Canadian Crossing

2012 Stanley Cup notebook: Bob Cole to call Western Conference final for CBC

Bob Cole is going on the West side for the Stanley Cup conference final.

CBC is carrying the Eastern Conference final, which starts Monday either in New York or New Jersey, and Games 4-7 of the Western Conference final. Since Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson became the #1 team, they have worked the Western Conference final.

Given Cole's age (80) and home (Newfoundland), he doesn't normally travel that far, though he did a Canadiens game in Los Angeles this season. Once Cole is on the West Coast, going from Los Angeles to Phoenix is a relative breeze.

The Canadian networks do their odd split once again for the conference finals. TSN will carry the first three games of the Phoenix-Los Angeles Western Conference final. Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro will handle the call. Game 1 is in Phoenix on Sunday.

Those on the U.S. side of the border will have to rely on NBCSN for those games.

With the Internet speculation about Cole's pbp calls in the Stanley Cup coverage, some wondered whether the CBC would draft Mark Lee or Dean Brown to work with Garry Galley. At some point, the CBC needs to figure out who would be the next #2 pbp guy, regular season or postseason.

The other possible compromise would have been if Hughson and Simpson had called the first three games of the Eastern Conference series and then had gone out west, leaving the East for Cole and Galley. This would have been awkward, but a way to save face for Cole.

Stay tuned to CanadianCrossing.com and the Twitter feed for more details.

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Hard to know what to make of the Ron MacLean 9/11 references before Game 6 of the Washington-New York game. Everything the CBC does these days gets a lot of grief, and MacLean did apologize for his choice of words. On American soil, the tragedy has reached demagogue status, mourning the loss of life without much thought to preventing it or dealing with the after effect of those first responders.

Too many politicians, mostly Republican, wrapped themselves in the flag and flag pins and didn't help those who suffered as a result of helping others on that day. And did little to punish those who had some idea this was coming.

Compared to that, what MacLean did wasn't nearly as offensive. But if you disagree, I get that.

Though MacLean, and his sidekick, Don Cherry can't be accused of not supporting troops, firefighters, and police officers.

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The Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada slot had the potential to be Too Much Hockey in the United States. The brilliant plan for Game 7 was to run both of the Eastern Conference semifinals 30 minutes apart on Saturday night.

Of course, the New Jersey Devils prevented that scenario.

For the U.S. outlets, NBCSN would have carried one game (Rangers-Capitals) and CNBC would have carried the other game (Flyers-Devils). CBC has both series and Canadian fans would have been left scrambling in that scenario.

CBC could have traded one of those games to TSN for a game in the conference final. Last spring, when the CBC traded a game to TSN on Election Night, the CBC just lost that game.

In previous years, the U.S. outlets would have had more trouble. NBC wouldn't jump in and show a game, even in the deathbed that is OTA on Saturday night, and CNBC only started being an outlet this year.

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Another tentative deal that will keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

We've seen that as many times as Jack Nicholson's character types the same phrase over and over in "The Shining."

The NHL is filled with teams that could use a change of scenery: Dallas, Columbus, New York Islanders, Nashville, Florida, and Phoenix. The only one that makes Gary Bettman more passionate to justify his decision is Phoenix. The fact that the NHL owns the Coyotes and the Canadian teams are supporting the losses of the 'Yotes makes Bettman's position even more exasperating.

As the Phoenix Coyotes have made their way to the Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings, a Disney movie script writer wouldn't believe a scenario where the 'Yotes get to stay in Phoenix only if they win the Stanley Cup.

Quebec has more than earned a right to one of these teams. The 'Yotes deserve to be that team, since the Atlanta legacy will take awhile to wear off in Winnipeg.

Seattle, Kansas City, and Hamilton, Ontario have good arguments, better arguments than the ones in Columbus, Nashville, Florida, and Phoenix. But if Quebec doesn't have a team in the fall of 2012, then the owners need to ask themselves what Bettman is doing for them by remaining in the desert.

State of the Canadian NHL teams is not strong

Every U.S. president, Republican or Democratic, always says that the State of the Union is strong, even when it's not. No president can't say it's weak; just can't happen. When it comes to the State of Canadian teams in the NHL, we will say what needs to be said.

Canada may have 8 teams in the 30-team NHL by the time the puck drops, though this year that might not be in early October.

Television

If the Canadian teams were better on the ice, and still getting ignored by U.S. television, we would have a much stronger case of bias. We saw the way the Florida Panthers were treated by U.S. TV in this year's playoffs, treatment usually reserved for Canadian teams.

Ottawa proved on the ice that the team deserves more U.S. exposure. But Ottawa is seen as a lesser market, meaning not as well known as Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. When NBC's #1 crew called Game 7 Ottawa Senators, that would have been their first Senators game since Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup finals.

The Senators get lost in the shuffle since they don't get much national exposure on Hockey Night in Canada, a major gateway for U.S. TV.

