Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers to take a 2-0 lead in the best of seven Stanley Cup finals.  This series has the potential to have a great impact on the future of the NHL.  Carolina is a team that represents the new era of the NHL, a more wide-open era where speed kills and skill dominates.  Carolina also represents the proliferation of the NHL into new markets where hockey would've never had a foothold in the past.  Fifteen years ago the thought of a Stanley Cup contender playing home games in the hotbed of college hoops and NASCAR would've been unheard of. 

Originally, I was going to write a post bemoaning the loss of the Hartford Whalers, a team I always will consider more of a "hometown favorite" than the Boston Bruins, to an experimental market south of the Mason-Dixon line.  Upon realizing that I'm about eight or so years too late to complain about that, I have considered another issue that's been grinding my gears about the NHL.  The new NHL is making history as we speak, and I can't watch a game of it.

My local cable company doesn't carry OLN as part of its basic service.  I'm not going to mention the company by name, but I will mention that it begins with  C and ends with  X.  It seems that prior to the start of the current NHL season, OLN was a network where you could watch all the duck hunting and bass fishing you could ever desire (speaking of non-events...), but had no value to the non-outdoors type.  The NHL is now availible on OLN, but that station hasn't been added to my basic package as of yet.  I get plenty of other obscure channels (E!, Sci-Fi, HGTV and the like), but OLN isn't one of them.   Without OLN, I'm shut out of catching the new NHL. 

I know I'm not the only person in this situation.  I've spoken with many friends that have the same complaint about OLN and it's limited availibility limiting the visibility of the NHL.  I could upgrade to digital cable, but my salary sucks, so that's not an option.  Also, DirectTV and other satellite services are not an option because I have a protected nature preserve with many large trees to the west of my house, which would adversely affect my satellite signal (at least that's what I've been told by a DirectTV sales rep).  Sadly, it looks like I'm going to have to go to great lengths to see any Stanley Cup action this postseason, unless any games are to be aired on NBC.  I was really looking forward to seeing the Stanley Cup finals, and especially watching the former Whalers play, but it seems that may not be possible. 

Hopefully, the successful return of the NHL will lead to greater television exposure in the playoffs next season.  Whether OLN is added to my basic package by C(blank)X or the NHL picks up another television partner, it is imperative to the continued growth of the league that more games are visible to more viewers.  No sport can grow without decent exposure.  I have been a fair-weather hockey fan since I was a child, and the only way any fair-weather fan will ever become a full-fledged fan of the game is by having the opportunity to watch top-quality hockey on a regular basis.