BEARS OF THE WEEK

In different ways, it’s both the NBA and the NHL. Never before have the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs overlapped as much as they have this year, with what used to be a two- to three-week gap between the start of hockey and basketball shrinking to just three days.

Thankfully for arena operators, the overlap this year translates to only two markets in which both NHL and NBA teams are playing in the same building at the same time (Dallas and Los Angeles) and only three more local TV markets in which there’s at least one team in the post-season from each league (New York, Miami-Fort Lauderdale and San Francisco- Oakland).

Above and beyond the logistics of scheduling television options for a combined 16 matchups and 32 teams in the first rounds, the overlap invites inevitable comparisons between the two leagues in terms of fan engagement. The NBA is easily winning the TV battle in the United States, but unless there are some real legs to the Houston Rockets and the Raptors fail to build on the momentum of Thursday’s decisive win in Indianapolis, there is no comparison in terms of “uncertainty of outcome.” Since most of the games to date have been blowouts, the first round of No. 1 vs. No. 8seeded matchups is exposing the NBA as a league with huge gaps between the haves and have nots.

That’s where parity and divisional alignment make the NHL more bullish. Not a single opening-round series will be a sweep. Look at the number of OT games and one-goal victories by matchups such as St. Louis-Chicago and San Jose-L.A. and the NHL has the clear advantage in terms of watchable games.

The bottom-line problem for the NHL is that it hasn’t translated into TV results, especially in Canada. In fact, being down 60 per cent in Canada and flat in the U.S. is a problem for the NHL.