>>Vancouver is a given because Canadian viewers don’t count in the ratings.
I don’t know how things work up in Canada, but don’t they also have ratings? Any Canadian team means big ratings in that country and they are hockey mad as it is. I still think (overall) from the NHL’$ per$pective, SJ-TB is the worst possible final.
Vancouver means big ratings for the Canadian network, a network whose contract with the NHL is never in jeopardy and pays consistently well. A Canadian finals in theory means mediocre ratings for VS and NBC, networks whose contracts with the NHL are constantly in jeopardy and currently don’t pay that well (pretty sure the NBC contract still has no up front money and is all revenue sharing).
I’ve been reading about the NHL’s TV deals for a few months, Bettman’s comments etc.. As I understand it, the ratings the NHL dies for is the American market. That’s why the winter classic is American teams only. Canada is a separate but saturated small (34 million person) market.