I just don’t care about the awards show. There, I said it.
I feel like the NHL Awards show is just something to placate us at the end of the Stanley Cup Finals. If this were happening mid-season, would anyone tune in to watch it? So much effort is put into such a bad production, it’s painful to watch. This isn’t how most hockey fans perceive their sport, preferring to keep the down home, simple image of the game closer to their heart. It might be nice for some to see the glitz and glamour of the red carpet, and considering this is a $2 billion plus business, that might be a little closer to reality these days.
The things I want to see are the small moments, and those will be online within an hour or two of the broadcast. Tim Thomas’ acceptance speech for the Vezina should be excellent. Pavel Datsyuk struggling to make a joke at the podium (is he even nominated for anything? Yes? OK, then). And other than that, hand me a list of winners when it’s over, and I would get the same entertainment value as sitting through the entire thing.
The awards themselves are fun and all, but the vast majority of the conversation surrounding them is negative: Who got snubbed (snubs are too close to entitlement for my liking), who should have won, why my favorite player is better than your favorite player. So pre-emptively, congratulations to all the winners, and the nominees.
A few years ago, I blocked out the time to watch the awards show for the first time. And what was the opening act? Chaka Khan. You know, if this is the best the NHL could do (and it probably is, considering what Def Leppard did to the Stanley Cup), they won’t miss my viewership. And I won’t miss them either.
As a quick side note, I propose that in the next CBA, bonus money for awards be either halved in relation to their impact on the salary cap (a $2 million bonus for an award win only count as $1 million cap hit), or be spread out over two years. I don’t like an award win making a large impact on the roster for any team for the next season.