TNT switched out one Canadian team for another on April 6. Vancouver is out and Calgary is in with the Flames trip to Orange County.
ESPN finally carries games involving Canadian teams: the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to the former home of the NBA Toronto Raptors (Amalie Arena) on April 21. In a change within the last 24 hours, a ESPN+/Hulu game has been bumped up to ESPN with Connor McDavid visiting Sidney Crosby (26).
NHL Network starts out April with the Habs on Hockey Night in Canada in the Stanley Cup rematch in Florida (2). The U.S. channel gives us the same matchup as the lone ESPN game with the Maple Leafs in western Florida (4).
The Ottawa Senators are involved in the final 2 HNIC appearances on the channel at Madison Square Garden (9) and hosting Toronto (16). Before last season, the Battle of Ontario was virtually banned on the channel.
The U.S. channel picks up a Hometown Hockey game minus the actual show as Winnipeg makes its lone visit to Montréal (11). The Jets are also on the NHL Network later in the week visiting the team in the witness protection program in southern Florida (15).
The NHL Network carries a rare Wednesday night game with the teams (Dallas and Edmonton) ESPN+ carried twice but only in Dallas. Neither ESPN or ESPN+ has set foot in Canada. This time the U.S. channel will pick up the national feed from Edmonton (20).
The final telecast is a really good matchup with the Calgary Flames traveling to St. Paul (28).
The lone ESPN+/Hulu game involves the Toronto Maple Leafs in the U.S. capital (24).
ABC finishes up its Saturday afternoon package. They are ESPN productions airing on ABC. All the games involve U.S. teams.
Looks like there will be no Rogers Sportsnet exclusives on Saturday nights in April. There were potential issues on April 2 and April 23 but those have disappeared.
There should be a NHL Center Ice free preview toward the end of the season. The regular season ends on a Friday on April 29.
TNT
April 6
Calgary @ Anaheim, 10p
ESPN
April 21
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 8p
April 26
Edmonton @ Pittsburgh, 7p
NHL Network
April 2
Montréal @ Tampa Bay, 7p (HNIC)
April 4
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p
April 9
Ottawa @ NY Rangers, 7p (HNIC)
April 11
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p (HH)
April 15
Winnipeg @ Florida, 7p
April 16
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p (HNIC)
April 20
Dallas @ Edmonton, 8:30p
April 28
Calgary @ Minnesota, 8p
ESPN+/Hulu
April 24
Toronto @ Washington, 7p
Hockey Night in Canada
April 2
Toronto @ Philadelphia, 7p/Montréal @ Tampa Bay, 7p/Los Angeles @ Winnipeg, 7p/
St. Louis @ Calgary, 10pApril 9
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p/Ottawa @ NY Rangers, 7p/Calgary @ Seattle, 7p/
Colorado @ Edmonton, 10p/San Jose @ Vancouver, 10pApril 16
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p/Washington @ Montréal, 7p/Winnipeg @ Tampa Bay, 7p/
Arizona @ Calgary, 10pApril 23
Toronto @ Florida, 7p/Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p/Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p
Hometown Hockey
April 4 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p/Calgary @ Los Angeles, 10:30p (Edmonton)
April 11 Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p (Prince George, BC)
April 18 Calgary @ Chicago, 8p/Dallas @ Vancouver, 9p (Campbell River, BC)
April 25 No Canadian teams (North Vancouver, BC)
Rogers Sportsnet national telecasts
April 6 Detroit @ Winnipeg, 7:30p/Calgary @ Anaheim, 10p
April 7 Edmonton @ Los Angeles, 10:30p
April 12 Seattle @ Calgary, 9p
April 13 Montréal @ Columbus, 7p
April 14 Las Vegas @ Calgary, 9p
April 20 Dallas @ Edmonton, 8:30p
April 26 Edmonton @ Pittsburgh, 7p
April 27 Philadelphia @ Winnipeg, 7:30p/Montréal @ NY Rangers, 7:30p
April 28 San Jose @ Edmonton, 9p
April 29 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9p
2022 Heritage Classic wrapup
2022 Heritage Classic preview
The Auston Matthews 2-game suspension was harsh and yet not surprising. The cross check was bad but similar plays haven't drawn a suspension. The Toronto Maple Leafs don't do well in the justice department.
