2015 Stanley Cup playoffs notebook: 2nd round preview

2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference

(1) Montréal vs. (2) Tampa Bay Series tied 0-0
Date	Location	Time	U.S. TV
May 1	at Montréal	7p	NBCSN
May 3	at Montréal	6p	NBCSN
May 6	at Tampa Bay	7p	USA
May 7	at Tampa Bay	7p	NBCSN
May 9	at Montréal+	TBD	TBD
May 12	at Tampa Bay+	TBD	TBD
May 14	at Montréal+	TBD	TBD
All games on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

 

Western Conference

(1) Anaheim vs. (3) Calgary Series tied 0-0
Date	Location	Time	U.S. TV
April 30	at Anaheim	10p	NBCSN
May 3	at Anaheim	10p	CNBC
May 5	at Calgary	9:30p	USA
May 8	at Calgary	9:30p	NBCSN
May 10	at Anaheim+	TBD	TBD
May 12	at Calgary+	TBD	TBD
May 14	at Anaheim+	TBD	TBD
All games on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada

Times are Eastern Daylight
+ if needed

Calgary has known for ages that the Flames next opponent is Anaheim. Montréal just found out last night that its opponent will be Tampa Bay.

Detroit had several key moments to take charge. Blowing the 2-goal lead in the 3rd period of Game 4 and losing in OT. Game 6 on home ice with a chance to wrap up the series.

The Flames start out tonight in Anaheim while the Habs host the Lightning Friday night. Both teams have Saturday off (blame the Kentucky Derby) and both play Sunday night.

Thanks to the Tampa win, the schedule is a bit [messed] up. Yes, Games 3 and 4 in Tampa are indeed back-to-back nights due to arena issues in Tampa. The Calgary series will have 2 days in between the first 2 Calgary wins.

Despite the desire to split the Canadian series on different nights, Games 6 and 7 will be on the same night. If both series go to Game 7, Canadian TVs will overheat from excitement.

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Montréal did not win a single game against Tampa Bay this season. Les Canadiens have had a chance to rest while Tampa Bay gets a day off with a long flight to Canada.

While the Habs swept the Lightning last year in the playoffs, Tampa Bay swept Montréal in 2004.

Calgary has enough to overcome against Anaheim, especially since the Flames have lost 20 regular-season games in a row at Honda Center (0-15-5), including two this season. The last Flames regular-season win: January 19, 2004. The Flames went 2-3 against Anaheim this season.

The Ducks won the only previous postseason battle in 7 games in 2006.

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Rogers is splitting the Canadian teams, giving the Canadiens to CBC but keeping the Flames for Sportsnet. The CBC will carry games from all the series except for Calgary.

Here is the CBC schedule for the first 4 games, though remember that CBC will carry all the Habs games.

April 30 Washington at NY Rangers 7:30p
May 1 Tampa Bay at Montréal 7p
May 3 Tampa Bay at Montréal 6p
May 3 Minnesota at Chicago 8:30p
May 4 NY Rangers at Washington 7:30p
May 5 Chicago at Minnesota 8p
May 6 Montréal at Tampa Bay 7p
May 7 Montréal at Tampa Bay 7p

The squeeze will be a bit tight on Sunday, but the "Norris" division game will start on Sportsnet 360 if necessary.

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Kenny Albert and Joe Micheletti will work the Montréal series for the NBC Group, per Kenny Albert's Twitter feed. Dave Strader and Brian Engblom will work the Calgary series for the NBC Group, per Dave Strader's Twitter feed.

Chris Cuthbert will fill in for Albert for Game 3 of the Montréal series. Albert is also doing New York Rangers radio, so depending on how the Rangers go, Cuthbert may have more fill-in opportunities.

Under the circumstances, and (mostly) minus Cuthbert, those in the States did as well as could be expected for the second round.

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On the Canadian TV side, the #1 crew is back together to work the Montréal series. Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy will be joined by Scott Oake. Paul Romanuk and Mike Johnson along with Christine Simpson will work the Calgary series.

Dave Randorf, Garry Galley, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall will cover the Rangers-Capitals series. Bob Cole and Greg Millen along with David Amber will shuffle between Chicago and Minnesota.

The "Norris" matchup will get NBC's top crew and the 4th crew from Rogers.

Hoping the U.S. will get Rogers feeds on the NHL Network matinee rebroadcasts.

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We noted earlier that Game 3 of the Habs-Sens series drew 835,000 viewers on NBCSN: the highest number of any program on NBCSN from April 13-19.

Well, Game 6 of the Habs-Sens series drew 971,000 viewers. That was the most-watched cable game of the first round (to date). Almost a million viewers watched an all-Canadian matchup.

Even without a market in the United States, these 2 Canadian teams outdrew the teams that normally dominate the NBC Group schedule. The Canadiens had 3 telecasts on NBCSN in the regular season, all in 2015 with 2 of them against Original 6 U.S. franchises. Ottawa had 0 NBCSN telecasts, 2 fewer than the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Game 6 didn't have Andrew Hammond and did have Rogers announcers on a CBC feed and still drew almost 1 million viewers. Let's have that star power be reflected in the 2015-2016 schedule.

Comments

[Kyle]

Fun fact, game 3 of the Flames-Ducks series is the same day as the election in Alberta. That's going to an interesting night.

[Chad]

Based on Game 1 and the recent Alberta polls, the election will be closer than the result of Game 3. Seriously, I am watching the Alberta race and will be very curious to see how that election will go.