RIO RANCHO, NM – Despite what many might think of New Mexico as a non-traditional hockey market, the appeal of the National Hockey League and the Winter Classic was on full display on New Year’s Day.
Rio Rancho’s cable provider sees fit not to offer either the NHL Center Ice package or Versus on its channel lineup. CableOne is based in Arizona where one NHL team resides and two minor league franchises thrive. But this space is not to throw stones at CableOne. I can do that elsewhere. This space is for the 30 or so hockey fans who gathered New Year’s Day at the Fat Squirrel Pub where more than a few flat panel LCD monitors were broadcasting the NHL’s 2009 Winter Classic. Proprietors Liz Ortiz and Nico Ortiz made the pub available to the 30 or so hockey fans and celebrated this year’s NHL Winter Classic. By recollection, there may have been some other programs on other monitors, but really, no one was paying attention. The “crowd” was evenly split between Wings’ fans and Hawks’ fans. I had my Blackhawks practice jersey on while my wife, Linda was in her Red Wings hat. Meanwhile the “voice of the (New Mexico) Scorpions” Adam Minnick sported his Blackhawks cap and his wife, Gloria, wore the Wings colors in her sweater. Liz Ortiz had her laptop out and was following her fantasy hockey team, but was solidly rooting for the Hawks as was Nico. For 20 minutes of play, most of us were pretty pleased with ourselves. Then the Wings caught up to and passed the Hawks in the second period. Deflated? Hardly. Even for the diehards in the pub this was beyond the two teams and fan loyalty. This was the NHL hitting another home run (pardon the Wrigley pun) in putting itself in front of the American sports audience. This was an opportunity to showcase the sport, the talent, the action, and the players themselves. There was the requisite schmaltzy intermission feature of the Blackhawks team attending the funeral for Dale Talon’s father in the holiday season. A bit over the top, but still, it was a glimpse of the hockey player. There is tradition and respect and commitment to teammates. The bus ride to the Talon family’s side was about the coming of age of a young team and a means to communicate to the American public that Rodney Dangerfield’s old joke is just that, an old joke. Those of us at the Fat Squirrel were there to enjoy the event if only from so many miles away. With the kitchen closed, but beverages available some brought enchiladas and dessert and the ubiquitous pizza was ordered and delivered to the restaurant. Non-traditional indeed. Beverages, pizza, hockey, and OK enchiladas. Maybe not so traditional, but the kind of fan base the NHL and other hockey insiders, leagues, and franchises need to be looking at more closely. Thirty diehards bypassed family obligations (presumably) sat down with fellow hockey fans and friends (presumably) and cheered booed groaned and applauded every goal, hit and save (presumably). There are certainly local questions that this day engendered, but this is for the bigger picture of the industry that is hockey and its appeal to the American masses. Tiger Woods was voted into The Hockey News’ Top 100 people in hockey for his remark that (paraphrasing here) no one really cared about or watched hockey anymore. Tell that to all of us staring intently at this 2009 Winter Classic. By the way, does anyone notice that no one watches golf unless Tiger is playing? Sorry, but poeple like Tiger who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Anyway, while a smattering of native New Mexicans watched the game, many were from other parts of the country. That inherent population movement makes such non-traditional markets like New Mexico seem less non-traditional and more friendly to the sport. Rio Rancho and CableOne notwithstanding, there is a strong following for the sport here. Over the past 7 years a local recreation hockey league ( NM Hockey ) has thrived and grown with more than 500 players having spent time in the league.
For the NHL to ignore New Mexico and other so-called non-traditional markets would be to neglect devotees of the sport. Fans who leave their obligations to another day and spend a few quality hours with fans and friends to catch the Winter Classic and add Nielson rating points to the coverage on NBC. Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com
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