This really seems to be gaining momentum now. If the NHL wanted my advice on how best to run this (and I’m sure they do!), my tips would be as follows:
Venue: Melbourne or Sydney. Two largest cities, no-brainer there. As Kevin said, Melbourne has Marvel Stadium, an Aussie Rules Football venue with a roof. Holds 50,000 people. Having games there would be like one of the winter classics. Big event, big atmosphere, but unless you’re one of the lucky ones with a no-doubt expensive seat close to the rink, the viewing is going to be distant and poor. Also, if it sells poorly, it’ll be a bad look for the league. I get why the NHL would be interested in it, as they could sell more tickets and make more money, but I’m not in favor of it. The average fan will get a spectacle but not much of a proper look at what’s actually happening on the ice. Plus the concessions at Marvel are unsurprisingly bad, thanks Delaware.
Both Melbourne and Sydney have smaller multipurpose indoor arenas. Melbourne’s holds 15k, Sydney’s 18k. I’d much rather they go with one of those. Would replicate the regular NHL experience and give the attendees better viewing and a crowd that is more engaged and probably has a larger portion of genuine, passionate fans. But will the economics of it stack up? Doubtful, I reluctantly have to say, and here the bigger football stadium has the edge. If I had to bet, I’d say Marvel will get the nod, even though it ideally shouldn’t.
Teams: The largest number of hockey fans in Oz are either Canadians or people with Canadian spouses, relatives etc. I would say the most popular teams are the Leafs and the Canucks. Doesn’t necessarily have to be either of those two, but sending at least one Canadian team here should be a priority and an easy means of generating interest. Then there are the ex-pat Americans and just randoms like me who somehow got into hockey, and amongst the US teams, the best known are of course the Original 6 ones, plus Pittsburgh on account of semi-recent success and the fact that Crosby is the most-known current player here. The Kings are not really known but LA is LA, so they could perhaps work. The other one is the Ducks. Yes they suck but the Mighty Ducks films were big here and people remember them fondly. Bring them over and stick them in their old purple and green uniforms and that’s an easy sell. Bringing west coast teams also has the advantage of knocking 4-6 hours off the flight time each way.
If it were only two teams making the trip I would go with one of the west Canadian teams or Toronto and one of the US teams I just noted. Four and I’d just add another from each country. Having a US v Canada element can boost interest. I’d of course love to see the Bruins come here and I think they’d be a draw, to a point, but the extra travel factor for them does have to be considered.
Players: I’ve said this before, but the NHL has to make sure that the teams competing send over at least most of their regular NHL players. And they have to play hard. Nothing Australians hate more than being fobbed off with second-rates (no offense to the AHL guys) or lesser versions of the real thing. Don’t pretend to us that the ‘NHL’ is coming if it’s just an exhibition. I wouldn’t necessarily say that points have to be on the line, but the stars need to be here and the games need to be genuinely competitive and physical. Doesn’t matter that most people will never actually have heard of Pastrnak or McDavid or Matthews, they will quickly sus out if the guys who are here are legit or not.
Do it right and NHL in Oz could work really well. The profile of the sport is not big here but TV ratings for hockey at the Olympics are always solid, people are used to and like physical, tough sport, and the knowledge that the league is one of the ‘big 4’ in North America will interest a lot of general sports fans and people who just like a good show. But there are potential pitfalls too where the league could rather screw this up. Fingers crossed though that it’s well-organized and it does go ahead.
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