Vegas-Carolina Final Has Bite Despite The Ratings Panic

The NHL may be staring at a ratings headache, but the hockey itself still has plenty of spice. Vegas and Carolina bring very different personalities to the final, and that contrast gives the matchup more intrigue than the doom-and-gloom crowd wants to admit. One side has the glitz, the other has the pressure-cooker edge, and both know the stakes do not care about market size. This is the kind of Final that can surprise people who only watch the scoreboard and not the chess match.