After Last Season’s Playoff Loss To Vegas, Colorado Seeks Redemption and Cup Against Two-Time Defending NHL Champion Tampa Bay
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
After the Vegas Golden Knights vanquished the Colorado Avalanche on the Avs’ home ice here at Ball Arena in the NHL playoffs a year ago, the Avalanche’s arena is hosting Media Day Tuesday for the Stanley Cup Final featuring Colorado.
While the Golden Knights did not even qualify as one of the 16 teams to make the NHL postseason, the Colorado franchise is seeking redemption after last year’s crushing defeat to VGK against a team seeking its third consecutive Stanley Cup.
The Tampa Bay Lightning played their best late in the games against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals and defeated the Gerard Gallant-led Rangers in six games to punch their ticket to Denver.
“It’s played out so well for us. You couldn’t script it,” the NHL’s top marketing man, Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer, told LVSportsBiz.com Tuesday. “It’s about making it into a hockey show.”
Keep in mind, this Stanley Cup Final is capping a full regular season after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to hold the Cup playoffs in COVID bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto two years ago and then stage an abbreviated 56-game regular season schedule last season.
Tampa Bay won Cups in both years.
Mayer said there’s a genuine buzz in Denver with activities both in the arena and outside, plus he expects both teams’ game-day presentation crews to shine during the Cup Final in Denver and Tampa.
Here in Denver, Ball Arena is part of the Platte Valley entertainment district, which features the MLB Rockies’ Coors Field about a mile to the north and the NFL Broncos’ Empower Field at Mile High on the west side of the Platte about a half-mile away.
The city/county of Denver connects these sports venues with bicycle trails on both sides of the Platte River. The heart of the old city is where the Cherry Creek intersects with the Platte.
Here’s a a Q and A that gives you background on this arena.
The Colorado team is the former Quebec Nordiques franchise and occasionally chatter will surface about the former Quebec market winning an NHL team.
The NHL will benefit from the ESPN/ABC coverage in terms of promotion and exposure of a product that still struggles with TV ratings compared to the NFL or NBA.
LVSportsBiz.com checked the arena as broadcast crews prepped the venue for Wednesday’s puck drop for Game 1.
In terms of ratings, if the Rangers were in the finals instead of Lightning, the New York City market would have been a major boon for the NHL.
To grow the product, the NHL will need to appeal to America’s Black and Latino demos — consumer groups that have not bought into a league dominated by white players.
Players for both the Avalanche and Lightning will be available this afternoon and we will ask them about the Final and the Las Vegas market.
Our LVSportsBiz.com Stanley Cup coverage is brought to you by real estate agent Liz Lane and ISM bicycle seats
