What's the "duh" for? It appears you're agreeing with me, but there's an argumentative "but" followed by a term that is generally used in derogatory fashion.
So I no longer have any idea what you're actually trying to say.
Would you be so kind as to clarify your message, please?
I agree with you that a large number of viewers tuned in to see USA-Canada's gold medal match because it was an EVENT, as opposed to tuning in solely for their "love of hockey."
While there's certainly a mixture of both for a large number of people (such as myself, and I assume you), I don't think that the idea that "more people tuned in because it was an event" is somehow bad in any way shape or form.
I'd love for it to reach a point where in the United States, businesses closed, and the entire nation stopped to watch the USA hockey and soccer teams in the Olympics and World Cup, it's not quite realistic to expect that ratings for USA-Kazakhstan in the opening round are no different than USA-Canada in the gold medal game.
So, the "but duh" was based less on disagreement and merely as a "that's stating the obvious." People watch big events. More people watch big events than watch ordinary events. The World Cup, the Super Bowl, the gold medal game -- heck, virtually all of the Olympics (although I watch curling online whenever I see its online), etc.
It's never a bad thing to have more people watching a big event.
The real question is: "What measures are being taken to make casual viewers return as fans?"
The US & ESPN/ABC did an excellent job of turning the England-USA world cup match into the first of TWO TIMES they set the record for most-watched soccer match. Virtually everyone who watched USA-England, AND MORE, watched USA-Ghana.
It's been my long-standing belief that the NHL needs to capitalize better on events that draw casual viewers and try to make them repeat customers.
Promotion works. The fact that ESPN has turned in record-setting ratings for the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament the last few years illustrates that: They heavily promote it all year during the men's games. and people follow.
The NHL needs a Super Bowl commercial to target football fans who suddenly have a Sunday without hard-hitting sports. Show football fans that their love of football would carry over to hockey pretty well if they just give it a chance (and oh by the way, we have Pittsburgh at Los Angeles/Anaheim starting at 10 p.m. ET after the Super Bowl!). Same with the Olympics.