NBCSN has a lone December telecast with Toronto hosting its American cousins from Buffalo close to the holiday break.
The NHL Network has its Ottawa season debut near the end of the month, though on the road in Pittsburgh. The channel will show a highly rare NHL game from Alberta on New Year's Eve. The New York Rangers have more appearances (3) just against Canadian teams in December than Montréal (2), Winnipeg (0), and Vancouver (0) combined.
The Jets got 3 telecasts in the first 2 weeks but have disappeared since then. The Canucks would love to have that problem as the NHL Network hasn't carried Vancouver this season.
The 2020 World Juniors start on Boxing Day, December 26, in Ostrava and Třinec in the Czech Republic. The gold medal game will be on January 5, 2020. TSN in Canada and NHL Network in the United States will have the coverage. The games are in the middle of the afternoon in the eastern part of the United States, so the NHL Network is taking advantage and showing NHL games in prime time.
The NHL takes a holiday winter break between December 24-26.
NBCSN
December 17
Buffalo @ Toronto, 7p
NHL Network
December 1
Montréal @ Boston, 7p (HH)
December 7
Toronto @ St. Louis, 7p (HNIC)
December 14
Detroit @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC)
December 20
Toronto @ NY Rangers, 7p
December 22
Calgary @ Dallas, 7p (HH)
December 28
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC)
December 30
Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 7p
December 31
NY Rangers @ Edmonton, 9p
ESPN+
December 1
Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
December 3
Toronto @ Philadelphia, 7p
December 8
Buffalo @ Edmonton, 8p
December 9
Calgary @ Colorado, 9p
December 10
Montréal @ Pittsburgh, 7p
December 15
Philadelphia @ Winnipeg, 5p
December 17
Carolina @ Winnipeg, 8p
Pittsburgh @ Calgary, 9p
December 19
Nashville @ Ottawa, 7:30p
December 20
Pittsburgh @ Edmonton, 9p
December 21
Detroit @ Toronto, 7p
December 23
Carolina @ Toronto, 2p
December 27
Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p
Hockey Night in Canada
December 7
Buffalo @ Vancouver, 4p/Toronto @ St. Louis, 7p
Los Angeles @ Calgary, 10pDecember 14
Columbus @ Ottawa, 1p/Toronto @ Edmonton, 7p/Detroit @ Montréal, 7p
Vancouver @ San Jose, 10pDecember 21
Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 2p/Detroit @ Toronto, 7p/Montréal @ Edmonton, 7p/Philadelphia @ Ottawa, 7p
Pittsburgh @ Vancouver, 10pDecember 28
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p/Montréal @ Tampa Bay, 7p
Los Angeles @ Vancouver, 10p
Hometown Hockey
December 1 Montréal @ Boston, 7p (Red Deer, AB)
December 8 Buffalo @ Edmonton, 8p (Prince Rupert, BC)
December 15 Vancouver @ Las Vegas, 8p (Abbotsford, BC)
December 22 Calgary @ Dallas, 7p (Strathmore, AB)
December 29 Montréal @ Florida, 7p (Whitby, ON)
Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts
December 4 Colorado @ Toronto, 7p
December 10 Calgary @ Arizona, 9p
December 11 Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p
December 18 Edmonton @ St. Louis, 8:30p
December 20 Pittsburgh @ Edmonton, 9p
December 29 Vancouver @ Calgary, 9:30p
December 31 Toronto @ Minnesota, 6p/NY Rangers @ Edmonton, 9p
Don Cherry is out of Coach's Corner
Coach's Corner is gone as Ron MacLean noted on the Saturday night after the Don Cherry fallout. MacLean's tribute to Don Cherry sounded like Cherry had passed away.
We knew there would be a transition. Brian Burke was the centre of speculation and that might happen down the road. Rogers Sportsnet has a chance to rethink the first intermission segment and may want to start fresh in the fall of 2020.
Stan Temming of Yahoo Sports Canada suggested Burke, Paul Bissonnette, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and Patrick Roy as possible replacements. Those are excellent choices. I would throw in Hayley Wickenheiser and yes, Glenn Healy. Healy is really smart on hockey, opinionated, and has lots of experience with Hockey Night in Canada.
As for the future of hockey, Don Cherry fans should take a look at this vision of the good ol' hockey game. (Here is the original version with Ron and Don.)
Why Canadian markets struggle in the @NHL: too much short-term thinking. #MikeBabcock is one of the great coaching minds. @MapleLeafs problems much deeper than the coach. No offence to #SheldonKeefe. https://t.co/WNTwh0wOpO
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 20, 2019
Don Cherry getting fired is the only reason that the Toronto Maple Leafs firing Mike Babcock isn't the top story of the month. The tweet says it all: short-term thinking doesn't help most NHL teams get out of the doldrums. The Maple Leafs had significant injuries, a lack of depth on defence, and a backup goalie situation so bad Toronto needed a 36-year-old accountant to play, like Chicago had in 2018.
