Editor's note: The ESPN+ schedule finally has updated the April games. The schedule has been updated to reflect changes based on the Vancouver Canucks COVID-19 protocols.
NBCSN has 2 games in April both on April 7. The U.S. channel showed one other doubleheader involving Canadian teams. This will set a record never to be broken again by NBCSN: most Canadian teams in a calendar day.
The U.S. channel will carry the second half of the Battle of Alberta on April 29 in Edmonton starting approximately at 10:30 pm. The game starts at 9 pm Eastern. The press release specifically says the game will be joined in progress. The NHL Network might carry the game from the start. NBC Sports might stream the feed.
This reminded us all too well of the NBCSN squeeze on a Toronto-Edmonton game on November 29, 2016 with the TSN4 feed that covered 23:37 of the game. We've never seen them treat U.S. teams this way.
The NHL Network is treating this season like normal in that late in the year, the Canadian teams get a lot fewer games. A reminder that if a U.S. team is in your market on a Saturday night, the backup game could be from Hockey Night in Canada.
The ESPN+ schedule finally arrived after several days of tweets from CanadianCrossing.com. Like the NHL Network, the service is cutting back on Canadian teams in April.
NBCSN
April 7
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 5p/Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p
NHL Network
April 10
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
April 17
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 10p (HNIC)
April 24
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p (HNIC)/Ottawa @ Vancouver, 10p (HNIC)
ESPN+
April 2
Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p
April 4
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 9p
Toronto @ Calgary, 9p
April 5
Edmonton @ Montréal, 7p
April 6
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 8p
April 12
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
April 16
Calgary @ Montréal, 6p
April 19
Ottawa @ Calgary, 9p
April 20
Toronto @ Vancouver, 9p
April 29
Vancouver @ Toronto, 7:30p
April 30
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p
Hockey Night in Canada
April 3
Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p
April 10
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p/Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p/Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p
April 17
Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p/Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 7p
April 24
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p/Montréal @ Calgary, 7p/Ottawa @ Vancouver, 10p
Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts
April 7 Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p
April 14 Calgary @ Montréal, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p
April 18 Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p
April 20 Toronto @ Vancouver, 9p
April 22 Toronto @ Winnipeg, 7p
April 23 Montréal @ Calgary, 9p
April 28 Toronto @ Montréal, 8p
April 29 Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p
The Montréal Canadiens became the first Canadian team to postpone games due to the COVID-19 protocols. The Habs lost 3 home games with Edmonton and a home game against Ottawa. Montréal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were placed in protocol.
The U.S. divisions have had plenty of postponements and rescheduled games. We updated the March preview accordingly. In the time of COVID-19, these previews are documents subject to change.
The NHL has already rescheduled games for May 11, past the originally scheduled season end date of May 8.
Another calendar month, another #Canadian @NHL team fires its coach. @NHLFlames say bye to #GeoffWard and hi (again) to #DarrylSutter. https://t.co/lp8wUdVyva
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 5, 2021
The Calgary Flames became the second NHL team to fire its coach in 2021 — both Canadian teams. Darryl Sutter replaced Geoff Ward to be Calgary's 4th head coach in the last 5 years.
Ward was the interim coach from November 2019 through September 2020, when he was named the head coach. That lasted until the night of March 4. Ward went 11-11-2 to start 2021 for Calgary. He replaced Bill Peters after allegations of racism and assault.
Ward even won a playoff series last summer, beating Winnipeg before losing to Dallas.
We love that the Canadian media has enthusiasm to cover hockey. We deplore the obsessive nature of that coverage. There are 7 Canadian teams and 4 of them will make the playoffs. 3 teams will not make the playoffs. Toronto is a consensus to be in; Ottawa a consensus to be out. The rest of the field is playing for 3 out of 5 teams to advance.
Claude Julien (with Mark Muller) and Geoff Ward deserved better fates but the Canadian NHL teams are desperate. Just wait until the playoffs.
NHL the month in preview March 2021
Craig Simpson has replaced Greg Millen on the local Toronto Maple Leafs telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. Cassie Campbell-Pascall helped out Chris Cuthbert in Calgary against the Flames.
We presume the substitution is pandemic-related. Millen hasn't been heard since before the pandemic. We aren't making judgments in the COVID-19 era. Jim Hughson has cut back his schedule to games in Vancouver. John Bartlett and Garry Galley got 2 games in January and February combined.
Cuthbert and Simpson have had a lot of work together, local and national, in 2021.
Got a chance to sample Jack Michaels as the TV voice of the Edmonton Oilers. Michaels can be loud, very loud. He does interact a lot better in the telecasts, giving Louie DeBrusk vocal cues to jump into the conversation. Kevin Quinn was so wooden that watching the telecasts was uncomfortable. Michaels is not Kevin Quinn and that is better.
2021 Toronto Blue Jays spring training schedule
The Toronto Blue Jays are going with a radio simulcast of their TV feed in 2021. Carolina, Buffalo, and Dallas are the 3 NHL teams that do TV/radio simulcasts. Baseball is a sport that needs radio more than the other major sports. Your humble narrator almost never listens to hockey on radio, but one could imagine a radio intimacy would be better for the sport.
The only team I would listen to on radio specifically would be the Ottawa Senators and only for Dean Brown. Miss his coverage terribly. I love the TSN coverage and announcers but do miss getting a rare glimpse of Dean Brown and Garry Galley on CBC and Rogers Sportsnet East. NBCSN picked up the Ottawa-Boston game at the end of the season that had been postponed due to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Was fun watching Brown and Galley call a game in front of a U.S. audience.
