Wednesdays was a day of 2s. Both Canadian-based teams won huge contests. Henrik Sedin was very glad to have his twin brother Daniel back. The Canucks won a 2-goal win. Ottawa tied its series at 2. And there are still 2 Canadian teams in the playoffs.
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If you looking for a stat to impress people around the water cooler or the lunch room, both Ottawa and Vancouver snapped their scoreless streaks at the 87 minute mark. A regulation hockey game is 60 minutes. Struggling to score doesn't inspire confidence, no matter how good your defense may be. Both Canadian teams have lost 1-0 games in this opening round.
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CBC's nightmare of an Ottawa OT and a Vancouver start did come true. Ottawa's OT didn't last long. The CBC solution was to send British Columbia and Yukon to the start of the Vancouver game while the rest of the country stayed with the Ottawa game.
For those Canadians that could get CBUT/Vancouver and almost any other CBC station had the best of all worlds. As far as we know, CHEX/Peterborough stayed with the Senators (let us know if CHEX flipped). Both games were streaming at cbcsports.ca; the Web site has been experimenting with HD feeds online during the playoffs.
The transition on U.S. television was more complete but more awkward. The NHL Network started it out and the NBC Sports Network jumped in shortly thereafter. Waiting a few more minutes or scheduling 10:30 pm faceoffs would have helped.
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The sports media geeks (an affectionate term for us) had some chatter over the fact that CBC (and the NBCSN sim sub) was the only TV broadcast in either country. The LA Kings didn't have a local TV feed for Game 4. This was in great part due to conflicts with other LA area sports. The idea of a potentially series clinching win without local TV in the first round made Los Angeles look second-rate as a hockey city.
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John Forslund did mention Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was at the game. He noted that Harper is a huge hockey fan. Of course, Ottawa is where Harper works. Forslund said they might be talking with Harper (or about Harper), and they never got back to the subject. Since the NBC teams don't use a sideline reporter, they couldn't interview Harper in the stands. Too bad, since we know Harper watches American news rather than Canadian news.
We saw a bit more colo(u)r from Ottawa and the arena during the telecast. The coverage represents a change in attitude from the NBC Group, almost as if someone in charge read our coverage on CanadianCrossing.com. They should also read our Twitter feed for inspiration.
This is especially important because Ottawa rarely gets any coverage in the U.S. spotlight, and the Rangers and Senators will play Game 6 back in Ottawa Monday night.
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Offensive officiating in Ottawa, besides being lovely alliteration, is a head-scratcher. Home teams can sometimes have an unfair advantage with the refs in any sport, but the officiating has really been one-sided against the hometown Senators. I've watched obvious boarding calls by the New York Rangers right in front of refs not get called, but any slight infraction, or sometimes non-infraction against Ottawa gets the quick hand raising.
This doesn't even factor in Marc Staal's hit to Jason Spezza's head. Though Spezza crashed to the ice with a reported stinger, Staal got no penalty for a deliberate hit to the head.
The head scratching doesn't come so much from the calls going to the Rangers. The calls in New York were more fair to the Senators than the calls in Ottawa. We know the referees really hate Vancouver; the officials who worked Games 3 and 4 in Ottawa showed a harsh anti-Canadian bias.
Ottawa has had a hard time competing with the Rangers when it's 5-on-5. The Rangers shouldn't be getting any more help from the refs.
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Yes, Brian Hayward is Canadian and apparently does NHL color commentary for a living. But Hayward has proven to be the worst U.S. national color commentator in the modern NBC/Versus era.
Hayward stuck to his "calling things tight" theory in Game 4 that was just as wrong in Game 4 as it was in Game 3. Blown calls against the Senators were "breaks for the Rangers." You heard that phrase more often than "Canada's capital."
Also, I could pull a 8-year-old out of the stands who would ask better questions from the coaches than Hayward comes up with asking. Often, he throws out statements hoping like heck the coach says something smart. Credit to the coaches since they have looked way smarter than Hayward.
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The announcing teams haven't been picked for Game 5 in Madison Square Garden. Since Pittsburgh kept its series alive, we might end up with Forslund and Hayward, though any other crew would be a better option. Since Game 5 would be in the usual Hockey Night in Canada slot, a CBC simulcast would be appropriate. However, the NBC people turned that down last Saturday night.
Game 5 airs on the NBC Sports Network at 7 pm. Those with CBC access have a better option.
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As for Vancouver's Game 5, NBC wants a doubleheader on Sunday, the day for Game 5. If Philadelphia wins on Friday, the Canucks could be on, dare we say, NBC. If the Penguins kept their series alive, Canucks/Kings will be on NBCSN in the evening. The question will be whether the CBC sim subs streak will keep going if NBCSN carries the game. If the game is on NBC, look for Dave Strader and Brian Engblom on the telecast.