by Al Strachan

Updated: April 21, 2008, 5:16 PM EST 81 comments

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The league is desperate to build on the resurgence of popularity that has been seen in many quarters this year, and to rebound from the disastrous decision by commissioner Gary Bettman to throw away a season.

So far, the picture is looking good. A Calgary Flames loss on Tuesday night will make it look even better.

The four Stanley Cup finalists since the lockout have been Ottawa, Anaheim, Edmonton and Carolina. While all those teams held some compelling attraction for committed hockey fans, they weren't likely to capture the interest of anyone who wasn't already drawn to the game.

But all four of those teams have already been dispatched this year. So have other limited-interest small-market teams like Nashville, Florida, Vancouver, Atlanta and so on.

For the most part, the teams that remain alive are the ones the league can seriously promote on television, and in the process, draw fans to the sport. The Rangers, of course, are the best of that group.

They bring in the huge New York market. They boast established stars like Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan. Just as important, they have home-grown American stars like Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. And of course, they have Sean Avery who, like him or hate him, does get noticed. For the NHL, it doesn't get much better than that.

As of this writing, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington are all alive. The first two command attention, just by the reputation of their cities. And Washington has Alexander Ovechkin.

Again, this is a pure treat for the NHL.

Even if Montreal gets into the East's final four, it's not necessarily a bad turn of events. Although Canadian teams are not good for the development of postseason excitement in the United States, the Canadiens are the most storied of the lot — sort of like the Green Bay Packers of the NHL — and the Canadian team that will do the least damage to playoff ratings.

None of this has anything to do with the respective merits of the players on these teams, or the overall ability of the teams themselves. It's just an unassailable fact that in the United States, American teams are a better ratings draw than Canadian teams. And why not?

When you toss in the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins have already advanced to the second round and there could conceivably be a head-to-head matchup between Sidney Crosby's Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin's Capitals, you can see why the NHL is excited.

But even if the Flyers take out the Capitals, there's still a success story. The Caps made their fairy-tale charge to the playoffs and will almost certainly give the city of Washington its first MVP in decades.

And a Washington loss would mean Philadelphia's survival, which is never a bad thing for the ratings.

The only blip on the NHL's sunny horizon is in the West, where the Calgary Flames are threatening to take out the highly favored San Jose Sharks.

Needless to say, Calgary is not one of the franchises that entices borderline fans to watch the games. If they were aficionados of hockey, they'd know that Jarome Iginla alone is worth their time. And that the Flames play a gritty, hard-nosed brand of hockey that is most entertaining and that Miikka Kiprusoff is one of the league's elite goalies. But that's not what draws fans in the postseason. Mystique does.

And one of the most mystique-laden rivalries in today's NHL is the one involving the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche.

That's the matchup that will evolve if the Flames are defeated by the Sharks. It will be the first-place Red Wings against the sixth-seed Avalanche. And no matter how far apart the teams might have been in the standings, they're not far apart today.

The Colorado team that struggled to earn a playoff spot was devastated by long-term injuries to the likes of Ryan Smith and Joe Sakic. Both of them are back now and fully healthy. Peter Forsberg is back too, and playing superbly having spent the season in rehabilitation. And Adam Foote was picked up at the trading deadline. For a comment on his impact, ask the Minnesota Wild's Marion Gaborik, who was totally shut down by Foote in the first round.

A Detroit-Colorado matchup is likely to be a highly entertaining affair, one that will quickly rekindle the deep hate that these two teams have for each other.

The Dallas Stars are already in, and that too has to please the NHL. Despite being in the deep south, Dallas is a strong hockey market, and the Stars are a strong TV draw, having been perennial contenders and the 1999 Stanley Cup winners.

But for all the reasons already cited, a Dallas-San Jose series would be a much greater attraction than Detroit-Calgary, which is what would come to pass if the Flames eliminate the Sharks. And the other matchup that would result in that case, Dallas-Colorado, would be fine hockey but wouldn't come close to matching the mystique of Detroit-Colorado.

Still, the NHL is getting its dream matchups in the East where the base of its support lies. Should the Flames confound the experts, there will still be the consolation of a rebirth of interest in the big eastern cities.

The league can take solace in that and look forward to coming seasons when even Chicago and Los Angeles might be back in the playoffs. For the NHL, that would be heaven.