The St. Louis Blues did not get the result the team or fans wanted in their first round-robin game. Even so, plenty of fans tuned in to watch.
St. Louis Blues fans were clearly jonesing for some real hockey to watch. While they got a little fix during the team’s exhibition against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Blues had not played a meaningful game in four months.
Blues fans needed to see the team out there defending their Stanley Cup championship. While the team was still not as sharp as you’d like, the fans were treated to a real game as the Blues set forth in the round-robin part of the tournament.
St. Louis was dominated by the Colorado Avalanche to start the game, not registering their own first shot until the period was half over. Nevertheless, the team scored the opening goal and made that score hold up for two periods.
We all know how the game ended. With Colorado up a man, the Avs managed to chip one over the goal line with just 0.1 seconds left in the game.
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Needless to say, it was not the result the Blues would have liked. They needed to win that one, just to show that Colorado was not in their heads.
They might have still done that, but a W would have been better. If nothing else, getting so close to overtime, the team could really have used a point.
Despite the disappointment fans probably felt when the full 60 minutes was done, they showed up in droves to watch this game. While it did not set a record, it came close to the most eyes on a Blues game for 2019-20.
Still holding that distinction is the team’s home opener when the Blues Stanley Cup banner was raised. That was always likely to be one of the most watched games just because the team had never got to raise a banner, so everyone wanted to see it.
While playoff games always bring higher ratings, it still proves that Blues fans come up big.
According to Chris Pinkert of NHL.com, the Blues round-robin game against Colorado had a Neilsen rating of 6.9. To put that into perspective, the same article said that the Blues averaged a 4.4 media rating during the regular season.
If those numbers are confusing, you’re not alone. This might be an overly simplistic explanation, but the numbers are basically a percentage.
According to Neilsen, there are 120.6 million TV households in the US. The rantings number is a reflection of the percentage of households watching a certain program.
It should be noted the 6.9 rating was a local rating, not national. So, the 6.9 was the percentage of St. Louis households.
The game peaked at an 8.3, which is still pretty impressive.
Blues fans have been showing strong numbers as far as viewing for awhile. They, along with Boston Bruins fans, have the second most watched Stanley Cup Final in this century.
This past season, the Blues had a 25% increase in viewership. They were also ranked third in all US teams for average ratings.
There is a possibility the ratings got a bump from more people being at home, as opposed to watching in public gathering places. However, these ratings are based on specific sample sizes that can extrapolate the numbers to the general population, so they are usually pretty accurate.
Whatever the case, Blues fans were ready to watch some hockey. St. Louis might be known as a baseball town, but there are a ton of hockey fans out there too and they tuned in.