Pens vs. Wings a `dream matchup' for CBC

Tag : Promotion Sunglass
Chris Zelkovich

Y ou would be excused if you had to think twice, or even thrice,about the last Stanley Cup playoff game you watched.
(That is, assuming you were among the millions of Canadians whosteered clear of a rather uncompetitive third round.)
By the time the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings open theStanley Cup final tomorrow night (8 p.m., CBC) there will have beenfive hockey-free days. With spring finally arriving, that's a gapthat could kill interest and cause much gnashing of teeth andrending of garments at the CBC.
But that's not the way the public network is looking at things.
"If it was any other U.S.-U.S. matchup, I think the delay mighthurt interest but this is such a perfect matchup," says CBC Sportsexecutive director Scott Moore. "If you can't have a Canadian teamin the final, then having five days to build up the story lines– especially when there are loads of great stories – isalmost as good."
The key, says Moore, is who's playing.
"If it were two other American teams, the five-day layoff wouldkill us, but this is the opposite," he says. "This is a dreammatchup."
One reason is that the Penguins and Wings produce CBC's highestratings among U.S. teams. Having the likes of Sidney Crosby ondisplay is another.
"I predict this will be the highest-rated series among all-U.S.finals in the past 10 years," Moore says.
By the way, the all-American semifinals were mainly to blame for a29 per cent ratings drop from last year. Ottawa's ride to lastyear's final produced an extra 500,000 viewers a game.
South of the border, there are indications that the final could bea hit, or at least a series that could outdraw pasty-faced,sunglass-wearing poker players. Both Versus and NBC are boastingdouble-digit increases in ratings, which means abysmal ratings haverisen to the not-quite-abysmal level.
But an increase is an increase and having the game's mostrecognizable star getting top-flight promotion on NBC certainlywon't hurt.
But there is some concern about that continuing, especially sincethe Red Wings are going head-to-head against the NBA conferencefinalist Detroit Pistons. That odd bit of scheduling could splitthe audience, though NBC analyst Ed Olczyk doesn't think so.
During a conference call, he guaranteed that the Red Wings willoutdraw the Pistons head-to-head.
Rinkside guy Pierre McGuire, not surprisingly, was even moreenthusiastic.
"Fans are going to watch on TV and I think they're going to keeptheir eyeballs glued to what could be one of the best Stanley Cupfinals we've seen in a long time," he said.
It could be.
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czelkov@thestar.ca