Break Point

Hello My Friends,

I apologize for my lack of entries over the past several weeks. This last week has been incredibly busy, at least nationally. The NBA Finals just tipped off, while the NHL season just wrapped up. Speaking of the Stanley Cup Finals, what a treat! Pittsburgh and Detroit were spectacular! Even if you're not a hockey fan, you have to admit that the series was exciting. With elimination on the brink in game 5, down 3-2, the Penguins forced overtime by scoring with just 35 seconds left in regulation, spawning two and a half overtimes, which Pittsburgh eventually scored the sudden death goal to force game 6. Two days later, down 3-1 with less than 2 minutes to play, the Penguins rallied one final time. Marian Hossa scored on a powerplay with just 1:27 to go in regulation to pull the Pens within 1 goal. Hossa would get one final chance, an unbelievable shot as the buzzer rang. Hossa somehow got his stick around Red Wings' goalie, Chris Osgood, sliding the puck along the goaline, but it never crossed into the net.

As I watched game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, I wondered to myself why the NHL is one of the least watched sports here in America. The game is fast and exciting, especially during playoff time. It's a combination of football and soccer on ice. And then it came to me. Hockey is the only sport to request two breaks within a game. Football, basketball and soccer all require just one halftime, generally 15-20 minutes long, while baseball has its seventh inning stretch. But hockey has a break following each period, consisting of 20 minutes. While I understand the sport is very physically demanding, multiple breaks just slow the game down. Hockey is a very intense sport, and once it ends, most fans need time to wind down. But after 20 minutes, it's hard to regain your attention. Maybe if hockey could at least shorten their breaks to just 10 minutes, it would help retain many of the fans that change the channel in between periods, and never turn it back.