the buzz log

The NHL has gone into the boards this season in their attempt to build buzz. Hockey's long slog of a regular season came and went without registering a blip on our radar. Sure, there was a fantastic brawl between Ottawa and Buffalo, Sidney Crosby's prodigious output, and a stick attack from Chris Simon, but hockey continues to teeter on the fringes of American sports culture.

With a TV contract that keeps most fans blissfully unaware of puck-related activities, hockey's been surpassed in buzz by NASCAR, the PGA, and UFC. Can the NHL Playoffs salvage some Search interest? Well, queries on the NHL are up 43% this week and the league is back in our top 10 sports searches. Related searches on "2007 nhl playoffs," "nhl playoff bracket," and "nhl playoff schedule" are also hip-checking their way through our data.

Currently, the Pittsburgh Penguins (led by young Crosby) are the top team in NHL searches. Searches on the Pens jumped 77% as they began their first playoff run since 2001. The top-seeded Sabres come in sixth place in the Buzz standings, but Buffalo hockey fans are tops. How do we know? Well, Buffalo is the top metro for searches on the NHL over the last week by a wide margin.

It's entirely possible that an exciting playoffs can win back a few hockey converts. But it'll take big-market teams going deep to really pique interest. Throw in a few multiple-OT thrillers, exciting young players, and a controversy or two and the NHL could be back on the road to Buzz respectability.