By CADE KENNEDY, Student Reporter
For most people on campus, watching a hockey game is not how you would occupy your Saturday afternoon.
However, I am a massive sports fan, so spending 10 hours on a Saturday watching sports is normal to me. One of the major sporting events of the week that I was excited to see was a hockey game played in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
The game started at 2 p.m., and all seemed to be going well for the two teams: the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche. Despite the lack of stands, many spectators passed by the rink and showed their support for the Avalanche, Golden Knights or an entirely different team.
The first period went by without a problem, and the lake provided a perfect backdrop for what was shaping to be a good game.
While everything looked fine watching on TV, the temperature at Lake Tahoe was above average for this time of year and was causing the ice to melt. This led to the remainder of the game restarting at 9 p.m. local time, meaning that the game would resume at 11 p.m. in Alva.
This also changed the broadcast of the game from being on NBC to being on NBC Sports, a network that not as many people get. This also impacted Sunday’s game at Lake Tahoe as well, as it was also moved from to NBC Sports and given a 6 p.m. start time instead of 2 p.m.
This was a disaster for the NHL, as they had a perfect opportunity to show off some of the best teams in the league at a venue that would be recognizable to people who do not watch sports. And they ruined it. All they had to do was check the forecast for Saturday and Sunday and rework the schedule with NBC, or they could have prepared a makeshift arena to host the games.
This was frustrating to see unfold, as the NHL is usually ready for situations like this. The NHL has had a history of playing games outdoors and had a prime opportunity to attract more fans than usual, but completely ruined any chance of that happening.
Instead, Colorado won the game 3 – 2 with the game ending at 12:50 a.m. Sunday with a smaller amount of people watching the game than expected.
The NHL has taken steps to make hockey more popular in the United States, but they took another step backwards over the weekend.
Despite the setbacks, both games were entertaining to watch and showed why hockey is a fun sport.
If you ever get the chance to watch hockey, whether it be in person or on television, I would encourage you to watch it.