Speaking of Hockey Night in Canada, the NHL Network never explained its decision to stop running the second half of Hockey Night in Canada. Even if it was tape-delayed and occasionally censored, the programming brought teams to U.S. eyeballs that weren't otherwise seen. And the "After Hours" feature was a nice insight into CBC's coverage of hockey and a more human side to players, coaches, and yes broadcasters that seemed perfect for the NHL Network. So the move is still puzzling.

The loss of "After Hours" to Americans who couldn't even access the feature online was even more of a headshaker. We see the U.S. outlets add more hockey than ever before, somewhat at the expense of Canadian teams and Canadian features.

The NHL Network also proved to be inconsistent on which early HNIC games to carry, going out of its way to not show Winnipeg or Ottawa in a prime-time setting. Even the Maple Leafs suffered as the channel focused more on Montréal telecasts. This was made easier now that CBC shows Habs games in HD, but harder in that the Canadiens had a worse season than Toronto.

While more Canadian coverage may return when the teams get better, next year might be the time to break out NHL Center Ice. Though I feel like my cable company owes me a partial refund for the NHL Network not doing what it was intended to do: Show the teams not cool enough for NBCSN.

The news wasn't all bad. Vancouver Canucks fans got a few TSN simulcasts toward the end of the season on NBCSN. While this didn't make up for the loss of Canucks games on CBC (on the NHL Network), the trend of late-night sim subs on NBCSN would be welcome. The channel even carried live late-night games on Saturday night, something the NHL Network has refused to do since it carried live HNIC late games in the U.S. cable channel's first season.

The worst casualties of the loss of late HNIC to U.S. viewers were the Alberta twins, Calgary and Edmonton. The St. Louis Blues had more NBCSN telecasts in the final week of the regular season (2) than those Western Canada teams were shown live (1) on any U.S. national TV outlet.

Even though Vancouver won back-to-back Presidents Trophies, we don't expect their visibility to increase, unless the NHL Network brings back late HNIC games. After coming one game short of winning the Cup, Vancouver had two-NBCSN produced telecasts the whole season, and one of those were Opening Night. Being eliminated in the first round won't make that number jump.

6 of the 12 postseason games were played on Canadian soil. NBC sent a crew to 5 of the 6 games in Canada, which has to be a record. Given who they sent, American viewers would have been better off to have CBC simulcasts, but the fact that they weren't afraid to go to Canada is a good sign, sort of.

On the Ice

Montréal, Calgary, and Edmonton (likely) will have new coaches next year. Toronto is still trying out its new head coach. The coaching situation in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg isn't the problem.

Tom Renney might get replaced by Brent Sutter, who left the Flames in a meh scenario. Sutter wasn't fired nor did he quit. Meh!

Ironically, the other Sutter these days ended up kicking the Los Angeles Kings in the butt. Without Darryl Sutter, Vancouver advances to the second round.

As good as Ottawa was this year compared to expectations, being 8th gets you an invitation but not much else. Toronto, Calgary, and Winnipeg/Atlanta are very good 10th place teams. As the NHL is teaching us, your team should really be good enough to be a 6th place team, and the Maple Leafs, Flames, and Jets are there.

This was Montréal's worst showing since B&W television or maybe even radio. Anyway, the Canadiens can bounce back IF a new coach and GM shakes things up. But they may not have the talent to be up to 6th place. The Habs showed us what they can do by overachieving in 2010, but to Montréal fans, 2010 seems so far away.

Vancouver may/may not trade a goalie, but this team needs to fill a few minor holes, like a 2nd line scoring center. You have to score a lot of goals to win a Presidents Trophy, but this team has struggled to score in the postseason. A healthy Ryan Kesler next year will help; if Kesler had the shoulder surgery he apparently needs, then the Canucks might not have traded Cody Hodgson and Vancouver would still be playing.

Ottawa proved that you can do well with youth, something Edmonton had to notice. No team has more exciting talent than the Oilers, but the team is "tired" of getting top picks.

Gary Bettman tried to fix the Winnipeg situation, and Donald Fehr, looking to show his (fading) masculinity, said no. So short of a last-second miracle (Phoenix Coyotes to Quebec City), the Jets will have to contend with playing divisional games in Miami, Tampa Bay, Washington, and Raleigh. Winnipeg will benefit more from playing in the same division as Minnesota, Chicago, and St. Louis.

Will Calgary shake things up by trading Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff? Haven't we asked that question for several years?

The Flames don't want to trade those players, and they can't get enough firepower to jump into the bottom tier of the Western Conference playoffs pile. You can't find finer athletes and human beings than Iginla and Kiprusoff. Trading them in a summer with a potential labor dispute will be next to impossible. The Flames are screwed for awhile if they trade them and if they don't trade them; what fans want to know is which is the quicker path back to playoff contention.

If the 'Yotes do have to learn French, the team will be an automatic contender in the capital of La Belle Province. Though Shane Doan might not make the trip to Quebec. If, a big if, that happens, we will assess that move when the team is safely across the border and not a moment before.

