The NHL Network takes the CBC feed on Saturday night with the Maple Leafs hosting the Blue Shirts.
CBC has Bob Cole with the New York Rangers in Toronto in an Original 6 game. The all-Canadian matchup of the Winnipeg Jets in Vancouver is the late game.
Citytv has a battle of the capitals in the Canadian capital in the early game. The network gets a rare late Saturday game as Connor McDavid and the Oilers host Tampa Bay.
Hometown Hockey stays close to home in Mississauga, ON with Detroit visiting Toronto on Rogers Sportsnet.
Rogers Sportsnet One feasts on an all-Canadian game with Vancouver in Edmonton on Thursday.
The NHL takes a holiday break Monday-Wednesday.
NHL Network
Saturday
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p
Tape delayed
Friday St. Louis @ Vancouver, 1p
ESPN+
Saturday
Tampa Bay @ Edmonton, 10p
CBC
Saturday
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p
Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 10p
Citytv
Saturday
Washington @ Ottawa, 7p
Tampa Bay @ Edmonton, 10p
Rogers Sportsnet
Sunday
Detroit @ Toronto, 7:30p
Rogers Sportsnet One
Thursday
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9p
We get that @Rogers has a contract with #Huawei to be that prominent on @hockeynight with 2 Canadians being illegally detained by China over the arrest, there has to be a point where $ isn't everything,
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) December 16, 2018
Last week, Rogers did the smart thing and toned down the Huawei sponsorship of Hockey Night in Canada. The visuals remained but the audio mentions went away. This past week, with 2 Canadians illegally detained by China, Rogers goes back to the regular status quo.
The Huawei contract should have some kind of clause that deals with this, but Rogers has been blinded by money in the past. Even if the contract can't be broken, reducing the impact of the sponsorship would have been a smart move for both sides.
While the Saturday Headlines didn't air in the U.S., we watched them online and they had full sponsorship.
The names of entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig should mean something to all Canadians.
Canada paying a price to go along with U.S. desire to arrest Meng Wanzhou
Rogers isn't known for smart decisions, so we shouldn't be surprised. The Huawei name is damaged goods in Canada as long as those Canadians are illegally detained. The only ones not to know this is Rogers. For those who complained to the CBC about the Huawei sponsorships, the CBC is sadly not responsible for what airs on their channels.
#HNIC still promoting #Huawei phones, with two Canadians being illegally detained by Chinese government #CBC
— Jason Steele (@TheJasonSteele) December 16, 2018
Why is @hockeynight still advertising a known cybersecurity threat with #Huawei smartphones? @TerryGlavin @ianjamesyoung70 pic.twitter.com/Ii2rgI0pbD
— Duane Woods (@Out_ofthe_Woods) December 16, 2018
ESPN+ usually carries the home feed. So you would think that a Hockey Night in Canada game in Vancouver would have the Hockey Night in Canada feed. Unfortuantely, ESPN+ stuck the U.S. audience with a Philadelphia feed.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson get to stay out west for the holidays. They also get the cover the Winnipeg Jets, a team they may be calling in the spring.
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @TheJasonSteele; @Out_ofthe_Woods
Turns out Jim and Craig were given a weekend off heading into Christmas. They didn't call any of the December 22 games on HNIC.
Posted by: Tyler | December 27, 2018 at 12:58 PM
Yea. I don't usually go out on a limb. But not having Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson in a week is highly unusual. Hope they enjoyed the week off before going back to covering the Maple Leafs Saturday night (maybe).
Posted by: Chad | December 27, 2018 at 08:32 PM