When will Canadians be able to watch their favourite team in person
We already covered the lack of fans in the stands at NHL games in Canada. If Canada is going to host the NHL final four, fans will almost certainly have to be in the stands.
Toronto Six eliminated in 2021 NWHL semifinals
We already covered the limited path of the Toronto Six in the NWHL playoffs. Hope to see NWHL games next season in Toronto and Montréal.
NHL the month in preview February 2021
Zack Kassian (Edmonton) and Ben Chairot (Montréal) suffered an unusual "upper-body injury" this season. Hockey people will tell you that players don't get hurt in fights. We know concussions can cause long-term damage.
Kassian broke his hand in a February 8 fight with Ottawa defenceman Erik Gudbranson. Chiarot fractured his hand fighting Vancouver forward J.T. Miller on March 10. By all consensus, neither players lost the fight; just hurt their hands throwing the punches.
We thought maybe there would be fewer fights with the pandemic. That behavior hasn't changed. The fights seem stranger because there is no crowd to motivate. None of the 5 major sports have systematic fighting built in, except for hockey.
NHL the month in preview January 2021
The NHL Network will cover the April 12 trade deadline with Rogers Sportsnet coverage starting at 8 am Eastern. The U.S. channel will switch to its own coverage at 2 pm Eastern. ESPN2 will jump in with the TSN coverage at 2 pm Eastern. Hopefully, ESPN+ would carry the first 6 hours of the TSN coverage in the United States, even if it stopped covering NHL games. The actual deadline is 3 pm Eastern.
The Canadian federal government has reduced the 14-day quarantine to 7 days for NHL players going from American-based teams traded to Canadian-based teams.
2021 NHL season preview
TSN went back to Jon Abbott for the Ottawa-Calgary call on TSN5 on March 4. Abbott also called the Montréal-Vancouver games on March 8 and March 10 in his home city in Vancouver as well as the Habs game in Calgary on March 11.
Abbott called a Senators game on January 28 and Mississauga announcer Victor Findlay called a Sens game on February 4. These are freelance opportunities to fill in on games where the Toronto Maple Leafs (TSN4) are in action and Bryan Mudryk is occupied either with the Montréal Canadiens or curling.
TSN 1040 in Vancouver employed Abbott in his first appearance but he lost his day job as part of the Bell Media massive layoffs.
Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage
There was a NHL Center Ice free preview March 10-16. We will eventually get you those ads.
ESPN acquires primary U.S. NHL package in new 7-year deal
2020 Stanley Cup notebook: The day NBC tried to make us stop watching the NHL
@mooredom is relatively new to @NHL colour analysis. So far in this game, he's proven to be better at this job than @BrianBoucher33. Mentioning that @cmcdavid97 and #LeonDraisaitl started out on separate lines was insightful. Seriously. @NHLonNBCSports
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 18, 2021
March 17 Edmonton at Calgary 10p Brendan Burke/Dominic Moore
Dominic Moore is learning a new craft after being a NHL player: colour analysis. Moore still sounds a bit raw, which is understandable. His insight was surprisingly sharp. Moore starts out by pointing out that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were on different lines. Pierre McGuire might have said that. Brian Boucher would never think it. Still early in the process, but we were encouraged by his analysis.
Brendan Burke never calls a bad game or a great game. Burke did some research about the Battle of Alberta. Not an easy task to call the Battle of Alberta from a studio in Stamford, CT and without fans. They did okay. Small steps.
NBCSN used Canadian announcers Gord Miller and Mike Johnson for the first game in Toronto. The U.S. channel has used American announcers from that studio since then. We figured Miller and Johnson would get more NBCSN work north of the border in 2021. There is the April 7 doubleheader to come, the last scheduled NBCSN games in Canada.
We reviewed the ESPN portion of the new 7-year U.S. broadcast deal. Now we wait for the other network to carry the NHL in the United States.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
For the second time in as many months, the early game only had 5 promos. Jim Hughson was on tap in the March 6 early games. The promos were on a good pace but never got around to the final promo in the 3rd period, which was for Short Track Speed Skating.
Chris Cuthbert only read 5 promos in the March 27 early game. There was a delay in the 1st period where repairs needed to be made, yet no promos were aired during the delay.
We've been surprised that Kim's Convenience hasn't received more love in CBC promos. The pattern started long before the producers announced this would be the final season for the acclaimed comedy.
For Heaven's Sake is a 8-part, Canadian-based story in a documentary-style comedy streaming on CBC Gem in Canada and Paramount+ in the United States.
Victoria and Miss Scarlet & the Duke are British seat fillers on Monday nights to make up for fewer episodes of Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries.
March 6 early game: Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show; Workin' Moms (2nd); Pretty Hard Cases (3rd)
March 6 late game: Pretty Hard Cases (1st); Coroner; Great Canadian Baking Show; Workin' Moms (2nd); Pretty Hard Cases; Short Track Speed Skating (3rd)
March 13 late game: Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show; For Heaven's Sake (2nd); Workin' Moms; Freestyle Skiing (3rd)
March 27 early game: Victoria (1st); Miss Scarlet & the Duke; Pretty Hard Cases (2nd); Coroner; Great Canadian Baking Show (3rd)
March 27 late game: Victoria; Miss Scarlet & the Duke (1st); Pretty Hard Cases; Coroner (2nd); Great Canadian Baking Show; Figure Skating World Championships (3rd)
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing