Editor's note: The schedule has been updated for additional games.
NBCSN won't carry any Canadian regular season games for the rest of the life of the network. In past years, late season games involving Canadian teams would end up on the network because the Anaheim Ducks or Florida Panthers needed a game on television.
The NHL Network will carry games in 3 of the 4 HNIC slots. While the U.S. channel has ignored Canadian teams (mostly) in the matinee rebroadcasts, the games in the final week or so should get airings in some form.
There is a potential HNIC game of sorts scheduled for May 15. If Vancouver and Calgary don't make the playoffs, those last few games may run alongside the playoffs.
The NHL Network and ESPN+ schedules stop at May 9. We will have updates if Canadian games are added.
The regular end of season NHL Center Ice free preview might run earlier than literally the end of the season. Keep awake just in case we get a preview.
NHL Network
May 1
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
May 8
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC)/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p (HNIC)
May 12
Edmonton @ Montréal, 5p
May 14
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 8p
May 15
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 3:30p
May 16
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10:30p
ESPN+
May 4
Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
May 6
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9p
May 9
Ottawa @ Calgary, 8p
May 10
Edmonton @ Montréal, 7p
May 11
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 8p
May 13
Vancouver @ Calgary, 9p
May 15
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 3:30p
May 16
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10:30p
Hockey Night in Canada
May 1
Vancouver @ Toronto, 7p/Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p/Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p
May 8
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p/Ottawa @ Winnipeg, 7p/Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p
Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts
May 5 Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p
May 6 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 9p
May 12 Toronto @ Ottawa, 8p
May 13 Vancouver @ Calgary, 9p
May 15 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 3:30p
May 16 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10:30p
May 18 Calgary @ Vancouver, 4p
May 19 Vancouver @ Calgary, 3:30p
Curious if @CBC will run a #cdnfilm in the late #HNIC slot this week. Game postponed due to #COVID_19 protocols. Would be a chance to get more eyes to see a Canadian film. @NHL
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) April 2, 2021
There were doubts the Vancouver Canucks would return to the ice in the spring of 2021. The team had the roughest experience with COVID-19 of any NHL team: Number of players and others, impact on family members, and time lost. Braden Holtby helped out the team in a huge way in the restart.
The schedule originally was going to end on May 8 but that had been pushed back long before the Canucks hit the COVID-19 wall.
Hockey Night in Canada didn't run a late game on April 3 and April 17. We suggested that CBC run a Canadian film in the HNIC slot. CBC went with a combination of Schitt's Creek, Just For Laughs Gags, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and other programming.
The last regular Saturday night without a late game might have been the 2014 Winter Olympics. Hockey Night in Canada still had a doubleheader at 3 pm and 6 pm Eastern that day. CBC went straight to Olympics coverage at 9 pm.
A reminder that we update the monthly previews.
ESPN acquires primary U.S. NHL package in new 7-year deal
ESPN and TNT will form an exciting duo for NHL TV rights in the new U.S. deal. ESPN/ABC get the A package and 4 Stanley Cups. Turner will get the B package: 3 Stanley Cups and the Winter Classic.
TNT has more flexibility than USA or Fox Sports 1 though not as much as NBCSN, which is going away before the end of 2021. The ESPN/ABC money is $400 million per season; Turner $225 million. NBC, in the current deal, paid $200 million for the whole deal.
Speculation on announcers is wide open. Eddie Olczyk, Keith Jones, and Brian Boucher along with Liam McHugh and Kathryn Tappen likely have enough ties to stay at Comcast/NBC. Gord Miller, Ray Ferraro, and Mike Johnson could work for ESPN or Turner. Dave Randorf would get good consideration, Darren Pang will get recruited, even if he isn't likely to say yes. AJ Mleczko should be recruited.
We would have been concerned about a Wednesday doubleheader on TBS since Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (featuring Canadian Samantha Bee) airs at 10:30 pm Eastern on Wednesdays. HBO Max will be in the mix.
As for the NHL on NBC, some praise the network's focused presence on hockey. We criticize poor hiring choices (Mike Milbury and Boucher as game analysts), bailing out of playoff games, short intermissions, biased coverage of national games. Coverage on ESPN and TNT will have problems; they will be different problems than what we saw from NBC.
Canada surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases
Congratulations to the 2021 Kraft Hockeyville winner: Elsipogtog First Nation, NB. The community will get $250,000 in arena upgrades and a NHL preseason game. Elsipogtog First Nation beat out Bobcaygeon, ON; Lumsden, SK; and Saint Adolphe, MB in the voting.
