Admittedly, I have seen HNIC in the U.S. When the MLB preview kicks in during the spring, I did get one weekend of HNIC. But that was in April with NHL Center Ice, and well before the NHL Network took HNIC for itself. And this was way before I purchased a HD set.
But my cable system added the NHL Network, and I have a HD set (only 32"). And I was ready to watch Hockey Night in Canada in style.
Unlike the previous version, there are no Canadian commercials (something I miss). The U.S. commercials are pretty lame and there is no mention of Tim Hortons. Otherwise, it's Hockey Night in Canada.
The coverage actually started in Stockholm, Sweden in the afternoon with Detroit and St. Louis. But the true classic adventure kicked off with the pre-game, followed by Toronto @ Washington. Per recent tradition, the CBC also covers the other Eastern teams in Canada, as amusingly, all three Eastern teams were playing in the United States [Montréal @ Buffalo, Ottawa @ NY Rangers]. The opening West Coast game was Calgary @ Edmonton.
We got Coach's Corner with Ron McLean and Don Cherry, Coast-to-Coast, Hot Stove, and all the other features, especially After Hours.
Hopefully, HNIC will bloom in its fullest form, though there may be some unusual scheduling being done by the NHL Network. We may literally have to check our local listings. But it felt good to see hockey the way it should be.
I wish cbc would allow their online feed outside of Canada. So many of us expats get the shaft and have to watch poor quality pirate feeds.
Posted by: [email protected] | November 07, 2009 at 04:09 PM