When the Expos franchise left Montréal, the NHL Canadiens did their best to keep the memory of Les Expos alive. The Habs took on Youppi! and the retired numbers of the Expos hang in the rafters of the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens are wearing a #8 sticker on their helmets for the late Gary Carter who passed away on Thursday. Don't know if the CBC announcers made a note on that Sunday night, but the news escaped the NBCSN team.
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NBCSN made its point in the theme of the day that New Jersey had 7 American-born players and Montréal had 4 players. Mike Cammalleri has been traded (for Canadian Rene Borque) and Brian Gionta is injured. American-born Max Pacioretty scored the only goal Sunday night for Les Habs.
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Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro didn't get much air time on Hockey Day in America, but certainly made the best of it. The entire country started with the TSN team of Miller and Ferraro in Buffalo, and the Sabres helped out the TV crowd and scored a goal before the San Jose vs. Detroit game audience switched out. Those watching the St. Louis vs. Chicago game got a few extra minutes of Miller and Ferraro.
The NBC pre-game featured the Minnesota rivalry between Roseau and Warroad, two cities less than 10 miles from the Manitoba border. Warroad is on the bay that runs into the Lake of the Woods where Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota all meet.
You can't help but notice that two of the three early destinations were Buffalo and Detroit, both cities where you can see Canada from the hockey arenas.
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We had a bit of fun speculating about where Andy Brickley would be at the Bell Centre for Sunday night's telecast on the NBCSN. I contemplated him sharing space with Glenn Healy by the visiting goalie. D'oh. Healy was in Vancouver for the Saturday night HNIC game, so Brickley was in the usual spot all by himself. Bob Cole and Garry Galley didn't have an inside the glass analyst. Andi Petrillo went from the I-Desk in Toronto Saturday night to be the sideline reporter Sunday in Montréal.
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Hope you got a chance to see After Hours on the NHL Center Ice free preview. It may be the last time you see it until April.
We have made numerous points about the NHL Network's decision not to show the late CBC game or After Hours. CBC hasn't allowed U.S. ISPs to see After Hours on its site lately. And YouTube has had mixed results.
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The NHL Network will feature Canadian-based teams three nights in a row, including Saturday night's Hockey Night in Canada. Thursday night, Vancouver travels to Detroit. The feed will come either from Rogers Sports Net Pacific or Fox Sports Detroit. Montréal is at Washington on Friday night either from TSN or CSN-Washington. You can see more of the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin as Washington travels to Toronto on Saturday night via CBC.
Viewers who get a CBC feed get two extra games on Saturday. St. Louis will be at Winnipeg for a matinee and Philadelphia @ Calgary will be the late game. Once again, the NHL Network won't carry the late CBC game. Still haven't received a reply from the NHL Network.
Those getting the CBC from Ottawa will have Boston at Ottawa at 7 pm Eastern on Saturday.
For those who get Comcast simulcasts, these are your possible options on Tuesday (Philadelphia at Winnipeg), Wednesday (Washington at Ottawa), Thursday (San Jose at Toronto and Philadelphia at Edmonton), and Saturday (Philadelphia @ Calgary).
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