from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL's website,
When the NHL decided to stage the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne, it expected success. It wouldn’t have committed to travel to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time otherwise.
Still, no matter how much research and planning you do, you never know until you go, and now we know the NHL can sell out back-to-back preseason games in Melbourne, Australia. We know fans can wear hockey gear and clean out the merchandise stands to buy more. We know they can clap and cheer and roar.
A crowd of 13,188 watched the Los Angeles Kings defeat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, after a crowd of 13,097 watched the Coyotes defeat the Kings 5-3 there Saturday.
“The atmosphere here was unbelievable,” Kings goalie Cam Talbot said. “I mean, to have two sold-out games, back-to-back afternoons, it was pretty incredible. They were into it the whole time.”
Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny struggled to find the right words to describe it.
“There’s way more hockey fans than I knew,” he said. “I just didn’t know. I think to see the number of NHL jerseys everywhere and the number of fans, the way the people were cheering and everything, I think that was … Pretty cool is not strong enough. I think it was amazing for me to see. I was not expecting that.”
I've been to Melbourne several times - and Hockey would be *perfect* for the Aussies! The NHL ought to run a summer (US time) league in Australia if they could make it work financially. If they could find a sweet spot between when Rugby, Cricket and Aussie Rules was dormant - that would be a good fit. If not a full season - maybe a tournament for prospective NHL players.... I just don't think it would be a fit financially and logistically - but if it were - I think it would be interesting to develop a love for the game in the Asia/Pacific region. I would think Korea, Singapore and Japan could join Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide as potential spots? I could totally see them liking the physical play and fighting!
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