When the NHL sorted out the season completion details, one ESPN personality carried out a haphazard blow in the sport.
Speaking at “First Take” on Thursday, Max Kellerman said “no one really cares about hockey” in the country, adding that it was not one of the four main sports.
On the show, Kellerman said, “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but in the United States, nobody really cares about hockey. The old joke is, in every city there are 20,000 hockey fans [and] they all have seasonal tickets. So the arena is always sold out, but TV ratings don’t do anything. It is not one of the four main team sports. “
Kellerman did not say what he considered to be the fourth major team sport he would join with the NBA, NFL and MLB, but he managed to attract the anger of ESPN colleague Linda Cohn. The longtime host of ESPN “SportsCenter” is a loud Rangers fan.
ESPN is often criticized for lack of hockey coverage and as observers point out, while TV ratings for the NHL are far behind the other three major US sports, they are also significantly better than numbers for other sports or leagues, such as MLS.
And Game 7 years ago of the Stanley Cup Final between Blues and Bruins attracted the biggest league audience this decade.
Depending on what happens in the coming months, the NHL can also have a lot of eyes this summer in a potential 24-team playoff tournament that will determine the Stanley Cup winner.