State of Canadian teams

The state of the Canadian teams is not strong. Vancouver might not think it's very strong, but the team is the strongest among the Canadian entries. Ottawa is the second strongest by default, but would have to overcome the potential loss of Daniel Alfredsson and filling a hole or two and hoping Erik Karlsson isn't a one-hit wonder. Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary are perennial 10th place teams playing like they are in the NHL of the mid-1990s where you can sort of coast to the playoffs.

A return of the Nordiques to Quebec should give Montréal a kick in the pants to step it up. And Edmonton also needs to find out what kind of team it wants to be. The Senators should inspire the Oilers that you can win with youth if you do it right.

The Montréal Canadiens will celebrate 20 years without the Stanley Cup, and that team has the shortest streak without the Cup among Canadian franchises. This year, no Canadian team made it to the second round. If this doesn't inspire some improvement among the Canadian-based teams, we don't know what will work. Having Phoenix or Nashville raise the Stanley Cup?

2012 Stanley Cup notebook: Canadian teams starting golf game early

If Ottawa had performed well in the last week and finished 6th, the Senators could have played Florida. If Los Angeles had edged out San Jose, Vancouver would have a better opponent in the Sharks.

Boston, Chicago, and Detroit might have had similar scenarios and thought processes. If Ottawa had won Game 7, the second round would have had 0 Original 6 teams. Now we have no Canadian teams in the 2nd round for the first time since 1996.

The Senators had the 3-2 advantage. Youth and Daniel Alfredsson being less than 100% hurt Ottawa in Games 6 and 7. If Alfredsson comes back for another year, and the youth get another full season under their belts, then maybe the Ottawa Senators can make the playoffs two years in a row.

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It took all of 7 games for the Senators to get a decent U.S. broadcast crew. Ottawa is higher in the pecking order than Florida, so the Sens got NBCSN's #1 crew and a normal 7 pm Eastern time slot.

We also got both anthems in Game 7. The only other anthems we got was Vancouver's Game 1.

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The Canadian teams played 12 games in the postseason, a new low in the modern era. Under the new NBC deal, all 12 games were on television. This is good news, though only 3 of them were CBC sim subs.

If San Jose had been Vancouver's opponent, and Florida was Ottawa's opponent, we would have seen Bob Cole and Garry Galley rather than Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson.

Of the 9 remaining telecasts, 8 were national broadcasts (with 1 sim sub from MSG). Brian Hayward worked 6, John Forslund 5, Rick Peckham 2, and Daryl Reaugh 1. Doc Emrick, Ed Olczyk, and Pierre McGuire had the one at the end. If we had a decent color guy other than Hayward and a few Eastern CBC feeds, that would have been OK.

Hayward was a joke. If you are going to run a national feed, and blow off a better national feed, you need announcers that understand this idea. Forslund barely gets that; Hayward never learned.

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Long story short, I was away from the TV as regulation was winding down in Ottawa's Game 7 telecast. In my new cell phone, I had downloaded the NHL Game Center app. I discovered that I could listen live to the game. I could even choose which radio feed I wanted.

So I heard the Ottawa radio announcers make the call at the end of the game. If I had known this before, I would have spared you and myself the rants against Brian Hayward.

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One vocal exercise that went ignored when the U.S. broadcast teams were in Ottawa was the Senators fans reognition of long-time captain Daniel Alfredsson. The fans would count down to the  11-minute mark of each period with chants of "Alfie" once they reached 0. This was the charm that was lacking in Miami, Phoenix, and Nashville.

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CBC will carry both Eastern Conference series. Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson will handle the Rangers/Capitals series with Glenn Healy while Bob Cole and Garry Galley with Scott Oake will work Flyers/Devils.

The CBC will have no conflicts in Round 2, and if both series go 7 games, May 4 and 11 will be off days for the CBC.

This isn't quite what the CBC had in mind. They were really hoping for the Sens and the Canucks in Round 2. Still, their picks will parallel NBC's picks over the weekend. So those who live along the border have a true OTA battle between CBC and NBC.

We'll have more on CBC's ratings worries on Monday.

2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs scoreboard

2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

all times Eastern Daylight Time/+ if needed

Western Conference

(1) Vancouver vs. (8) Los Angeles Los Angeles wins series 4-1
Date	Location	Time	U.S. TV
April 11	Los Angeles 4, Vancouver 2	10:30p	NBCSN
April 13	Los Angeles 4, Vancouver 2	10p	NBCSN
April 15	Los Angeles 1, Vancouver 0	10:30p	NBCSN
April 18	Vancouver 3, Los Angeles 1	10p	NBCSN
April 22	Los Angeles 2, Vancouver 1 (OT)	8p	NBCSN
All games on CBC in Canada.

