NHL All-Star Game notebook: Ottawa on display

Shots of the Parliament building from the front. Shots of the Parliament building from the back across the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec. Skaters going down the Rideau Canal.

This is what we saw in the outdoors shots from NBC Sports Network's coverage of the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa. Oh, and NHL jerseys covered in ice.

In the open, NBC play-by-play announcer Doc Emrick noted the 126 mile length of the canal, and pointed out that the canal is open for skating until the thaw.

Emrick also noted Ottawa's bilingual status, notable during the anthem, which was done as is tradition by Ontario Provincial Police officer Lyndon Slewidge. For the Ottawa games, O Canada starts out in English, switches to French in the middle, and ends in English.

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This game was set up to be a showcase for Ottawa captain and long-time star Daniel Alfredsson, who has played his entire career in Ottawa. Alfredssson got to captain one of the teams.

Alfredsson scored two goals, both against Montréal's Carey Price, and added an assist. Since Ottawa hasn't been good lately, Alfredsson has been ignored, especially in the United States. Great to see Alfredsson to have a chance to shine.

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"Spectacular" was the one word NHL commissioner Gary Bettman used to describe the experience in Ottawa. "Everything has been great. The city has been incredibly hospitable," said Bettman.

NBC Sports Network showed Bettman in the crowd during the game talking with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We all know Harper is a big hockey fan, and we're sure he enjoyed not having to travel for once to get to the All-Star Game.

This was the first time Ottawa has ever hosted the All-Star Game, despite being in the league since 1992.

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After Danielsson scored his first goal, Emrick noted that Daniel has been around for so long that he started his Senators career at the Ottawa Civic Center. The announcers talked about how the Civic Center is located underneath the grandstand of the football stadium at Lansdowne Park. Later in the exchange, Roenick talked about his days playing across the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec.

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Drake performed after the end of the 2nd period. The Canadian rapper/actor is from the Toronto area, and made it clear that he grew up and loves this sport. Several of the players, including Patrick Kane (Chicago) and Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), came out to videotape Drake's performance.

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The announcers noted the somewhat rude treatment that Toronto players got in Ottawa. The Battle of Ontario does not rest, even in the All-Star Game.

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Though the results don't count, here are the scoring highlights of those who play on Canadian-based teams. Each team featured at least one scorer except for Montréal and Winnipeg. The Jets had no players in the game.

2012 All-Star Game scoring
Player	Team	Goals	Assists
Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa	2	1
Joffrey Lupul	Toronto	2	0
Jarome Iginla	Calgary	1	2
Phil Kessel	Toronto	1	2
Henrik Sedin	Vancouver	1	2
Milan Michalek	Ottawa	1	1
Daniel Sedin	Vancouver	1	1
Jason Spezza	Ottawa	1	1
Jordan Eberle	Edmonton	0	1

 

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You knew that the Canadiens were going to be on the NBC Sports Network on Wednesday because the channel carries a Wednesday game and the Detroit-Montréal matchup was the only game scheduled on Wednesday.

Dave Strader and Pierre McGuire (minus Ed Olczyk) handled the call and had a lot of good Red Wings-Canadiens stories to fill the time since Montréal blew Detroit out of the water. The channel gets nervous when a Canadian-based team is on, and having that Canadian-based team winning by a huge score made the announcers a little nervous.

The game drew an audience of 241,000, an average figure for NBCSN. The night before, Minnesota vs. Colorado — in a 9 pm Eastern start — drew 190,000. But the 241,000 mark outdrew all three games on January 15-17.

The announcers know Montréal, so it would be intriguing to see what the storylines would be with other Canadian cities.

The NBC Sports Network has 4 more telecasts involving Canadian-based teams this season. The next two are in Montréal, February 15 with Boston and February 19 with New Jersey. The channel makes its first and only trip to Winnipeg as the Buffalo Sabres come to Manitoba on March 5 and will showcase Toronto's trip to Pittsburgh on March 7.

Comments

[Mario T]

"Dave Strader and Pierre McGuire (minus Ed Olczyk) handled the call and had a lot of good Red Wings-Canadiens stories to fill the time since Montréal blew Detroit out of the water. The channel gets nervous when a Canadian-based team is on, and having that Canadian-based team winning by a huge score made the announcers a little nervous. "

Okay that just made me laugh.. OMG Canadian are beating the US at something! quick.. hide it hide it!! *sighs*

[Chad]

:) Glad you got a laugh from that.

[Selah Beth]

Sounds like they did a good job of covering Ottawa, and not trying to hide Canada.
One of the highlights of the weekend, at least for me, was the hardest shot skills competition when Chara set a new record, twice, finishing with a shot of 108.8mph.
And yes, Ottawa fans never pass on a chance to boo a Leafs player.

[Chad]

Yes, and the irony that Chara used to play for Ottawa was huge. I'm glad the fans were consistent on booing the Maple Leafs. If the NHL played East vs. West, then Phil Kessel would be "teammates" with Spezza and Alfredsson, creating an odd dynamic.