Ever since Max Kellerman was on First Take last week saying that “in the United States of America, no one cares about hockey”, he has taken criticism from many in the hockey industry. First, it was ESPN anchor Linda Cohn, who tweeted her displeasure for the comments:
Then, a couple days later, Colin Cowherd, host of The Herd on FS1, chimed in on Twitter by saying that college football was one of the big four sports in the US instead of the NHL, which was further behind on his rankings:
This week, another major NHL expert chimed in with his thoughts. During the season, Cohn hosts a show on ESPN+ called In The Crease, which is a nightly show that shows all the highlights from that night’s games. Plus, you get analysis from former head coach and analyst at ESPN/NHL Network, Barry Melrose.
Melrose was on The Jake Asman Show on SB Nation Radio on Tuesday and he talked about Kellerman’s comments and how maybe he felt Kellerman was trying to get stir up the debate with his comments. You can find the full interview with Melrose here.
“The funny thing about Max, I was at ESPN when he started a long time ago. He likes hockey. He likes all sports. I think he was trying to get a razz out of the guys.”
Despite the comments that have been made, the NHL should get their chance to gain fans nationally when they resume play, which looks to happen this summer. Melrose addressed during the interview that while the NHL isn’t the most popular sport, it still is popular in its own right.
“In a lot of places, hockey is played in front of full houses every night. They are number one in a lot of cities. Hockey is a billion dollar industry. Are we as big as the other sports? No. But, I will tell you the product on the ice is great, the athletes are great. You don’t have to knock another product to make yours look better.”
One thing is for certain. The NHL is going to get an opportunity to gain more fans with an extended Stanley Cup Playoffs format and potentially more national TV exposure. Since the Olympics have been postponed until 2021, we could see more playoff games on NBC this summer, which can only help the sport.
Even though ESPN does not have the broadcast rights to the NHL anymore, it is safe to say the network will cover it when play resumes as more and more sports start to come back. Once the Stanley Cup Playoffs start, the excitement for even the casual sports fan brings them to the television.
