As Patrik Laine climbed the ranks of youth hockey in Finland, he learned about the NHL from video games.
FILE - In this March 3, 2018, file photo, gamers compete during the Athens Online mega-lan gaming expo hosted by eSports at the University of Georgia in Athens, (Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via AP, File)
"I learned probably just about the players," the Winnipeg Jets star said. "Nowadays it's super realistic, and you can just pretty much see how everybody is playing and how good they are."
It's about to get even more real with the NHL following the lead of the NBA, NFL, FIFA and other leagues in establishing a presence in a burgeoning esports market. The 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship, launched Friday, is the first step toward a potential version of the season-long NBA 2K League that's set to begin in May or perhaps eMLS on FIFA 18.
FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2017, file photo, visitors play the latest FIFA 18 soccer game from EA Sports at the Gamescom fair for computer games in Cologne, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
"You're really both tapping into and expanding the existing fan base of the game," said NBC Sports executive Rob Simmelkjaer, who got his introduction to hockey from playing "NHL 94" on Sega Genesis. "I think that's something that the NHL can benefit from by putting esports front and center in the way that they market their sport."
Players will be able to match up 1-on-1 in EA Sports NHL 18 qualification rounds. That will be followed by regional finals in the United States, Canada, and Europe on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and then the June 19 championship at Esports Arena Las Vegas during the NHL Awards with a prize pool of $100,000.
This logo provided by the NHL is for the NHL's first foray into the world of esports that follows the lead of the NBA, NFL, and FIFA. (NHL via AP)
The hope is to land new fans and connect with current fans in a different way.
"This is really at its embryonic stage," NHL executive vice president and chief revenue officer Keith Wachtel said. "This is the most basic way for our fans to play. We're also going to explore in the future the opportunity, and we're going to test this with some of the guys at the regional tournaments and the final, maybe a two-versus-two or a three-versus-three."
WorldGaming and Collegiate StarLeague are already experimenting with gaming at movie theaters in Canada and are in the midst of the Snider Hockey Cup tournament on EA Sports NHL 18 with the finals taking place March 22 in Philadelphia, next to the Flyers' arena.
"After the response, we got to this tournament, we worked closely with the NHL and Electronic Arts for this program," WorldGaming and Collegiate StarLeague CEO Wim Stocks said. "They're going to be in the marketplace with really cool esports programming in the very near future."
Sports-based esports have a long way to go to catch up to fighting games like "Dota," ''League of Legends" and "Counter-Strike," but National Amusements programming and corporate development executive Kevin Mitchell doesn't believe the NHL needs to worry.
"Console gaming is just now starting to take off," said Mitchell, who also teaches esports at Emerson College in Boston. "I think it's really just coming up with an ambidextrous strategy on finding ways to integrate with their traditional fan base and finding ways to create cross-over engagement for this new generation that has been primarily consuming content online."
Mitchell thinks esports ventures are ways for leagues to make fans of young people who get their sports largely through their smartphones or computers. According to Newzoo's 2016 Esports Consumer Insights, 28 percent of hockey fans are 21-35, while 49 percent of esports enthusiasts are in that age bracket.
"We have a very attractive fan base," Wachtel said. "It's young, it's very tech-savvy, and millennials these days, which is really the gamer, are consuming sports in a much different way."
For a sport grappling with challenges of getting kids interested in hockey in places where ice time and equipment can be expensive and difficult to come by, this is another possible route. Mitchell said about 50 U.S. colleges now offer esports scholarships and expects more development at youth levels as they become more popular.
NBC Sports in the U.S., Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and Viasat in Europe will promote the event, airing regional finals and the championship and putting highlights on TV around playoff games.
How it goes will help determine the NHL's next steps.
"We don't really have a statement on what the future holds other than we're going to be active in one way, shape or form," said Chris Golier, NHL vice president of business development. "We're going to have a lot of involvement and conversation with a lot of the top gamers, as well, make sure that it's fun, engaging, the content works and we'll revise as we see fit going forward."
Esports might be a way for the NHL to grow its audience in China, where it is already broadcasting regular-season games and hosting exhibitions ahead of the 2022 Olympics.
"China is a huge gaming population," Stocks said. "What better way to help bring the game of hockey to China than through video gaming? I think the NHL has a great opportunity."
General manager Don Waddell likes how his Carolina Hurricanes finished the season, winning 16 of their final 21 games. He knows it means nothing now.
“Your points get erased and you all start with zeroes,” Waddell said. “Playoffs are a different time. That’s what’s great about the NHL. Once you get to the playoffs, it’s wide open.”
This year more than many in the recent past.
Unlike last year, when Boston broke league records for the most wins and points in a season, there is no clear favorite to hoist the Stanley Cup. Carolina, Florida, defending champion Vegas, Dallas, Winnipeg, Edmonton and the league-best New York Rangers are among the many contenders who could be the last team standing in June.
