The four remaining Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs are getting a much needed rest. Montréal has been off since Wednesday. Toronto and Winnipeg finish tonight. Edmonton will be done before supper on Saturday.
Winnipeg-Edmonton starts on Wednesday and Montréal-Toronto starts on Thursday.
In a typical season, games end on a Saturday and the playoffs start on Wednesday. Most of the U.S. teams will get as long a rest as the Canadian teams. The question comes about where the playoffs will be given a team or 3 teams have to cross the still-closed Canada-U.S. border for the final four.
The American series in the first round have a day off in between games. The Canadian series have back-to-back games between Games 3 and 4.
Down the stretch for the end of the 2021 NHL regular season
NHL the month in preview May 2021
2 Canadian NHL teams made coaching changes in the middle of the season. Montréal made the playoffs while Calgary missed the playoffs.
The Canadiens under Claude Julien went 9-5-4 and 15-16-7 under Dominique Ducharme. Geoff Ward went 11-11-2 for Calgary. Darryl Sutter (along with the interim coaches) went 13-15-1 with 3 games to play.
Ducharme is the interim coach while Sutter has a 3-year contract.
The management of both teams felt the players needed a jolt from a change. This is the nature of sports. NHL teams in Canada have an intense pressure. The Canadian division has really brought this out. Every team but Ottawa really wanted 2021 to be the year.
The Habs got off to a great 7-1-2 start this season. That wasn't good enough.
The Canadiens have the playoffs to show whether this was good short-term move. The Flames have a few years to see about the Sutter move.
NHL the month in preview April 2021
The NHL Network dropped a few Canadian telecasts during the heart of the season, some not the fault of the network. The channel will fill a playoff weekend with Vancouver Canucks games down the stretch.
We don't know what kind of relationship the channel will have with ESPN and TNT, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The NBCSN deal was pretty worthless to Canadian teams. Things might not be too much better but hopefully with a bit more respect.
We know there have been some signings. We will comment when the whole announcing teams have been, well, announced.
NHL the month in preview March 2021
The lineup of Ron MacLean, Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey, and Elliotte Friedman with Don Cherry on Coach's Corner was a HNIC reality not that long ago. We wondered about the post-Cherry approach.
The 2021 HNIC panel is a lot more crowded. Anthony Stewart, Jennifer Botterill, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and Anson Carter has joined Kevin Bieska, David Amber, Hrudey, Friedman, and MacLean. The variety has been quality AND quantity in scope and perspective.
Kypreos had been dead weight for some time. You really feel how little Cherry contributed that was positive or inspiring.
Rogers has claimed poverty almost from the start on the NHL deal. Flying Hrudey into Toronto and lodging every Saturday night had to cost a pretty penny. Bieksa has been in California for some time. Botterill and Carter have day jobs in the United States, though Carter will be a free agent. This may be a rare moment when Rogers improves its studio coverage and saves money.
This isn't about being PC or "woke." This is smarter, brighter analysis that is informative, relevant, and entertaining.
NHL the month in preview February 2021
There is an all-Canadian matchup on Saturday but that won't be Hockey Night in Canada. The NHL playoffs start Saturday but not in Canada.
CBC fills in nights with U.S. teams when Canadian teams aren't playing. The dynamics of 2021 has forced CBC to fill in more time with the delays to the end of the NHL regular season. The Canadian teams fell further behind due to the Vancouver Canucks severe reaction to COVID-19.
CBC and Rogers Sportsnet will carry the Toronto series and the Edmonton series. Rogers Sportsnet will show most of the U.S. series with simulcasts of local feeds or NBCUniversal feeds. Games on CBC have to be produced by Sportsnet; i.e., no simulcasts.
John Bartlett and Garry Galley will handle the U.S. games on CBC. Here is the CBC schedule:
May 15 Boston @ Washington, 7p
May 17 Boston @ Washington, 7:30p
May 18 NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh, 7:30p
May 19 Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
May 20 Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p
May 21 Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p
May 22 Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
May 23 Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 7:30p
May 24 Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
May 24 Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 9:45p
May 25 Toronto @ Montréal, 7:30p
May 26 Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders, 6:30p
May 27 Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
May 28 Minnesota @ Las Vegas, 9p
May 29 Toronto @ Montréal, 7:30p
May 31 Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
U.S. viewers in Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, and other markets get a great option, even for some U.S. games. This schedule will be updated as needed in the opening round.
NHL the month in preview January 2021
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
The CBC promos in the regular season telecasts ended poorly. The first promo in the 3rd period on May 1 ran before the period started. We had more consistent promos from the late game this season but not during the final Battle of Alberta.
Rogers Sportsnet decided on a FU to the CBC in the early game on May 8. Kyle Bukauskas read the first promo of the game just before the 2nd period (violation). The first in-game period promo didn't run until 6:08 left in the 2nd period. Bukauskas read back-to-back promos (violation) at the 4:10 mark of the 2nd period.
Chris Cuthbert's copy for the final promo was for the CBC News app though the visual was for the CBC Sports app.
Watching the late game on May 8 to see which promo was supposed to be the 6th promo. As elegantly paced as the promos were in the late game, they blew off the final promo.
The rules are fairly similar: 2 promos per period, in-game and not consecutively. Not that difficult. If you blow off the 1st period, you don't run into problems. CBC gets so little for giving Rogers Sportsnet so much.
The 2021 Junos celebrate Canadian music on June 6.
May 1 late game: None (1st); Family Feud Canada auditions; CBC Gem; World Athletics Relays (2nd); Tokyo 2020 Olympics; 2021 Junos; CBC News app (3rd)
May 8 early game: None (1st); Family Feud Canada auditions; CBC Gem; Tokyo 2020 Olympics; 2021 Junos (2nd); CBC Gem; CBC News/Sports app (3rd)
May 8 late game: Family Feud Canada auditions; CBC Gem (1st); Tokyo 2020 Olympics; 2021 Junos (2nd); CBC Gem (3rd)
photo credit: NHL
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