The NHL will take off Sunday-Tuesday thanks to the upcoming holiday.
The NHL Network carries its last game in 2017 with a Canadian-based team with a CBC simulcast of the Toronto Maple Leafs among the bright lights of New York City at Madison Square Garden.
The CBC late game has St. Louis in Vancouver.
City TV will have one of Florida's largest crowds with the Ottawa Senators in a warmer place on Saturday.
Rogers Sportsnet chimes in with an all-Canadian matchup as the Montréal Canadiens finish their Western Canadian trip in Edmonton. After the break, the regional channels will have the Edmonton Oilers in Winnipeg against the Jets. Ottawa and Montréal will have local feeds on Wednesday.
Rogers Sportsnet 360 helps out over the holidays as the Chicago franchise will be in Vancouver Thursday night. That game also airs on SNE, SNO, and SNP.
The NHL Network feed in New York City will have Montréal-Edmonton on Saturday.
The NHL Network matinee rebroadcasts are also going on holiday starting tomorrow.
NHL Network
Saturday
Toronto @ NY Rangers, 7p
Tape delayed
Friday Vancouver @ San Jose, 2p
CBC
Saturday
Toronto @ NY Rangers, 7p
St. Louis @ Vancouver, 10p
City
Saturday
Ottawa @ Florida, 7p
Rogers Sportsnet
Saturday
Montréal @ Edmonton, 7p
Wednesday
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
Rogers Sportsnet 360
Thursday
Chicago @ Vancouver, 10p
Happy Birthday NHL: Born in Canada 100 years ago
If you missed our initial coverage of the NHL100 Classic, click here.
While the active NHL players didn't get to skate on Parliament Hill, the Ottawa Senators alumni got to play there Friday night. Team Alfredsson easily handled Team Phillips 12-3.
Alexandre Daigle scored 4 goals for Team Alfredsson. Chris Neil, who had retired just before the NHL100 Classic, scored a late goal for Team Phillips.
The local Rogers TV feed carried the game and the broadcast was streamed on Facebook. For those who missed the highlights, you can click here.
The rink at TD Place was also used on Sunday by the OHL Ottawa 67s playing their cross-river rivals, the QMJHL Gatineau Olympiques. Les Olympiques got the best of the home team 4-1 before 11,671 on a cold Ottawa late afternoon/early evening.
---
The Montréal Canadiens have served the outdoor game well, providing an opponent for Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa as well as a Winter Classic opponent for Boston. But Montréal has never hosted a NHL outdoor game.
Every Canadian city with a NHL team has now hosted an outdoor game except for Montréal. The closest an outdoor game has come to Quebec was the screens set up at the rink at Parliament Hill a long stone's throw from Quebec.
Montréal does not have the same logistical options for an outdoor game. Molson Stadium (25,012) and Stade Saputo (20,801) are relatively small in terms of capacity. Olympic Stadium in a transition to getting a new roof would be an amazing adventure. Elliotte Friedman mentioned Edmonton as a future team if/when Canada gets another outdoor game. But the NHL should work to place an outdoor game in Montréal.
What would Saturday nights look like if CBC didn't carry Hockey Night in Canada
Any speculation that City TV would take over as the primary over-the-air outlet for Rogers' version of Hockey Night In Canada is completely gone. CBC will be a part of the Rogers deal through the end of the contract in 2026.
CBC, which hasn't negotiated any of this well since Rogers took over, gets the rights to stream all national NHL games on the CBC Sports app, the new premium CBC TV app, and on CBCSports.ca. To this point, CBC had only been able to stream games airing on its own network. The new streaming rights will start in the near future.
In the above story, we painted a picture where the CBC could run other programming on Saturday nights and make money off ads. CBC has the power over Rogers but hasn't used this power to date. The streaming rights will be nice, though Rogers Sportsnet will also be streaming those same games, so there isn't a built-in advantage. The difference is that Canadians don't need a cable password to watch the CBC Web site.
By giving away the option to not carry the games, CBC has no more leverage in a contract that runs until 2026.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
The CBC promos got some extra love from simulcasts from Rogers Sportsnet and NBCSN. Murdoch Mysteries traveled to Victoria, BC for the show's special holiday episodes this year. The Great Canadian Baking Show is wrapping up its run. The Workin' Moms airing is a special flashback episode just before the winter return of the show. The 3rd period promos went to the new shows in the Wednesday night winter lineup on CBC.
Early game: Murdoch Mysteries: Home for the Holidays; Great Canadian Baking Show (1st); Kim's Convenience; Workin' Moms (special flashback episode) (2nd); Burden of Truth; The Detectives (3rd)
photo credit: Julie Oliver/Postmedia
I did the guided tour of the Bell Centre in Montreal about a month ago. In one area of the building near the alumni lounge there are big pictures on the wall of the 3 outdoor games the Habs had taken part in to that point. The tour guide pointed out the pictures and said the Canadiens organization would love to host an outdoor game but it is simply the lack of a suitable outdoor venue in the Montreal area that is preventing it. He basically said everything you said about Percival Molson Stadium and Saputo Stadium not being large enough to make it worth while, and the Stade Olympique is an indoor venue due to all the trouble with the roof so it doesn't make sense either.
Posted by: KWH84 | December 23, 2017 at 01:32 PM
Nice to have the confirmation. I loved touring the Bell Centre. Maybe they could set up a temporary arena on the island with a beautiful view of downtown Montreal. Or maybe reignite the Autostade.
Posted by: Chad | January 02, 2018 at 10:37 AM