http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...ey-Gold-medal-ratings-huge-for?urn=nhl,224998 It was a ratings blockbuster - basically, more watched than any hockey game since the Miracle on Ice. More watched than any World Series game in the last 5 years and more watched than any NBA Finals and NCAA Final Four game since 1998. Slightly less than the Texas-Alabama national championship game. The real test for hockey is if NHL ratings (Stanley Cup, in particular) go up as a result. I'm guessing there's only a slight blip if anything. I think the real interest was the "can the US pull the upset" aspect moreso than the fact that it was hockey.
Well as someone who's not a fan of hockey, I'd be more inclined to watch NHL based on what I saw from Canada v USA. It's more brutal and fast paced than I would have thought, and while it's not high scoring, it's got that edge of your seat feel that a point could be scored at a moments notice. So if it wasn't for the fact that Houston doesn't have an NHL team, I'd watch.
Those were huge table hockey players, not ice hockey, so I'm not sure there's a connection to the game. I think along with the beavers and Mounties they were intended to be iconic culturally Canadian references, like the ones Douglas Coupland uses in his art and photography,