 

Eastern Conference

(8) Ottawa vs. (1) New York Rangers NY Rangers win series 4-3
Date	Location	Time	U.S. TV
April 12	NY Rangers 4, Ottawa 2	7p	NHLN
April 14	Ottawa 3, NY Rangers 2 (OT)	7p	NBCSN
April 16	NY Rangers 1, Ottawa 0	7:30p	CNBC
April 18	Ottawa 3, NY Rangers 2 (OT)	7:30p	CNBC
April 21	Ottawa 2, NY Rangers 0	7p	NBCSN
April 23	NY Rangers 3, Ottawa 2	7p	NBCSN
April 26	NY Rangers 2, Ottawa 1	7p	NBCSN
All games on CBC and RDS in Canada.

2012 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver gone, all eyes on Ottawa

We always have a few tears every spring when a postseason ends for a Canadian team. Doesn't matter if it's a Calgary team that barely made it or a Vancouver team that won the Presidents Trophy. But this one hurt a little more.

After last year, the consolation appeared to be "well, they can come back next year." But every year is different. Vancouver can point justifiably to Duncan Keith's cheap shot that knocked out Daniel Sedin for the rest of the regular season and the first 3 playoff games. Or the trade of Cody Hodgson on a team desperate for offense. Or an underrated Los Angeles Kings that didn't deserve its 8th place status. Or a goalie controversy that wasn't really that controversial, unless the team trades one of the goalies next year.

If the Canucks had won last year, this would be an easier pill to swallow. But they didn't, and it's not.

Canada's quest to retain the Stanley Cup is in the hands of the Ottawa Senators.

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I tried to stir things up by throwing out the name of Gord Miller for NBCSN's coverage of Game 6. Canadian Sports Media reported that Miller will be in Chicago with Ray Ferraro on Monday. Oops.

Still, the idea was brilliant. Dare to dream.

The schedule is winding down for the first round. You have to figure that Doc Emrick and Pierre McGuire will be in Boston Wednesday night. Some team will have the Panthers-Devils Tuesday night, the only game scheduled that night. Dave Strader and Brian Engblom might be in Chicago, but we deserve them to be in Ottawa. (Updates on our Twitter feed.)

The Ottawa Senators hope that CBC will only carry two more games in the first round. Dean Brown and Greg Millen will call their final game for the network this season for Game 7 of Washington at Boston Wednesday night.

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I have missed Daryl Reaugh.

His color analysis wasn't that noticeable on Versus. But I did enjoy his guest appearances on CBC this season, until the NHL Network stopped carrying the late HNIC game.

Compared to Brian Hayward, who worked Game 1 of the Canucks series, Reaugh was sunshine after 40 days of flooding. Reaugh has one huge advantage that the other U.S. announcers haven't had: he had actually done Canucks games.

John Forslund (Game 1) and Rick Peckham (Game 5) did one Vancouver game each this year for their local teams.

Reaugh's sharp analysis has been missing from the U.S. coverage.

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Peckham and Reaugh meant no CBC simulcast by the NBCSN on Sunday night. The prime time slot forced NBC's hand to send a crew. Kings fans wonder why that didn't happen for Game 4, but the rest of the country benefited. The loss of Hughson/Simpson wasn't good, but one of the unanswered questions was why Hughson/Simpson was OK to sim sub, but not Cole/Galley.

We've seen our last CBC sim sub of the year, though a potential Ottawa-Florida series might prove tempting.

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Can't leave without mentioning NBCSN's coverage of a different Canadian team: Toronto FC. The Toronto contest on Saturday is one of two games involving Canadian teams as part of NBCSN's deal with MLS.

This isn't a good time to show the Toronto FC team, having gone winless so far this season. The Chicago Fire handled Toronto FC 3-2 at BMO Field.

The coverage was good. Soccer announcers with British accents aren't freaked out by being in Canada, and you have to love the Toronto skyline east of the stadium, especially the CN Tower. Would have been nicer if it was sunny.

The other MLS game will be at BC Place on September 29 on NBCSN as the Seattle Sounders travel to play the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Would NBCSN hire Gord Miller to call potential Ottawa clincher?

We have seen what the NBC Sports Group has thought about the Ottawa Senators vs. New York Rangers series. A MSG sim sub in Game 1. The puzzling pathetic analysis of Brian Hayward. John Forslund and then Rick Peckham, introduced to make Forslund look better by comparison.

Now that the Senators have a 3-2 lead, and clearly the NBC people have never been interested in running the CBC feed, why not do the second-best thing? Bring some Canadian funk to the broadcast booth in Ottawa.

Look at Monday's schedule. Two games on the docket: Game 6 Senators-Rangers and Game 6 Chicago-Phoenix. TSN will send Chris Cuthbert and Mike Johnson to Chicago; CNBC will carry the local CSN Chicago feed. So Miller and McGuire would have the night off.

On Sunday, Pierre McGuire will be in Washington and Gord Miller will be in Philadelphia. Doc Emrick has taken breaks in the first round, so McGuire would need to be matched up with another play-by-play person.

