NHL the month in preview March 2020

Editor's note: The NHL suspended its regular season as of March 12 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. We haven't crossed any games off the schedule, wanting to leave this as is for the archives.

As the season heats up, the U.S. coverage of Canadian teams actually gets lighter.

NBCSN has concluded its scheduled visits with Canadian teams. The games will be missed, not so much the channel's coverage.

The NHL Network surprises us with a late-night Hockey Night in Canada game. Other than the final Saturday of the season, the channel hasn't shown a Canadian team in that slot in literally years. Edmonton hosts Columbus on March 7 hopefully with a CBC feed.

Columbus will be on in March against Canadian teams as many times as Toronto and Edmonton.

The NHL Center Ice free preview should start on March 26.

NHL Network

March 7
Columbus @ Edmonton, 10p (HNIC)
March 14
Toronto @ Boston, 7p (HNIC)
March 15
Edmonton @ Philadelphia, 1:30p
March 21
Columbus @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC)

ESPN+

March 1
Calgary @ Florida, 4p
Vancouver @ Columbus, 7p
March 2
Edmonton @ Nashville, 8p
March 3
Toronto @ San Jose, 10:30p
March 4
Arizona @ Vancouver, 10:30p
March 5
Edmonton @ Chicago, 8:30p
March 6
Las Vegas @ Winnipeg, 8p
Colorado @ Vancouver, 10p
March 8
Las Vegas @ Calgary, 7p
March 11
Ottawa @ Los Angeles, 10:30p
March 13
Vancouver @ Colorado, 9p
March 16
Edmonton @ Washington, 7p
March 19
NY Islanders @ Toronto, 7p
March 20
Tampa Bay @ Edmonton, 9p
March 23
Florida @ Toronto, 7p
Vancouver @ Las Vegas, 10p
March 24
Florida @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Winnipeg @ Nashville, 8p
March 26
Toronto @ Carolina, 7p
March 27
Colorado @ Winnipeg, 8p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p
March 29
Las Vegas @ Winnipeg, 3p
March 31
Toronto @ Washington, 7p
Montréal @ Chicago, 8:30p

Hockey Night in Canada

March 7

Montréal @ Florida, 7p/Ottawa @ San Jose, 7p
Columbus @ Edmonton, 10p

March 14

Toronto @ Boston, 7p
Winnipeg @ Calgary, 10p

March 21

Columbus @ Toronto, 7p/Montréal @ Colorado, 7p/Ottawa @ Carolina, 7p
Tampa Bay @ Calgary, 10p/Vancouver @ Los Angeles, 10p

March 28

Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p/NY Islanders @ Montréal, 7p
Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p

Hometown Hockey

March 1 Vancouver @ Columbus, 7p (Peguis First Nation, MB)

March 8 Las Vegas @ Calgary, 7p (Salmon Arm, BC)

March 15 Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 8p (North Vancouver, BC)

March 22 Winnipeg @ Dallas, 7p (Campbell River, BC)

March 29 Anaheim @ Edmonton, 8p (Edmonton, AB)

Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts

March 2 Edmonton @ Nashville, 8p

March 4 Columbus @ Calgary, 8:30p

March 11 Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p

March 15 Edmonton @ Philadelphia, 1:30p

March 16 Calgary @ NY Rangers, 7p

March 18 Edmonton @ Ottawa, 7:30p/Tampa Bay @ Vancouver, 10p

March 23 San Jose @ Calgary, 9p

March 25 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p/Colorado @ Edmonton, 9:30p/Anaheim @ Calgary, 9:30p

March 27 San Jose @ Edmonton, 9p

March 31 Las Vegas @ Edmonton, 9p

NHL Center Ice free preview

March 26 Toronto @ Carolina, 7p
Florida @ Montréal, 7p
Ottawa @ Boston, 7p
March 27 Colorado @ Winnipeg, 8p
San Jose @ Edmonton, 9p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p
March 28 Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p
NY Islanders @ Montréal, 7p
Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p
March 29 Las Vegas @ Winnipeg, 3p
Anaheim @ Edmonton, 8p
March 30 Vancouver @ Dallas, 8:30p
March 31 Toronto @ Washington, 7p
Ottawa @ Tampa Bay, 7p
Montréal @ Chicago, 8:30p
Winnipeg @ Calgary, 9p
Las Vegas @ Edmonton, 9p

CanadianCrossing.com territories coverage

Hockey Day in Canada stayed within the north most of the time. The home base was in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories with reports from Whitehorse, Yukon and Churchill, Manitoba. We don't report on the territories too often; we do have coverage of the territories.

