Last Monday, Nintendo released Blades Of Steel on the Virtual Console and if you were born between 1976 and 1979 (possibly 1980 or 1981 but that might be pushing it) this was not only a landmark hockey video game but a landmark sports video game in general (until, of course, Tecmo Bowl came out). Blades Of Steel featured human audio clips (“It’s a pass!”), a chance to play Gradius before the third period, and, of course, a cut-screen for fights complete with a power meter for both players. Another NES hockey game that I played the crap out of (and is also available on Virtual Console) when I was growing up was Ice Hockey, which took hockey games to yet another level in that you could choose which four players you wanted on your team. You could choose between a fat guy who would almost always win fights, a skinny guy who was very quick yet harder to control, or a medium guy who was better overall. This got me thinking about real hockey.
I don’t know what the ratings were for yesterday’s game but there’s a good chance you missed the NHL Winter Classic that was held outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. I had it on but missed most of it because Girl and I were taking down all of the Christmas gear in our home. I did, however, get to see Sidney Crosby, the kid that the NHL is hoping becomes the next Gretzky or Lemieux, score the winning goal in the final shootout shot. I also saw a piece about Slapshot after the first intermission and it made me wonder: is hockey a great sport, or is it just a great video game sport?
We live in a world where ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN Classic exist. In fact, we live in such a sports-soaked world that ESPN Classic now features live sports broadcasting, which seems totally counterintuitive given the nature of the channel. (Perhaps ESPN is following in MTV’s footsteps and there will eventually be an ESPN Classic 2 channel that will ultimately have to give up on its classic programming too.) We live in a world where poker and competitive eating enjoy decent ratings from time to time. Why can’t hockey collect a decent slice of the pie?
To be sure, one of the main problems is that the NHL is run by Gary Bettman, a man so devoid of foresight and business acumen that if he had been in charge of Enron, the scandal would’ve never unfolded because the company would’ve filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Bettman thought that the NHL could compete with MLB, the NFL, and the NBA in the ’90′s and I guess he thought he had good reason to considering that the NHL had an ESPN contract and the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup was a huge news story. But he overshot his limits and saw the relocation of two Canadian teams (Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques), two US teams (Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars), and an expansion of the league when there wasn’t enough revenue to support it (Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks—all horrible and amateur-sounding team names, by the way). To put in proper perspective what the NHL has done with Bettman at the helm, imagine if the St. Louis Cardinals or Minnesota Twins were relocated to Santo Domingo or San Juan simply because they weren’t making enough money and, really, it would be better to branch out and get the Latin American and Caribbean countries involved. It goes without saying that I’ve never lived in Winnipeg or Minneapolis but I imagine that those fan bases were pretty rabid and, while their revenue couldn’t match that of the Red Wings or Miami Dolphins, would be willing to do anything to keep their teams. Instead, Bettman had the Jets moved to Phoenix (an awesome hockey town in the desert!) and, oh by the way, another Canadian team is gone. Why have hockey teams in Canada? But I digress.
What I find most fascinating about hockey is that it’s a seemingly endless series of dichotomies: the sport itself is conducive to violence, yet can play out like a ballet; hockey jerseys are the greatest jerseys of all of the major sports yet almost no normal person can pull off wearing one; most people don’t think of (and broadcasters rarely mention) the coaching staff but the game reeks of strategy; as masculine as the sport is, the trophy for best sportsmanship is called the Lady Byng; hockey players are just as athletic (if not more so) as NFL, NBA, MLB, and soccer players yet because they wear skates their skills are somehow seen as unfair or something; and so on and so on.
To me, there is no better two-player sports video game than hockey whether it be Blades of Steel, Ice Hockey, or NHL ’96 (the newer titles tried to do too much and were kind of unplayable because of it) and the NHL playoffs have typically more drama than any other sport especially in overtime if there is a power play in effect. It’s weird: I literally hadn’t thought of hockey for a couple of years yet watching outdoor hockey in the afternoon and playing Blades Of Steel makes me want to get a throwback Trevor Linden jersey. As I said, it’s weird.
Maybe hockey won’t ever catch on here because it’s a Canadian sport or because it suffers from low scores like soccer but I think it’s cool that the NHL had an outdoor game in front of 70,000 people in an NFL stadium and that NBC is going to air games going forward. Maybe the world can use some hockey as the players are certainly more likable given the off-field problems of NFL, NBA, and MLB players and steroid investigations. Who knows?
The first time I went to Toronto a co-worker took me to a dive bar and there couldn’t have been more than 100 people there and it was pretty quiet. The minute the Maple Leafs-Senators game started, though, that place was absolutely electric and I got totally sucked in even though I had no idea who any of the players were. The last time I was in Toronto the NHL was on strike and it felt odd going in to other bars and not having people yelling and cheering and calling for the heads of the opponents and their fan bases. America may never embrace hockey but we totally embraced the hockey video games and Blades Of Steel was the start of it for almost everyone my age.
When the game first came out it was the biggest no-brainer $50 purchase and now that it’s only $5 on Virtual Console it’s an even bigger no-brainer.
Now, if only there was a way I could pull off wearing a retro 25th anniversary Trevor Linden jersey. On second thought, no; I’ll just play Blades Of Steel. Nevermind.