“I don’t think there’s that separation,” former player-turned-TNT analyst Ed Olczyk said. “I think that there is eight or nine or 10 teams that I really feel could win the Stanley Cup.”
Carolina, which opens against the New York Islanders, are 13-2 Cup favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Florida (7-1), Dallas (15-2), Colorado, Edmonton and the Rangers (all 8-1), Boston (11-1), Vegas (12-1 to repeat) and Toronto (14-1). The Canucks and Jets are listed at 15-1. and 2020- 21 Cup-winning Tampa Bay is 25-1, even with top goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy rounding back into form.
“He’s at his best when the games are on the line, and we look for that once again this year," 2020 playoff MVP Victor Hedman said. "It’s obviously so fun to have the best goalie in the world behind you when the playoffs start.”
The conversation starts with the Rangers, who won the Presidents' Trophy, have home-ice advantage throughout the postseason and open Sunday against eighth-seeded Washington. Igor Shesterkin, like Vasilevskiy, has won the Vezina as the league's best goalie, and this season winger Artemi Panarin has been one of the most productive and valuable players on any team.
What could set New York apart? Maybe its depth, which comes in handy in the playoffs when unlikely players become heroes.
“It might not be the headliners — it might be somebody you go, this guy just got four goals in a series and that was the turning point,” said former player Ray Ferraro, now an ESPN analyst." You know who I think of? It could be Kaapo Kakko. It could be a guy like that, who had a trying year."
Or, Ferraro wondered, it could be someone like Boston's Jake DeBrusk. The Bruins are a year removed from being stunned by Florida in the first round after their record-setting season and begin their redemption tour Saturday against Toronto.
Coach Jim Montgomery hopes his team learned “how to handle adversity when it smacks you in the face. ... We know there’s a way we need to look on the ice and what we should look like, to ourselves most importantly. And when we look like that, we think we can play with anyone in the league.”
The East is no cakewalk. As Lightning coach Jon Cooper pointed out ahead of his team's first-round series against the cross-state Panthers, more than a decade on the job has led to just two championships.
“That’s a lot of times not being able to get through the gauntlet,” Cooper said. “It’s hard. It’s really hard to do.”
The West has what Ferraro called a “beast” of a first round. Among the intriguing matchups are Winnipeg vs. Colorado and Vancouver opening against Nashville. Dallas finished first in the conference, but are the Stars the team to beat?
“I think five out of the eight are contenders for the Cup that are legitimate that could win,” said former defenseman Jason Demers, now an NHL Network analyst. “It really is going to come down to a matchup that you get in the first round to get the ball rolling and then whoever stays the healthiest.”
The top-seeded Stars, who open against either Vegas or Los Angeles, will try to outrace opponents to the Cup, using their speed and skill and relying on Jake Oettinger and a stacked blue line behind an elite group of forwards. But they know it won’t be easy.
“It’s going to be a hard run to get through everything,” winger Mason Marchment said. “It’ll be exciting, but I think we’ll be ready for it.”
Reigning and three-time MVP Connor McDavid could put the Oilers on his back and carry them through the playoffs like Nathan MacKinnon did when the Avalanche won the Cup in 2022. A lot will depend on Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner.
With a first-round matchup against the Golden Knights or Kings, Demers said “Edmonton just needs to exorcise those demons.”
So do the Jets, who haven't made it to the West final since 2018. Winnipeg has this season's best goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck and a big, tough lineup full of players who can also score but think first about their end of the ice.
“Defend first,” assistant coach Scott Arniel said. “We don’t give teams very much time and space to do anything, and we grind people out and we kind of frustrate them by kind of smothering them to death.”
AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Denver and Stephen Hawkins in Frisco, Texas, contributed
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Vancouver Canucks players gather at center ice to raise their sticks to the fans after defeating the Calgary Flames in the team's home regular-season finale NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates past Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
FILE - Dallas Stars' head coach Pete DeBoer, center, shouts instructions to his players against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period of an NHL hockey match in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. The Stars are heading toward the NHL playoffs with the league's most balanced scoring team. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Barron, left, congratulates goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, right, after an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, center, celebrates with Jack Roslovic (96) and K'Andre Miller (79) after they shut out the Ottawa Senators in an NHL hockey game Monday, April 15, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a stick save on a shot by the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews watches the puck during the second period of the team's NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery discusses a play during the third period of the team's NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Fans cheer after the Dallas Stars won in a shootout during an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. With the win the Stars clinched the top seed in the Western Conference. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Florida Panthers players celebrate after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2, during an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Michael Amadio (22) is congratulated for his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi, left, and Maxime Comtois celebrate their goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
