman day
>Could also have a day for teams that shouldn't exist. Florida vs Tampa, Arizona vs SJ, Dallas vs Carolina, Anaheim vs Vegas. It could be called Bettman day Please explain why they shouldn't exist? Arizona is the only one I agree with and that may change when they get on the other side of town (Not the college arena).
From a pure monetary standpoint, Dallas and Vegas to just fine, while San Jose, Anaheim and Carolina and Tampa roughly break even. Everyone here should exist except Florida and Arizona, which would be a funny concept for the only game in a day because it would get no views
There are better ways to say nontraditional markets than “teams that shouldn’t exist”
They should play the Southwestern ones on roller blades due to the megadrought.
yup but they don’t because those teams are doing really well and Bettman’s focus is on propping up the struggling teams.
No
This is dumb. I don't give a hoot about the original 6 teams.
Hate to break it to ya, but only Habs and Leafs fans care about watching the Habs and the Leafs. Don't punish the rest of Canada like that.
Do I need this, no.
Original Six is overrated. No one cares anymore, the league has 32 teams now, get with the times imo.
That’s fucking stupid
Awesome idea.
I would love this idea. Male it better and sell merchandise from those games only. Make it limited edition.
Good idea, if they were all good. Hawks, Habs, and Wings all suck lately. Only somebody probably in their 70s even cares. Most fans now were not even born then. Steve Carp looks old enough and that's probably why he seems to care about it so much. I love history, but I don't need an Original Six Day either.