Mike Babcock is one of the best coaches in the league; no offence to Sheldon Keefe, who is in his first NHL head coach position. Keefe might make the Leafs a bit better in the short term. Toronto's goal should be the Stanley Cup. Babcock understood what that took.
Babcock might have been fired for the playoff losses. Getting past Boston when the refs are on the side of the Bruins was a problem that even Babcock couldn't solve.
Canadian ads from fall 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview
Canadian political ads from fall 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview
We ran the rest of the Canadian ads from the NHL Center Ice free preview in November. The 2019 election called for a separate entry. Hope you enjoyed all the ads. We also have the ads on our YouTube page. The service stopped running those idiotic promos that blocked out the first commercial in the break so we got more ads.
Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage
All 7 Canadian teams playing on a Saturday is fairly common. The challenge for Rogers Sportsnet on November 2 was having to cover all 7 teams AND not have them play each other. None of those games were in Canada. This was the only time ever that 7 Canadian teams played on a Saturday all outside Canada.
Edmonton @ Pittsburgh for the Saturday matinee went to the Oilers local weekend crew with Kevin Quinn and Drew Remenda.
The 7 pm timeslot had Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, and Calgary.
- Toronto: Jim Hughson/Craig Simpson
- Montréal: John Bartlett/Garry Galley
- Ottawa: R.J. Broadhead/Greg Millen
- Calgary: Rick Ball/Cassie Campbell-Pascall (Flames local weekend crew)
The late games had Vancouver and Winnipeg in warmer climates. Dave Randorf and Louie DeBrusk had the Jets not on CBC while the Canucks crew — John Shorthouse and John Garrett — called the Vancouver game on CBC. Vancouver is seen as higher on the NHL chain than Winnipeg. Scott Oake almost always works the CBC game and he didn't on November 2.
Bob Cole likely would have been in Ottawa if this happened last season.
Regina is the 14th Canadian city – and second in Saskatchewan – to play host to a regular-season NHL game (indoors or outdoors). #NHLStats #HeritageClassic pic.twitter.com/jTyissSQWl
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 27, 2019
I asked the NHL Public Relations on Twitter for help on the missing city on my list. They did not reply to my message on Twitter. Let's go through the ones we know.
- Winnipeg, Montréal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Kanata, Vancouver — current Canadian cities with a NHL franchise
- Quebec City — Canadian city with a previous NHL franchise
- Ottawa — early NHL days and the 2017 NHL 100 Classic
- Saskatoon, Hamilton, Halifax — Canadian cities that hosted NHL games from 1992-1994
- Regina — 2019 Heritage Classic host
Ottawa and Hamilton had old-time NHL franchises. As far as we know, they didn't play outside their cities.
The early 1990s experiment brought 8 games to Hamilton; 6 to Saskatoon; and 3 to Halifax.
We know from the cryptic clue in the tweet that the missing city is not in Saskatchewan. Let us know in the comments section if you know the missing city.
NHL the month in preview November 2019
There might have been a time where Mike Milbury might have fit in well in the Coach's Corner seat. Cranky and knowledgeable, Milbury would have excelled in that role. Milbury struggles as a game analyst and has trouble not pulling for Boston. I would rather have Eddie Olczyk call a Chicago game with a Canadian team than Mike Milbury with Boston. NBCSN should know better.
The Edmonton telecast is essentially a simulcast of the NBC Sports California feed. Yawn.
November 5 Boston @ Montréal, 7:30p: John Forslund/Mike Milbury
November 19 Edmonton @ San Jose, 10:30p: Randy Hahn/Kendall Coyne Schofield/Bret Hedican
NHL the month in preview October 2019
Watched a bit of the Maple Leafs and the St. Louis-Calgary late game on CBC Gem on November 9 while on Canadian soil. I recall a couple of years ago trying to stream Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC Web site and finding that difficult. The process was very easy on CBC Gem by clicking on live TV. You can only get the CBC games that way. That proved to be helpful since I didn't have TV where I was staying.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
Kyle Bukauskas read the first period and second period promos back-to-back in the November 2 game. The upcoming episode of the Great Canadian Baking Show was the season finale. The promos are not supposed to run back to back. There were only 5 promos on November 2.
Family Feud Canada with Gerry Dee doesn't start until December 16. Red Bull Signature is only available on CBC Gem. The Still Standing promo aired before the third period started on November 16.
November 2 early game: Great Canadian Baking Show; Still Standing (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show; Still Standing (2nd); CBC Listen (3rd)
November 16 early game: CBC Listen; Anne with an E (1st); Family Feud Canada; Red Bull Signature (2nd); Still Standing; Family Feud Canada (3rd)
video credit: YouTube/PWHPA
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @PR_NHL
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