No ice in the desert

June 30, 2009 by Sage Sammons 

NHL needs to realize that events in Las Vegas won’t work

When heat mixes with ice, the ice turns to water. That is something most people learned as a toddler when their Popsicle melted on a hot summer day. Why doesn’t the commissioner of the National Hockey League understand this?

On Tuesday, June 16, the commissioner, Gary Bettman, decided to bring the NHL awards to Vegas. This was the first year in many that the annual ceremony was not held in Toronto.

Coming off the highest rated hockey game in 30 years, it was thought that the NHL might be one of the four biggest sports in America. However that dream was crushed when the awards moved to Vegas.

In Toronto last year, the awards ceremony was a huge event. One might even say it was the biggest in town. In Vegas this year, many people didn’t even know it was going on. Other than the one billboard near McCarran Airport off the 215, the advertising was mediocre at best.

The television rights were also a joke. In the States, the ceremony was held on Versus. Yes, the same channel that showcased the Runnin’ Rebels this year. In Canada, the gala was on CBC, one of their biggest networks.

Some people thought that moving the event to Vegas would attract entertainment acts. Those people were wrong.

While in Canada a fan might see the Barenaked Ladies perform, this year they got to see Chaka Khan and Robin Thicke. If the younger generation is wondering who these people are, Chaka Khan was big in the 80s and Robin Thicke, who is a singer, is the son of actor Alan Thicke.

In the next two years, the NHL needs to step up their game for the awards. If you are going to have it in Vegas, make it a huge event that everyone knows about, not just a tenth of Americans that don’t want to go and 90 percent of Canadians who wish they could be there. The best thing for the NHL to do is to move the awards back to Canada as soon as possible and apologize to the fans for the lack of effort.

The awards did prove one thing, though. There is no need for an NHL franchise in Las Vegas, and with the economy the way it is. With teams failing around the country (most notably the Phoenix Coyotes going bankrupt) Las Vegas, for once, isn’t the desired spot.

In Phoenix, they built a new state-of-the-art arena. They are coached by the greatest player in history. And Phoenix is usually a town that embraces their sports. Hockey took to the city like a polar bear to the Caribbean. Not even the “Great One” could save the franchise.

So now, the Coyotes are for sale and Bettman has said that the team will not leave Phoenix. Multiple sources have claimed that a buyer wants to move the team to Ontario, Canada in the near future. But Bettman has his goals of making NHL a top sport in America and is very against the move.

A few years ago, Las Vegas was a top suitor for a franchise. With talks that Harrah’s was going to build a huge sporting complex, it almost seam guaranteed. But now those dreams are like dust in the wind. Hockey has no place in the desert. Move the awards and the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada and leave Vegas as what it’s meant to be, an off-season hot spot for players.