Good news for Australian hockey fans and Melbourne is a top sporting city that will be a great host, but can't help thinking this is an excuse for NHL execs and sponsors to get a Australian vacation while helping the Coyotes attendance as opposed to a legitimate attempt to grow the game.
Hockey barely registers on the sporting radar here with less than 50x the participation as lawn bowling and a niche fan base of ex pats and a few locals who spent time in Canada. The only reason the average Aussie knows that hockey is a thing is from The Mighty Ducks. There is no exposure to it here without a historic culture, only 3 games a week on a cable/streaming service, and a semi-pro league lucky to get 3 figures in attendance.
If the NHL is serious about growing the game down under they need to do more than bring a couple exhibition games here. Would love to see them organize street hockey tournaments for example. The average Aussie isn't going to learn to skate but you could get them into the NHL through street/ball/roller hockey. They also need to get games on free to air television. A weekly game would be ideal but at least find a broadcast partner for the Cup finals.
Is kind of neat there will be a hockey game played on a grand slam tennis court.
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