There was a time not so long ago that those on the U.S. side had 2 choices when watching NHL trade deadline coverage in the United States. Both choices were Canadian.
The NHL Network went with Rogers Sportsnet while ESPN2 would carry TSN coverage (ESPN has a financial interest in TSN).
The new U.S. TV deal changes that a bit. ESPN+ will run TSN coverage from 8 am-Noon (all times Eastern) tomorrow morning. ESPN will produce its own trade deadline coverage for the first time. The Point: NHL Trade Deadline Special runs Noon-5 pm on ESPN+ with a simulcast on ESPN2 from 2 pm-4 pm. We should note that the official deadline is 3 pm though many trades are announced after that time.
John Buccigross will host alongside Kevin Weekes, John Tortorella, Emily Kaplan, Arda Öcal, Ryan Callahan, and Greg Wyshynski. That sounds like a lot of people but tiny (in quantity) compared to the coverage in Canada.
In previous years, ESPN2 ran the TSN coverage from 2 pm-4 pm.
The NHL Network has worked with Rogers Sportsnet over the last few years and recently jumped into its own coverage, starting at 2 pm. The U.S. channel will simulcast the Sportsnet coverage starting at 10 am. The Sportsnet coverage starts 2 hours after the TSN coverage.
Very few trades are announced in the morning, though with plenty of analysis and speculation. If one were rating the coverages based on entertainment value, the TSN coverage is a hands-down winner.
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Glad ESPN is jumping into the trade deadline coverage and the NHL Network makes its presence known. The drawback is that ESPN and the NHL Network can't compete with Sportsnet and TSN coverage.
The Canadian coverage is about the trades. They know more about the players and prospects. They are faster. They spend less time on the personalities going from one team to another. We don't need a crystal ball to predict ESPN will caught up in some tangent while people are screaming at the monitor about trades they find online.
While there will be Canadian coverage on your TV set and on the phone and computer, when the crunch time arrives, the coverage will be purely American. We know ESPN+ won't undercut its show with TSN coverage. We know the NHL Network wants the spotlight to itself. The U.S.-based hockey fans will suffer.
The criticism is also likely that the Canadian-based teams will suffer by comparison in the U.S. coverage. That is a given.
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Toronto is looking for defence and maybe a goalie. Calgary has been quite active so far. Montréal and Ottawa are more likely to dump. Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Edmonton have a lot of questions to ask. The real question is whether ESPN or the NHL Network will care all that much.
Canadian trade deadline coverage is a matter of what steak you want. U.S. trade deadline coverage is hamburger. Let's hope they don't slip in pink slime.
photo credit: ESPN
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