NHL 2010-11 Season: Who Takes the Blame for America's Disinterest in the NHL?

The 2010-11 NHL season is about to start and that means another campaign of tepid American interest.

Following the NHL's and HBO's announcement of the four-part series "24/7 Penguins/Capitals Road to the Winter Classic," chronicling the up-front and behind-the-scenes lives of the two teams, excitement seemed to be brewing in the media.

But to the fans, the idea was greeted with mixed reviews.

"This is going to be awesome!"

"Seriously? Like we need to see more of Crosby and Ovechkin."

These are the same responses that arose when the NHL announced that the Pens would host the Caps for the fourth Winter Classic.

In fact, since both of these announcements have been made, there have been a number of people claiming that the constant exposure of Crosby and Ovechkin is hurting rather than helping the NHL.

Others add that it contributes to the fact that America doesn't care about hockey. I thought this was a compelling argument and worth asking the following question: Who are we to blame for the disinterest in hockey in America?

The first obvious suspect is the NHL.

Are Gary Bettman's schemes to grant every possible award to Crosby and Ovechkin (he's waiting to give Ovechkin his Stanley Cup so it doesn't look so obvious) and thus, giving them all of the NHL face time, sending potential and current fans away?

I don't think so, and not because Crosby plays for my team.

How many players, as rookies, registered over 100 points?

How many players have dominated the NHL awards podium upon their matriculation into the NHL?

Both Crosby and Ovechkin have played in the NHL for five seasons and have reached 100 points in four of those seasons. In that time frame, both have taken home the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Trophy, and the Rocket Richard Trophy.

On top of that, Ovechkin has won the Calder Trophy, and Crosby has the Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold.

There are other talented players in the NHL, but they do not belong in the same category as Crosby and Ovechkin. Not yet at least.

The NHL has followed along with what the fans have wanted.

It isn't a fluke that the most popular NHL jerseys are No. 87 and No. 8. Simply put, Crosby and Ovechkin bring in the money, something the NHL could use. Heaven forbid the NHL practices good marketing techniques.

In time, there will be more players who the NHL will make sure to flaunt in everyone's face. As of now, only two have truly earned it and they are the best ambassadors for the NHL because of how different they play and act.

Blaming the NHL for America's disinterest in the NHL doesn't make sense.

They're marketing the best and if America doesn't welcome Crosby and Ovechkin, the two most electric players in the league, what makes anyone think it's going to care about players who haven't reached that caliber?

The second suspect would have to be ESPN, NHL Network, and other sports-affiliated television programs—ultimately, America's biggest connection to the hockey world.

Here I feel there is, unsurprisingly, a huge bias against hockey.

In the "Top 10 Plays" on SportsCenter for instance, there are only so many ways LeBron and Kobe can make a slam dunk yet they completely take over the countdown. In order for hockey to make an appearance, then there must be a Datsyukian penalty shot deke or a one-handed Ovechkin goal.

The sad thing is that in the span of one week, the NHL could easily compile a "Top 20 Plays" list, but only two will actually make it onto ESPN.

With that said, sports networks like ESPN have their hands tied because hockey is not a popular sport and Americans want to see their football, basketball, and baseball.

This brings me to the final suspects, the ones I feel are most responsible for why America is disinterested in the NHL: The hockey fans.

You read correctly. We are the ones to blame.

It is our responsibility as fans to spread the word about hockey and bring new fans into the game. If more people love hockey and it becomes that much more popular in America, then sports networks would be obliged to show more hockey on their highlights and devote more than 60 seconds when analyzing games.

The NHL may give us the rules, the games, and the players and these are connected to us through sports television, but neither means anything without the input of the fans.

We're the reason they're making money in the first place and you better believe that they will appease fans in order to make a profit. If the NHL begins to see that Jonathan Toews causes a traffic jam in downtown Chicago when he's out with his teammates, then expect the NHL to respond positively. I think we are lucky that the NHL staff responds to fans' needs as well as it does.

I think fans of other "unpopular" teams need to get over the fact that their teams aren't front and center on NHL.com every morning. Hockey, or any sport for the matter, will not sell by displaying average talent. The best way out of that predicament is for the players on that team to step it up and force the NHL to put the spotlight on them because of how good they are.

That's exactly how Crosby and Ovechkin brought the Pens and the Caps to the forefront of the NHL.

No one blindly chose two teams to sell. The players, through their relentless hard work and dedication to improving, brought success upon themselves and they deserve to be rewarded.

They wrote their own story and demanded success from themselves. Anyone who cannot appreciate how hard those two teams have worked over the past few seasons shouldn't be watching hockey.

To the NHL fans around the world, we have a responsibility to bring hockey to America as well. The more noise we make, the more the NHL will listen.

Most importantly, we need to show non-NHL fans just what they're missing.