The NHL Network will actually pick up a Hometown Hockey game with the Rogers Sportsnet feed as the Vancouver Canucks are in the Windy City complete with the festivities from Vernon, BC. Unfortunately, the coverage will be blacked out for your humble narrator. Sigh. For our Canadian readers, the game is offered on WGN-TV.
The CBC has the revenge games of the Battle of Ontario (early) and Battle of Alberta (late). The games are in Toronto and Calgary. City TV picks up the simulcast of the Battle of Ontario. The NHL Network once again is very afraid to carry the Battle of Ontario.
Rogers Sportsnet gets the Montréal Canadiens hosting Buffalo on Saturday. Wednesday Night Hockey has the Centennial Classic rematch at the Joe.
Rogers Sportsnet One has the Canucks in Denver on Wednesday with an assist from SNP.
The first half of the season ends Thursday before next weekend's All-Star break.
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NHL Network
Sunday
Vancouver @ Chicago, 7p
Tape delayed
Friday NY Rangers @ Toronto, 3p
Saturday Montréal @ New Jersey, Noon
Monday Vancouver @ Chicago, 2p
Tuesday Calgary @ Toronto, 1p
Thursday Toronto @ Detroit, 1p
Vancouver @ Colorado, 2p
Friday Winnipeg @ Chicago, 2p
CBC
Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p
City
Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet
Saturday
Buffalo @ Montréal, 7p
Sunday
Vancouver @ Chicago, 7p
Wednesday
Toronto @ Detroit, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet One
Wednesday
Vancouver @ Colorado, 9:30p
Hayley Wickenheiser has been the face of women's hockey in Canada for more than a generation. So when Wickenheiser finally hung up her skates after 23 years at the age of 38, she could look back on an amazing career.
Wickenheiser was honoured before the Battle of Alberta game with #22 jerseys by both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky compared her to Gordie Howe at the ceremony. Ron MacLean interviewed her on the Saturday pregame. Scott Oake interviewed Wickenheiser on After Hours. Click here to watch that interview.
She was a 5-time Olympian in hockey and was on the softball team in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. She won 4 gold medals in women's hockey. She is the first female player to play for a men's team other than as a goalie. She also won 7 World Championships for Team Canada.
We know American fans haven't always appreciated her Olympic play, especially against the United States. But hockey fans know how valuable Wickenheiser has been. In 2014, she still averaged a point a game in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Wickenheiser drew the penalty that gave Canada a power play in overtime to score the gold medal winning goal. And she carried the Canadian flag during the Opening Ceremonies in 2014.
In 26 Olympic hockey games, Wickenheiser scored 18 goals with 33 assists.
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When the Montréal Canadiens were in the 2015 Winter Classic, NBCSN followed up the NBC coverage with several Habs games to remind U.S. viewers of what they had seen on New Year's Day. The Toronto Maple Leafs were on the Centennial Classic on New Year's Day in 2017, but have since disappeared from U.S. television.
Auston Matthews is still on the team. The Maple Leafs are hot and are around a playoff spot. But U.S. television has been ignoring them. NBCSN never scheduled Toronto and hasn't added any games; the 1.4 games covered by the network have been Canadian feeds (not a bad thing at all).
The NHL Network blew off the Maple Leafs for the now-forgotten Columbus Blue Jackets and refuses to carry the Battle of Ontario. Unless the network decides to adjust its schedule, not a likely move, the Maple Leafs won't be on until at least February. Given the NHL Network pattern of far fewer telecasts in the second half, those chances aren't likely to improve.
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Tara Slone went on the Aquabus in False Creek from Granville Island in Vancouver for her weekly excursion. I love that ride; enjoyed seeing that as part of the Hometown Hockey pregame on the NHL Network, especially without a game. If anyone involved with the NHL Network reads this, please explain why this doesn't happen each week. The show doesn't have to be carried live. Whatever I might think about Rogers, even that company wouldn't have an issue in the NHL Network showing the telecast more often in the United States.
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Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro worked Tuesday night for NBCSN. Your humble narrator was blacked out from the telecast. I don't get why they are good enough to cover the top U.S. teams but they couldn't be used on the Montréal telecast earlier this month.
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photos credit: NHL/CBC/Rogers Sportsnet
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