I went with my brother, a former NHL team employee, to the opening game
in WOrcester (U.S. v Canada). We were struck by a number of things:
 
a) the number of young hockey players (all clad in vey large t-shirts and
jackets), there to watch hockey rather than a spectacle, as is so often
true at pro games
 
b) the fact that the Centrum wasn't close to beingsold out--we grew up in
MA, watching Harvard play at Watson Rink and the Bright--and expected
many more people to turn out for these games
 
c) the general lack of confidence displayed by the U.S. team. Berard was
the only one who played with any measure of confidence, and the Canadian
team paid attention to that with some serious hits early on
 
d) and, interesting to us for professional reasons, the unprofessional
quality of the program
 
On Sat, 30 Dec 1995, Arthur Berman wrote:
 
> It is probably fair to say that the sponsors want people in the stands to
> read their ads.  If attendence doesn't pick up, Massachusetts does not
> *deserve* to host this tournament again.  As I said in a prior post, I'm
> not sure people realize what they are missing, which is great hockey.
>
> Arthur Berman [log in to unmask]
> GO BU!!! NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!
> GO CANADA!!!
 
However, we did not see a tv ad for the tournament until 2 days before
the opening games--it does not seem that the sponsors (or whoever) did a
good job promoting the tournament to the general public. Local teams
clearly knew about it, and NHL scouts, and diehard fans--but the casual
hockey fan, especially the ones who watch college hockey regularly,
weren't targeted and I think have missed a great opportunity. It probably
doesn't help that the U.S. team has played badly and been less than
compelling in games televised in ESPN2.
 
Anne Kaufman
 
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