It’s the best time of the year for NHL and NBA fans with the post-season in full swing. Which league offers more in the playoffs?
There is a belief that the Stanley Cup is the toughest trophy to win, however, that could be considered a myth created by hockey executives. Here’s a closer look:
Both leagues qualify 16 teams from two Conferences in the post-season. All series are a best of 7 which means the champion must win 16 games in a bracket format. I’m not sure winning 16 playoff games in one 30 team league is more difficult than another.
Neither league has scheduled back to back games in any of its first round series with one exception: The Rangers and Flyers are to play game six, if needed, on Tuesday in Philadelphia with a 7th game, if necessary, in New York on Wednesday.
The first round of the NHL playoffs will end no later than April 30th which is a total of 15 days. The NBA opening round might extend to May 4th, a total of 16 days. In other words, both schedules are similar and fan friendly.
As a side note, both leagues in 2014 have just one Canadian team participating in the post-season which is odd since the Toronto Raptors are the only NBA team not in the U.S. and the Raptors traditionally aren’t good enough for the playoffs. Meanwhile, only one of seven NHL teams from the Great White North are competing in late April.
The NHL has a slight edge in the area of competitiveness as more games stretch into overtime. In addition, there are generally more major upsets in the NHL. An 8th seed, like LA two years ago, can win it all while that is highly unlikely in the NBA. Even if a team like Atlanta, was to knock off #1 Indiana in the first round, there’s not a snowball’s chance the Hawks go on to win three more rounds and become champions.
The upper hand goes to the NBA in terms of star power. The Pittsburgh Penguins have superstars but many other teams rely on good players hoping to become great. The NHL doesn’t have a one two punch of Lebron James in the East and Kevin Durant in the West. The St Louis Blues are a contender even though they do not have a household name among their forwards. The Dallas Stars are an 8th seed, led by Jamie Benn. The Dallas Mavericks are an 8th seed, led by Dirk Nowitzki. With all due respect to Benn, his greatness should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Nowitzki.
The NBA stars have more of a presence in social media. Lebron James has 12.5 million followers on Twitter while Alex Ovechkin tops the NHL players with 3/4 of a million.
According to Fan Page List, there are nine NBA teams with larger Facebook and Twitter followers than the NHL’s most popular team (Detroit Red Wings). Moreoever, the LA Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics are the four most followed pro teams online in North America.
The NHL brings in the casual fan with hockey pools. The NBA does not have an equivalent although the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is highly successfully, however, that pool is based on team results rather than individual players.
Tradition favours the NHL as the Stanley Cup roots reach back to 1893 while the NBA champions have only received the Larry O’Brien Trophy (new name of the Walter A. Brown trophy) since 1984.
Granted, NBA players pick up the intensity and physicality in the post-season, but it is arguably not to the same degree as NHL players. As an example, the Blackhawks vs Blues series is unparalleled with feistiness. The Chicago-St Louis players truly are living up to their name with “Black” and “Blue” souvenirs.
Like any good debate, there is a bone of contention for both sides. NBA games take less time to play but NHL games do not get watered down with constant fouling and timeouts at the end. If one had to choose to watch either the 7th game of the NBA Finals or the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Finals, I believe hockey offers more action packed drama and intangibles from the start of a game to finish. However, with beauty in the eye of the beholder, on a global basis, it will always be a one sided argument that the NBA has a far greater appeal.
From the Quote Rack:
The Chicago Cubs celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had a 3-run lead in the 9th, and a 1-run lead with 1 out to go, but they lost 7-5 to Arizona. Well, at least they honored their legacy appropriately.
Apparently Lindsey Vonn and Elin Nordegren have become good friends. Makes sense, Elin wants to know about her kids’ potential stepmom, and Lindsey wants to know how to check Tiger’s cellphone.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Marc Andre Fleury and Bill Buckner are now friends on Facebook.
A Richmond bus shelter ad for Crest toothpaste is stirring up controversy as it is entirely in Chinese. I think the translation is: Nine out of ten illegal Chinese dentists working out of their basements recommend Crest.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)
Jim Rome reports that he still gets residual checks from his cameo in ‘Space Jam’.Too bad he doesn’t get Youtube residuals for his cameo with Jim Everett.
Jose Canseco is set to make a cameo in ‘Pirhana Sharks’, a film where bio-engineered mutations wreck havoc–sort of like him and McGwire back in 88.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
And in case you missed it:
Reuters reports a Mumbai politician who is campaigning dressed as Spider-Man is gaining popularity in India. I imagine he’s got a great web campaign.
The world’s most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, announced his return to the swimming pool. That brings you up to speedo.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio station 94X. His column appears Fridays on hqprincegeorge.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected].
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller