PITTSBURGH -- A playing surface more than twice the size of a basketball court. Rapid and sometimes dizzying player movement on and off the ice. Even greater speed as players chase an elusive object barely larger than the palm of one's hand.
The elements that help make hockey one of the most pleasurable sports to watch in person for millions often don't translate to TV viewers who sample the sport, but don't go back because they simply don't understand what's happening.
Don't think the NHL, saddled with the lowest ratings of the four major pro team sports, isn't listening -- and watching.
That's why the league is excited by the gradual but gaining-momentum move to high-definition television, which offers a picture exponentially sharper and more lifelike than that on traditional analog sets.
The NHL's strategy is simple: If viewers see the game much better than they ever could before, they're more likely to give hockey a chance.
"It's the biggest innovation in televising hockey in the last 50 years," NHL senior vice president Doug Perlman said. "It takes watching hockey to the next level. When you watch a game on a high-definition set, you really appreciate the game that much better."
So, while there are only about 10 million HDTV sets in use in the United States and less than a million in Canada, nearly one-quarter of the NHL's games are being shown in high-definition this season.
That's a greater percentage than the NFL (only three regular-season telecasts per week last season) and Major League Baseball (no HDTV games in the playoffs or World Series last season). It's one the NHL is determined to build in future seasons -- though, of course, there is no guarantee there will be a 2004-05 season, given the league's labor problems.
"We're already seeing a huge impact on hockey," Perlman said.
The league estimates 330 games will be shown nationally or locally in HDTV this season by ESPN, ABC, Canada's CBC, TSN, 10 local sports channels, and HDNet, an all-high-definition channel available via satellite and cable that is carrying 65 NHL games.
Canada is enjoying its national sport in HDTV for the first time, starting with the Montreal-Edmonton outdoor game in November -- "a real page in Canadian history," according to CBC executive producer Joel Darling.
Last month's Montreal-Toronto game also was shown in HDTV as part of hockey day in Canada, a daylong marathon of three games involving all six Canadian teams.
Why hockey is embracing the technology becomes readily apparent to those watching a game in HDTV for the first time. Not only can the puck be seen -- traditionally, the No. 1 complaint among those who struggle to follow the sport on TV -- the game's strategy also unfolds better.
