The 2012 Stanley Cup championship hockey games ended this weekend after the LA Kings beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in Game 6.
This year’s playoffs also included a Connecticut native: Hamden resident Jonathan Quick, . Quick has been highlighted repeatedly as a star player in the Kings’ victory, and has been profiled in major news outlets such as The New York Times.
But, unsurprisingly, ratings weren’t skyrocketing in the playoff games or the final game, compared to some previous Stanley Cup playoffs. Roughly 2.9 million people watched Games 1 and 2, and 1.74 million viewers watched Game 3, according to SBNation.com.
BuzzFeed.com even ran a little comparison article showing how 66 different television programs — most of them re-runs — got more viewers than the first two Stanley Cup games. Hockey, while a major pasttime in Canada, isn't as popular here as the NBA or NFL.
“It's no revelation that this is, at its core, a niche sport cared about primarily in the upper Midwest and Northeastern U.S., as well as Canada, which of course doesn't count in the ratings,” said Ryan Lambert, a reporter and columnist for Yahoo! Sports.
So, Connecticut residents, do you even care about hockey? Did you watch the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs? Take our poll and tell us in the comments.