The 2020 Kraft Hockeyville winner — Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador — still hasn't had its NHL preseason game. When we do get preseason games with fans, there will be a tilt in the direction of the Atlantic provinces.
2021 NHL season preview
NHL the month in preview April 2021
Greg Millen returned to Hockey Night in Canada on April 3. We mentioned that Millen hadn't been working Toronto Maple Leafs local games on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. COVID-19 changed everything so no judgments on any of this. Millen worked with Chris Cuthbert on the Ottawa-Montréal game. The two were partners back in the CBC days with Cuthbert pointing out that this was their first game together in 17 years.
Millen also worked with John Bartlett in Montréal on April 10.
NHL the month in preview March 2021
NHL the month in preview February 2021
Victor Findlay got more TSN5 Ottawa Senators games on April 5, 7, and 8. The Mississauga announcer called a Sens game on February 4. Jon Abbott called the Sens game on April 12. Abbott previously called a game in January and 4 games in March. Both of them are sort of filling the TSN hole once held by Chris Cuthbert.
TSN shifted Bryan Mudryk to international hockey from his Montréal Canadiens duties. This was shortly after Mudryk announced that he wouldn't call Canadiens in person at the Bell Centre. This presumably was due to the Ontario-Quebec border closure. Jon Abbott called the Habs game April 26 in Calgary. Dan Robertson, the Habs radio voice, will finish the season on TSN2.
NHL the month in preview January 2021
Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage
April 7 Edmonton at Ottawa 5p Kenny Albert/Brian Boucher
April 7 Montréal at Toronto 7:30p Brendan Burke/Pierre McGuire
The beauty of the 2021 NHL season was not having to hear Brian Boucher. You could find men and women in random small town Canadian rinks who could deliver better analysis than Boucher, His analysis is painfully simple, he repeats himself often, he offers little from his own experience, and he won't travel outside the tiny box of thought he draws out for himself.
Fascinating to watch NBCSN cover a team (Ottawa Senators) where some viewers know more about the team that the U.S. national announcers. Brady Tkachuk got a lot of notice but ignoring Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle felt hollow. The NBCSN team also ignored most of the players on the Edmonton Oilers, the channel's new favourite Canadian team.
The local Edmonton announcers know more about the Ottawa team (and vice versa) than the U.S. national announcers. Other national announcers in other sports have a sense of the players on their teams.
Could Turner do worse than NBC? Possible but difficult to imagine. Here is hoping (outside this spring's playoffs) to never hear Brian Boucher ever again.
NBC did show some lovely shots of Ottawa and Kanata in the April 7 telecast.
We thought Gord Miller would work that game for TSN5, but Victor Findlay worked that game.
NBCSN used the Gord Miller/Mike Johnson combo in the first game this season and didn't go back to using Canadian announcers. We will be curious how they might be used in the first round of the playoffs.
NBCSN picked up the Rogers Sportsnet feed for the 3rd period of the Battle of Alberta on April 29. Thought the NHL Network might carry the game or at least put the game into Chicago on NBCSN, since the market was blacked out of the national feed. Nope. They wouldn't do this to U.S. teams.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
"Friends, family, and a whole lot of laughs. More than a store. Kim's Convenience final episode Tuesday at 8 on CBC and CBC Gem." We had been surprised that Kim's Convenience wasn't showing up too often in the CBC promos during Hockey Night in Canada. The series finale did get a mention on the April 10 games.
When Chris Cuthbert first read a CBC promo for the show in January, his copy said Tuesday at 9 pm instead of 8 pm.
We realise the NHL Network lost a HNIC game due to COVID-19 rescheduling. The NHL Network did take away another HNIC game, leaving the 2 games as the only live broadcasts involving Canadian teams for the whole month of April.
The British seat fillers shared a promo: Miss Scarlet & the Duke and Victoria filled the gaps on Monday nights. Good to see that even if a promo has 2 shows, the promo is counted as a single promo.
The April promos weren't as dynamic since the regular shows ended before the NHL season did. Pretty Hard Cases ended on the first Wednesday in April.
The 2021 Junos celebrate Canadian music on June 6.
April 10 late game: CBC Gem; Family Feud Canada auditions (1st); Miss Scarlet & the Duke/Victoria; Kim's Convenience (2nd); CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics (3rd)
April 24 early game: Miss Scarlet & the Duke/Victoria; Family Feud Canada auditions (1st); CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics (2nd); 2021 Junos; CBC Sports app (3rd)
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
photo credits: @TurnerSportsPR; Hockey Night in Canada/Sportsnet
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