Bob Ford: Fighting is hockey's problem

Even in retrospect, nearly a week after all the buzz surrounding the Olympic gold-medal hockey game between the U.S. team and Canada has subsided, the viewership numbers for that matchup are still staggering.

It was the most-watched hockey game in the United States since the 1980 gold-medal game, and the most-watched sporting event ever in Canada, which is really saying something because those folks are indoors a lot.

Put the numbers together and the viewership in the two countries, the homelands for all the National Hockey League teams, approached 50 million.

Hockey in Canada doesn't particularly need a marketing boost, but it's hard to imagine a better commercial for the game in the United State than the Olympic final. It wasn't a perfect game, and far from the "best hockey game ever" gushing that followed, but it was pretty good, particularly for the casual fan.

Any game that goes to overtime is exciting, especially any game that important, but any game that goes to overtime because a goalie fails to glove a save that juniors make in their sleep loses a couple of style points.

And any game that ends with a sudden-death goal scored by a superstar obviously lends to the celebrity of the moment, but any such goal made possible when two defenders chase the "give" on a simple give-and-go and allow the "go" to walk in unchecked is somewhat less than the best ever.

Still, Sidney Crosby's deciding goal set off a monumental celebration in Canada and prevented the helium from escaping the giant inflated beavers that were about to merrily decorate the closing ceremonies. As for the United States, the outcome was a little deflating, but the promoters of the game talked bravely of an "Olympic carryover" for stateside interest in the NHL.

As if.

Hockey fans have been down this particular road before, and they know where it leads. If the NHL bosses actually delude themselves on the topic, it leads to a spate of new teams in places they should never be and, sometimes, to rule changes designed to lure new fans and, at the same time, drive the old fans crazy.

That's the conundrum for U.S. hockey fans who would like to see the NHL someday break out of its No. 4 rut. (Probably No. 5 during college football and basketball seasons, and maybe No. 6 depending on what NASCAR is doing.)

The price for gaining wider appreciation might be a steep one, and the ante for gaining admission to the game always comes back to the fighting.