Miller and possibly McGuire might have to be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, but otherwise they would likely have Tuesday off, depending on how well they cover Game 6 Panthers-Devils. So far, neither NBC or TSN has paid much attention to that series.

Miller and McGuire reunited to broadcast the Buffalo-Winnipeg game on NBCSN, and the ratings were surprisingly good. And NBCSN had Miller and Ray Ferraro work the Capitals-Rangers on the last day of the regular season.

The coverage of this series hasn't gone to New York City since the local MSG coverage has kicked in so far. So the rest of the country has been suffering from inferior broadcast teams. If there is a Game 7, we would likely get one of the two top NBCSN broadcast teams. But for Game 6, the long-suffering fans deserve a good broadcast team, even if they have to import half of that from Canada.

photo credit

2012 Stanley Cup notebook: Going sans CBC

Back in the days of Versus and many, many lost games, CBC simulcasts were bountiful and beautiful. Before the NHL Network carried (some) HNIC games, chances to see the CBC were very few.

The Game 1 telecasts for Vancouver and Ottawa were seemingly destined for CBC simulcasts. Unfortunately, we got a NBCSN crew in Vancouver and worse, a MSG simulcast for the Ottawa game.

Games 2 and 3 in the Vancouver series are guaranteed to get a local feed. Game 4 for Vancouver will likely be a local feed. That's right; no local LA telecast for Game 4 of the Kings. That tells you a little bit about the interest in hockey in the warm California sun.

Will they be CBC feeds? If not, someone owes us a long explanation.

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Technically, we got a CBC feed though tape-delayed. The NHL Network is showing rebroadcasts the next afternoon, and the U.S. channel showed the CBC feed on Vancouver's Game 1 loss. While you would think the NHL Network would have plenty of time to show rebroadcasts of all the games, the next scheduled rebroadcast is Game 4 of Vancouver-Los Angeles.

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What does the NBC Group think about the Canadian teams? John Forslund and Brian Hayward. Seriously. Okay, we weren't expecting Doc Emrick or Dave Strader. This is why we like the simulcasts. We get announcers that know the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators.

Since Vancouver was on NBCSN all alone on Wednesday night, the network felt compelled to carry its own crew. John Forslund was OK, but Brian Hayward was a sad joke. Hayward is a Canadian and someone who actually knows the Western Conference (his day job is with the Anaheim Ducks).

Forslund and Hayward make their way across the country to work Games 2-4 of the Senators-Rangers. The NHL Network carried Game 1, opting for a MSG simulcast.

I can't point to one obvious thing Hayward did, but Hayward seemed more interested in the Los Angeles Kings (seemingly funny given his Ducks allegiance). This is the problem that Versus/NBCSN has had in past years. They bring in people who aren't ready for national broadcasts who don't have a sense that they aren't supposed to be rooting for a particular team.

The ideal person, under the circumstances, would have been Daryl Reaugh, who worked the Sharks-Blues game Thursday night. Reaugh has worked nationally on both sides of the border, and, unlike Forslund or anybody on the active NBCSN roster, has actually called a few Canucks games this year for the CBC. The Vancouver Canucks were the Presidents Trophy winner for the second year in a row, and most American viewers have to rely on very little, either from actual telecasts or from the announcers they normally use.

This was all the more frustrating because the NBC Sports Group seemed very reluctant to let us know which announcing teams were working.

A couple of kudos: NBCSN did interview Henrik Sedin before the game. I am up for a rep from both teams being interviewed before the game; just don't want the Canadian team to be ignored. And NBCSN showed the anthems. When you hear the Vancouver fans take over O Canada a cappella, there is nothing like it (well outside of Winnipeg). Unlike last year, the channel wasn't afraid to show the Green Men.

One graphic knock: A NBCSN graphic identified Zack Kassian as Cody Hodgson. Mistakes do happen, and Kassian was traded for Hodgson, after all. It does, though, reinforce the perception that the U.S. networks don't know the Canadian-based teams as well as they should.

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Unless you live near a pure CBC feed, you won't see Bob Cole and Garry Galley. Ottawa gets the Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada timeslot for Game 2, a perfect time to showcase the CBC production. U.S. viewers had very little contact with the Ottawa team. NBC and NBCSN once again carried 0 Senators games, and the NHL Network had very few telecasts. This is all the more reason for NBCSN to air the CBC in the States on Saturday night, Don Cherry included.

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Shea Weber has a mean, likely targeted, shot to the head and gets a $2500 fine. Not even a hockey play.

Byron Bitz did get a boarding call, a 5-minute major and game misconduct. And also got a 2-game suspension in the playoffs.

Guess which player wears a Vancouver uniform?