We got to see quite a bit of Yellowknife and other parts of the Northwest Territories. They had a contest to win a trip to the north to Whitehorse (Yukon), Yellowknife (Northwest Territories), or Iqaluit (Nunavut). Seeing the territories on television is remarkable enough, but seeing the area live would be incredible.

They referred to North of 60. This refers to 60° latitude, ⅔ the way to the North Pole from the equator. You can still find trees in Yellowknife at 62° latitude but the treeline is not far away where trees do not grow.

This was the 20th version of Hockey Day in Canada dating back to 2000 (no 2005 version due to the lockout). Hockey Day in Canada has been in every province except Quebec and all the territories.

The day had 3 all-Canadian matchups. Rogers Sportsnet had John Shorthouse call the Calgary-Vancouver game without a Flames counterbalance. We have no issue with Shorthouse in a matchup with the Canucks and a U.S. team, just not an all-Canadian matchup. Might serve notice that maybe Rogers won't carry the Flames locally next season.

Sedin Week: a three-game #Canucks celebration, including Legends Night, a Legacy Game and 2️⃣2️⃣ & 3️⃣3️⃣ rising to the rafters at @RogersArena. https://t.co/vemy49yGt8

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 3, 2020

As a hockey fan, I really enjoyed watching Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. Poetry on ice. Yes, they play for the Vancouver Canucks. No, they weren't Canadian. They were so much fun to watch on the ice.

They weren't what a lot of hockey fans enjoy while on the ice. They didn't try to beat people up. They played hockey.

Rogers Sportsnet Pacific offered the retirement ceremony without regional restrictions in Canada. ESPN+ carried the game (blacked out in Chicago).

David Ayres making the rounds after stopping Toronto Maple Leafs as an emergency goalie

Check out our story on David Ayres that we ran earlier in the week. Maple Leafs fans might disagree but the outside hockey world loves this story.

NHL the month in preview February 2020

As we noted last month, the 2021 Winter Classic will be at Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the MLB Minnesota Twins. The Winnipeg Jets were a logical opponent. The NHL went with St. Louis. Toronto (2014) and Montréal (2016) have played in the Winter Classic; the exception rather than the rule.

NHL the month in preview January 2020

Rick Ball finally got a chance to call an early Saturday night game on Hockey Night in Canada on February 1. Ball didn't have to travel far to Winnipeg. He is the 4th announcer in the playoffs roster but that hasn't translated to many opportunities on Saturday nights in the regular season.

Rogers Sportsnet used to only show Hrudey's Take in the second intermission on the Leafs game. The U.S. audience has had a few Citytv games, so we've noticed Rogers is showing the segment on all the games. Odd that the CBC audience had a segment while Citytv ran extra ads.

Eric Lindros explained on Hometown Hockey in Quebec City about why he didn't want to play for the Quebec Nordiques. "I must not have explained myself clearly enough," Lindros said to Tara Slone. Lindros said he didn't want to play for Marcel Aubut, president/CEO of the Quebec Nordiques.

"It had nothing to do with language, culture, [or] city. Keep in mind, my wife is French [from Quebec]. I was not going to play for that individual — period."

Lindros said he didn't think he had to verbalise the reason. Saying the reason would have helped. Lindros wasn't specific about his concerns about Aubut.

The perception in the United States was that Lindros didn't want to be in Quebec City. The Lindros perception seemed to help push the Nordiques to Denver.

The Quebec Nordiques greatly benefited from the Lindros trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. So did the Colorado Avalanche.

