Lack of visibility killing NHL

The Blackhawks acquired Sami Pahlsson at the trade deadline and are scheduled to introduce him to the media today at the United Center.

Er, Sami who?

Pahlsson is Swedish, a center, 31 years old, an eight-year NHL veteran and a Stanley Cup winner with Anaheim.

So the guy has been around, yet here's a true confession: I never heard of him before last week and that's a problem for the Hawks.

The club's future is bright with good, young players. John McDonough and Jay Blunk marketed the Hawks back into Chicago sports prominence.

So what's the problem?

Well, it's the NHL. For the fan base here to expand to what it should be, people are going to have to become familiar with the league.

Otherwise the Hawks will be like a wardrobe without a closet, a meal without a menu, a story without a context.

I'm not talking about hockey fans who fill the United Center. I'm talking about sports fans the Hawks are trying to attract to the building and televisions.

Saturday the Hawks lost 5-3 at Boston. The Bruins lead the Eastern Conference in points.

Who knew?

Sorry, but I couldn't name three Bruins players but can name nearly the entire Celtics' roster.

One obstacle is that the NHL's TV package includes a cable channel few stumble across. Hockey is an afterthought on ESPN. The local media rank the sport behind football, baseball and basketball.

When Sami Pahlsson was with Anaheim, he would have received more coverage here if he were a pool player, dog handler or bull rider.

All this struck me while reading a blog by Tim Sassone, our esteemed hockey writer, as the trade deadline approached. He mentioned as potential Hawks acquisitions Pahlsson, Jeff Halpern, Niclas Havelid and Steve Montador.

Now, I'm a sports writer. I saw my first Hawks game a half-century ago. I like hockey.

Yet I never heard of even one of those four players. I would have flunked a multiple-choice exam on what team Pahlsson played for.

However, I knew every potential Bulls acquisition before last month's NBA trade deadline.

Premier basketball players are in the news in this country starting with high school. By the time they reach the NBA, sports fans know their names and their games.

Football and baseball players are well-known almost by osmosis.

Hockey players?

If fans just now are discovering the Hawks, or rediscovering them, they have to work to learn the NHL. Personally, I don't want to have to study Colorado's roster to be knowledgeable before the Avalanche arrive at the United Center to play the Hawks today.

Hockey fans know Alex Ovechkin is the NHL goals leader. But how many potential hockey fans - say, on Michigan Avenue or at Woodfield Mall - know that name and what sport he plays?

(By the way, mention Bruins league-leading goalie Tim Thomas and all they might know is that he has the same name as a Bulls forward.)

Anyway, I know who Ovechkin is, but if he walked into the room and whacked me across the knees with his stick, I wouldn't be able to describe him to a police sketch artist or provide the cops with his license number.

That isn't good for the justice system or the Blackhawks.

mimrem@dailyherald.com