Bitz deserved the penalty and likely the game misconduct, though his play wasn't as likely as malicious as Weber's play. The Kings scored a crucial goal late in the 5-minute power play. Then again, Bitz's hit wasn't as bad as Duncan Keith's deliberate elbow to the head of Daniel Sedin. Keith only got a 2-minute penalty and a 5-game regular season suspension. Similar to Aaron Rome's suspension, we see a pattern where wearing Vancouver blue produces a different standard.

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The fact that Brent Sutter wasn't fired as Calgary's head coach and he didn't quit says a lot about him, but more importantly, the direction of the Calgary Flames. This is a pretty good team with a pretty good coach, but neither was good enough for the Elite 8. The problem is that Sutter wasn't a good fit, the players weren't a good fit for him, and the malaise rests on top of this team, like gravy on a poutine.

Darryl Sutter has proven to be a better coach in Los Angeles than GM in Calgary, which handicapped GM Jay Feaster and Darryl's brother. They say about good coaches that they will find a better situation, Ron Wilson and Brent Sutter will find that out soon, sooner in fact that Calgary will figure out what it wants to accomplish on the rink.

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Between nasty official tweets from the Los Angeles Kings and chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" by the Rangers crowd at Madison Square Garden, the Canada-bashing starts early. The Stanley Cup hasn't been in Canada in 19 years, longest such drought ever. So why the anger toward the Great White North? Jealousy. Yep, I said it.

Can 2012 be the year a Canadian-based team wins the Stanley Cup?

Vancouver (2011), Ottawa (2007), Edmonton (2006), and Calgary (2004) have all made the Stanley Cup finals in the 21st century, yet none of them won the Cup.

2012 brings us two nominees: Vancouver and Ottawa. Will one of these squads break the curse?

The Montréal Canadiens in 1993 were the last team from Canada to win the Stanley Cup. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the conference final that year.

Last year was the first time since 1978 that only two Canadian-based teams made the playoffs. Vancouver is back and Ottawa replaces Montréal. Like last year, Toronto, Winnipeg (Atlanta), and Calgary came close but not close enough. Edmonton wasn't good again. Replacing the Sens with the Habs was the only major change.

Ottawa managed to avoid the fate of last year's Canadiens (having to play Boston). The Senators wouldn't mind a bit of magic from the 2010 Canadiens (fall to 8th place, then upset Washington and Pittsburgh).

Vancouver won a second straight Presidents Trophy. The Canucks came so close last year to winning the Stanley Cup. Daniel Sedin might be ready to play Wednesday, though the team may ease him into the lineup.

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While we haven't run across too many interesting Canadian commercials in the brief NHL Center Ice free preview, I couldn't pass up posting the PSA reminding those in Vancouver that these people call Vancouver home. In other words, celebrate but do so consideredly.

We haven't starting the playoffs; this seems a bit soon. Still, I like the theme of pointing out that the players are a part of the community. You get that feeling in Vancouver and Ottawa and a few other Canadian-based teams more than Phoenix or Nashville.

Admittedly, the spots may have more people that I am supposed to recognize, but hopefully you spotted Trevor Linden (salt and pepper hair, 40s). Linden was the long-time captain of the Canucks and someone who gave his all to the city of Vancouver, spending the vast majority of his career in British Columbia.

The behavior after the riots last summer proved more about what Vancouver is than what happened that night. Hopefully, that can be the real legacy.

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While nothing official has been released about whether U.S. audiences will get CBC feeds, the unofficial word is that we will see more of NBCSN announcers than we originally thought. The new 10-year contract might have put more pressure to have more company announcers at first-round games.

This is insulting for several reasons. The NHL Center Ice free preview is still going on even though there is no hockey. While the games may not have been in HD, we could have watched pure CBC feeds of the Canadian teams.

The other major insult is that Versus/NBCSN produced 2 Vancouver games and 0 Ottawa games all year. I literally know more about Vancouver and Ottawa; I literally have seen more of these teams in action than anybody NBCSN would bring in. Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson have done more Canucks games this year than U.S. national feeds combined. Heck. Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro have done even more Canucks games on NBCSN than NBCSN have done.

At least Vancouver had some recognition. Ottawa had a few NHL Network outings, but very little coverage in the United States. Bob Cole and Garry Galley haven't done that many games, but Galley used to cover the Senators.

The lack of knowledge and the lack of desire for NBCSN announcers to care about these teams will lead to less than stellar coverage. Glad to have the games in HD on American TV, but NBCSN should be smarter and let the professionals who know what they are doing do what they do best.

Half the times don't survive the first round. Having Canadian feeds should be a reward so American audiences can learn something about the teams that were ignored during the regular season.

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If you play for a Canadian-based team, you know what pressure is. And that pressure hasn't helped Canadian-based teams lately in Stanley Cup playoff action.

Ottawa (2007) and Calgary (2004) haven't won a playoff round since their Stanley Cup finals runs. The Senators have missed the playoffs 2 of the last 4 years. The Flames have missed the playoffs for the last 2 years. Except for the Stanley Cup run, Calgary hasn't been past the first round since its Stanley Cup win in 1989.