NHL the month in preview December 2019

NHL the month in preview November 2019

NHL the month in preview October 2019

NBCSN showed twice as many games involving Canadian teams in 12 days than in more than 2 months. That didn't factor in the bonus game via NBC Sports Washington. These are the final scheduled games for NBCSN.

February 6 San Jose @ Edmonton, 9:30p: Randy Hahn/Jamie Baker
February 12 Montréal @ Boston, 7:30p: John Forslund/Mike Milbury/Pierre McGuire
February 12 Calgary @ Los Angeles, 10p: Alex Faust/Brian Hayward
February 18 Toronto @ Pittsburgh, 7p: Kenny Albert/Pierre McGuire
February 20 Montréal @ Washington, 7p: NBC Sports Washington feed

Using the San Jose crew for a game in Edmonton is an absolute joke. Hard to call it a national telecast. Hahn and Ray Ferraro would have worked. NBCSN doesn't use Ferraro all that often. NBCSN threw in Kendall Coyne Schofield with Hahn and Bret Hedican in November with Edmonton. The only good crew the Oilers got was Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro back in October.

The February 12 doubleheader had potential. However, Mike Milbury in Boston is a joke that was never funny. The LA influence in the nightcap was likely not a surprise. Brian Hayward works for the Ducks, rivals of the Kings, and is Canadian. Hayward in the past hasn't been kind to Canadian teams, especially in the playoffs.

Kenny Albert and Pierre McGuire handled the game in Pittsburgh. McGuire loves Pittsburgh, his former employer. NBCSN interviewed the Pittsburgh coach but not the Toronto coach. Amazingly, NBCSN ran a special after the game that previously ran on Rogers Sportsnet on Connor McDavid's off-season recovery from a knee injury. NBCSN claims to love McDavid but struggles to send neutral announcers to his games.

The Alex Ovechkin obsession enticed NBCSN to pick up the Montréal-Washington game on February 20, a simulcast of the NBC Sports Washington feed with the worst announcers in the NHL. The obsession caused the NHL Network to cancel the airing of the Winnipeg-Philadelphia game on February 22. There was hope that the streak would put extra Jets games on the air but Ovechkin finally got #700 on February 22.

Jeremy Roenick, who was suspended in December for comments during a Barstool Sports podcast, is no longer with NBCSN and the NHL on NBC. We won't go into details on what Roenick said. He did apologise for his remarks.

Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage

International Women’s Day is March 8. Both Rogers Sportsnet and NBC Sports will have an all-female announcing crew and producers/director on a telecast.

Rogers Sportsnet will have the Hometown Hockey game from Calgary with play-by-play announcer Leah Hextall, game analyst Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and reporter Christine Simpson. That game will air in the United States on ESPN+. NBCSN will be in Chicago with Kate Scott calling the action with AJ Mleczko and Kendall Coyne-Schofield. Kathryn Tappen will be in the studio with Jen Botterill (Canadian).

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Given how few CBC games have aired on the NHL Network, hearing 12 promos on February 8 was glorious.

The matinee game had an extra visual in the second period for Fridge Wars, which did not debut until February 27. Workin' Moms was promoted for its season debut on February 18.

Sean Reynolds read the last matinee promo. The final promos ran back to back in the prime time game on February 8.

The Junos will be March 15 in Saskatoon. Oland Murder is a true-crime, limited series starting Wednesday.

The February 1 game came from the Citytv feed.

February 8 matinee game: Kim's Convenience; Schitt's Creek (1st); Fridge Wars; Schitt's Creek (2nd); Kim's Convenience; Fridge Wars (3rd)

February 8 early game: Kim's Convenience (1st); Workin' Moms; Coroner (2nd); Workin' Moms; Coroner; Kim's Convenience (3rd)

February 29 early game: Junos; Fridge Wars (1st); Junos; Oland Murder; Fridge Wars (2nd); Oland Murder (3rd)

Twitter capture: @Canucks; @canadian_xing
photo credit: Late Show with Stephen Colbert/CBS
video credit: Hometown Hockey/Rogers Sportsnet