The new-look of Hockey Night in Canada, the NHL’s all-star showcase and the league’s popularity with American fans were all topics of discussion as George Stroumboulopoulous sat down with Keith Olbermann on Thursday.
The host of Hockey Night in Canada chatted with the American sportscaster on his the ESPN2 show Olbermann, about the pressure Stroumboulopoulous faced in taking his new role on what Olbermann called “the best studio pre-and-post-game show in North America.”
“I just enjoy it, and forget that I’m on television,” Stroumboulopoulous said. “I like the idea of connecting to strangers — just be good company. On Saturday night, be good company for people who had a day that may not has been as lucky as yours.”
Stroumboulopoulous also said that it helps to turn off Twitter: “Don’t even go there. If you’re a human being, so you’ll look at it and lose faith in humanity.”
The popularity of the sport south of the border was discussed, and Olbermann asked why the game hasn’t progressed in the U.S.
“I think a big part of it is television. It’s only been in the last three or four years where you could get every playoff game here, and hockey is all about the playoffs,” Stroumboulopoulous said. “That run to the Stanley Cup — there’s no other sport that has a better run (or) a tougher trophy to win. Americans haven’t been able to see that for so many years.”
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Stroumboulopoulous also said that fighting in hockey may have turned off some potential fans.
“I think fighting alienated a bunch of people early on. In the (1970’s) when hockey was really entrenched in Canada, if you watched television in the States and sat down with your family, and all of a sudden there was just ‘it’s bloody, was there a car crash? No, it’s a sporting event’ — that threw some people off as well.”
Another topic was the excitement during the NHL’s All-Star Game… or, rather, the lack thereof, according to Olbermann.
“I fell asleep during it,” Olbermann said.
The two later took in the game between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.