As the Atlanta Thrashers, the team never won a playoff game, and hadn't made the playoffs for the last 4 years. Winnipeg's last postseason series win came with the Jets in 1987.

Edmonton hasn't qualified for the playoffs since its Cup run in 2006. Toronto is now the only team that hasn't made the playoffs since the lockout. The Maple Leafs' last series win was in 2004, the last year the team made the playoffs.

This look back in time will remind you of the good and mostly bad times for the teams from the Great White North.

2011: 2 (Vancouver, Montréal)
Montréal lost to Boston in first round.
Vancouver lost to Boston in final.

2010: 3 (Vancouver, Montréal, Ottawa)
Montréal lost to Philadelphia in third round.
Vancouver lost to Chicago in second round.
Ottawa lost to Pittsburgh in first round.

2009: 3 (Vancouver, Montréal, Calgary)
Montréal lost to Boston in first round.
Vancouver lost to Chicago in second round.
Calgary lost to Chicago in first round.

2008: 3 (Montréal, Ottawa, Calgary)
Montréal lost to Philadelphia in second round.
Ottawa lost to Pittsburgh in first round.
Calgary lost to San Jose in first round.

2007: 3 (Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary)
Vancouver lost to Anaheim in second round.
Ottawa lost to Anaheim in final.
Calgary lost to Detroit in first round.

2006: 4 (Montréal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton)
Montréal lost to Carolina in first round.
Ottawa lost to Buffalo in second round.
Calgary lost to Anaheim in first round.
Edmonton lost to Carolina in final.

2005: Playoffs cancelled due to lockout.

2004: 5 (Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary)
Montréal lost to Tampa Bay in second round.
Ottawa lost to Toronto in first round.
Toronto lost to Philadelphia in second round.
Vancouver lost to Calgary in first round.
Calgary lost to Tampa Bay in final.

Vancouver, Ottawa as we will see them on playoff television

Coldplay is coming to Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The Los Angeles Kings share an arena with two NBA teams heading into the playoffs. This is how the Canucks and Kings will play only 2 playoff games in a week, unless we have a sweep.

The scheduling for Vancouver's first-round series has a few problems, but we are talking about a scenario where every Canucks and Senators playoff game will be on U.S. television. So "complain" isn't a word we will use.

Previous: 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule

You might want to run tape on a different network for some of the starting times in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some of the notable, potential pitfalls:

-- The NHL has allowed 3 hours for Philadelphia/Pittsburgh Wednesday night for Game 1. If the teams need more time, count on the beginning to run on the NHL Network until the game can be joined in progress on NBCSN.

-- The start of Game 2 could be lost if New Jersey/Florida on the NHL Network doesn't end on time. That game starts at 7 pm while the other two games start at 7:30 pm. The Canucks begin at 10 pm Friday.

-- Game 3 is scheduled for NBCSN. However, if New Jersey/Florida runs late, NHLN or CNBC will probably carry Game 3 at the start.

-- Game 4 will likely start on the NHL Network since the other two games may not end in time.

None of these suggestions are official, and if the 7:30 pm starts end somewhat on time, the 10 pm starts may be delayed by a few minutes. Such as the perils of Stanley Cup playoff games that can't be decided by a shootout.

In announcing the schedule, the U.S. networks didn't note which games will be sim subs and which games will get a crew. You can imagine that any game scheduled on the NHL Network (Ottawa/New York Game 1) will be a simulcast of a local feed.

One reason to root for Los Angeles to be the #8 seed is knowing that CBC simulcasts are more likely with the Kings than the San Jose Sharks.

In looking at the Game 4 schedule for both Canadian teams, April 18 offers a Canadian doubleheader. If Senators/Rangers goes into OT, ironically, Americans will have an easier time with the two games than Canadians. The games will air on different networks in the States but on CBC in Canada.

Only 1 game will air on the NHL Network with the annoying scorebar at the bottom. The channel matchups otherwise work out just fine.

As for Canadians and those Americans who can pick up a CBC signal, besides the two Canadian series, the other two series are Nashville/Detroit and Boston/Washington.

April 12 and April 16 are dates where the Ottawa/New York Rangers and Boston/Washington series will go head-to-head. For those Canadians and Americans who can access CHEX/Peterborough, that channel will carry Boston/Washington both nights. The other potential issue is the aforementioned Game 4 on April 18. CBUT/Vancouver would carry the Canucks right from the start, but as for whatever stations may deviate from the Sens, should that game go to OT, that list isn't clear.

Those Canadians that can get CHEX or CBUT as well as another CBC station will be in better shape. CBCSports.ca will stream all the games.

Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson with Scott Oake will call the Vancouver series. Bob Cole and Garry Galley with Glenn Healy and Cassie Campbell-Pascall will call the Sens series. Dean Brown and Greg Millen with Andi Petrillo handle the Bruins/Capitals. Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes call the Red Wings and the Predators, a series of serious interest in Windsor and Southwestern Ontario.

For Canadians (and obviously Americans) who want to sample NBC feeds, you can watch Game 2 of Washington/Boston (April 14, 3 pm), Game 3 Nashville/Detroit (April 15, Noon), Game 3 Pittsburgh/Philadelphia (April 15, 3 pm), and Game 5 Washington/Boston (April 21, 3 pm).

NHL notebook: Vancouver wins Presidents Trophy, Ottawa falls to #8 seed

While we had to wait until the final day, the two Canadian teams represent the top and bottom. The 1-8 matchup on paper is the easiest, but as we've seen, being #1 isn't a guarantee of anything other than being there.

The Ottawa Senators came into the week with a decent shot at being the #6 seed to potentially play Florida. The handwriting on the wall screamed that the Sens would be #7 and have to play a ferocious, bullying team in Boston, a squad that the Sens didn't beat in 2011-2012.

Only the special scenario of Ottawa losing all three games, Washington trying hard to win the Southeast Division, and Florida not winning the division until Saturday night.

Going into Saturday, I was rooting for the Sens to be the #8 seed. The team matches up better with the Rangers than the Bruins, and you can't help but remember what Montréal did a couple of years ago. The Canadiens had a rough week to finish the 2010 season and fell into the #8 seed. The Habs came back from down 3-1 to beat the Presidents Trophy winning Washington Capitals.

Not saying that will happen this year with Ottawa, but playing Boston would have been ugly all around.

Vancouver had a brief roadblock on Thursday, but did better than St. Louis and the New York Rangers for the Presidents Trophy and the #1 seed in the West. Only on the last play of the regular season did we find out which team would play the Canucks.

The pundits thought San Jose would be a better match for Vancouver than Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick in goal for the Kings gives them a distinct advantage. And Daniel Sedin likely won't go in Game 1; Sedin is still recovering from a concussion from the deliberate hit from Chicago's Duncan Keith.

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Unlike most sports leagues in the United States, the NHL isn't as obsessed about teams from New York and Los Angeles. So the idea that the two Canadian teams are playing teams in the United States' two largest cities isn't as slanted as it might have been.

The U.S. networks would have paid more attention to Ottawa if Boston was the opponent, and they don't care as much about the West Coast in general. Gary Bettman is obsessed with hockey in the American south, but hasn't been as concerned with New York and Los Angeles.

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We missed 30 seconds of the Anaheim-Vancouver TSN sim sub. We missed those seconds because of the huge commercial break that NBCSN loves to run in between games. This will also drive us nuts since NBCSN will do this in the playoffs.

That being said, we hope that NBCSN will do more of this next year. We lost a lot of Vancouver telecasts thanks to the NHL Network's decision to not carry the second half of the HNIC doubleheader.

The West Coast teams lose out in the bias toward the East. For those who can't get the NHL Network, you had 5 opportunities to see this year's best team, the Vancouver Canucks; 3 of those came on late-season TSN sim subs.

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Thanks to a number of issues, we got very few Canadian feeds in the 2 days of the NHL Center Ice free preview. The schedule said 2 for Thursday and 4 for Saturday. Well, I only got 3 on Saturday. Anaheim at Calgary was supposed to be RSN-West, and instead we got the Ducks announcers. Maybe Center Ice flipped and showed the CBC feed of Ottawa-New Jersey. That is the problem with NHL Center Ice; you have to assume the schedule is correct. So you feel like you are getting less value.

This becomes significant given the new approach to Hockey Night in Canada by the NHL Network makes NHL Center Ice very tempting. But getting Canadian feeds in the States isn't a priority of NHL Center Ice.

In the last week of the season, if we had the service for the whole week, we had 5 Canadian feeds — 3 of them had to be Canadian for all-Canadian matchups. What NHL Center Ice is selling is worth the price. The problem is I can't get all of what they are selling.

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Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal Saturday night in Winnipeg. Stamkos doesn't play for the Jets, but the Winnipeg crowd gave Stamkos a standing ovation. Dean Brown pointed that out right away. Class act all the way.

Hope you caught the Inside Hockey segment on the Jets return to Winnipeg. While the Jets got very little coverage in the United States this year, the city has proven that the NHL f-ed up by moving the team to Phoenix.

The NHL is in so many cities where the fans don't know or don't care about the sport. We will have playoff hockey in Miami. So sad.

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If you followed the Twitter feed, you would have seen that after the Oilers-Canucks Saturday night, CBC switched to cover the end of the Sharks-Kings. So we had the CBC and NBCSN simulcast CSN California; everyone who wanted to see the end of the game had the opportunity, and Canadians didn't even need cable.

The hilarious part was being in the United States watching NHL Center Ice watching the CBC show Canadian commercials in between the NBCSN simulcast of a local feed. Americans often get to watch CBC and TSN feeds thanks to the NHL Network with American commercials. Turnabout was fun to watch.