The suspension doesn't seem to reflect the abuse Matthews took before the cross check including being slammed into the net. The irony is that referees generally refuse to call penalties on people attacking Matthews, including in overtime against Arizona that cost Toronto an extra point. At the time of the suspension, Matthews was #310 in the league in penalties drawn this season with 8.
The Maple Leafs went 2-0 during the suspension.
The idea is ridiculous that this was worse than what Matt Cooke (a repeat offender, unlike Matthews) did to Erik Karlsson in 2013. Matthews, clean record, got 2 games for something way less worse than what Cooke, the opposite of a clean record, did with as much intention. Serious and significant injury and no suspension. If Karlsson had played for San Jose, there would have been a suspension.
Taylor Hall only got a $5K fine for sucker punching Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. Then again, Hall plays for Boston.
The ratings were healthy on both sides of the border, given a late Sunday afternoon game on the day where daylight saving time started. The game drew 1.25 million on Rogers Sportsnet. We don't have TVA Sports numbers. TNT had a 348,000 number. Buffalo draws really well on the U.S. side.
The next Heritage Classic is TBA as always with speculation that Edmonton might host a game in 2023. The original modern-day outdoor game was in Edmonton on November 22, 2003.
How to consume NHL trade deadline coverage on the U.S. side
.@espn @NHL coverage has been good. Its #tradedeadline2022 coverage? Not so great if you wanted to learn trades. Most trades reported w/o saying what was coming back. Yes, there was #chickenparm but not much analysis. Try better and/or bring back @TSNHockey coverage.
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 22, 2022
We had low expectations for ESPN's trade deadline coverage. The program posted the obvious side of trades on the screen without mentioning the return. They were more obsessed with Phil Kessel not going anywhere than the chicken parm(esan) that appeared on screen. The chicken parm is a long ongoing joke with John Buccigross.
Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes were the saving grace. Kaplan was too obsessed with Chicago, where she lives. Calgary and Toronto got mentioned not so much about their actual trades.
TSN might have spent too much time on Toronto but they report on the impact of the actual trades for all the teams.
NHL the month in preview March 2022
Mr. Melnyk provided me, my teammates, and many Sens players who came before us with an opportunity to live out our dream. The Ottawa community will miss you greatly. Condolences to your family. https://t.co/lNeXwUDurF
— brady tkachuk (@BradyTkachuk71) March 29, 2022
Eugene Melnyk was the most recognisable NHL Canadian owner by leaps and bounds. The Ottawa Senators owner passed away this week at the age of 62.
We have written about the surprise that Melnyk undercut what the franchise needed most: a downtown arena. His legacy is a lot more complex than just a new arena. His rescue of the Ottawa Senators franchise is likely the reason there are 7 Canadian franchises and not 6.
Our condolences to his family and friends.
NHL the month in preview February 2022
NHL the month in preview January 2022
There was a NHL Center Ice free preview from March 11-17. ESPN+ eliminates the desire for the Center Ice package, except for the local ads. The chase for fun local ads is a lot harder than they used to be with fewer fruits. We will try and capture some of those ads at the end of the regular season.
NHL the week that was: COVID-19 and Paul Maurice resigns
NHL the month in preview December 2021
Windsor hockey fans got to see the team north of the river on Hockey Night in Canada on March 12. The Detroit Red Wings were in the early slot in Calgary and the Toronto Maple Leafs were waiting for the Heritage Classic.
In the CBC days (pre-2014), the debate would have been whether CBET would show the Red Wings or carry the primary game. The Maple Leafs would be the reason why CBET wouldn't carry the Red Wings.
This game was on Rogers Sportsnet West and Rogers Sportsnet One, so those in Windsor would need cable or satellite or stream on SN Now.
.@NHLNetwork, except for last season, was afraid to carry #BattleofAlberta. Missing a heck of a game tonight. Thank goodness for #ESPN+. @espn @NHL
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 27, 2022
The NHL Network, outside of the all-Canadian division of 2021, has never carried the Battle of Alberta. The exciting 9-5 Calgary win on March 26 was an amazing game. The channel couldn't even manage to show the 3rd period with bonus coverage. The Calgary-Edmonton playoff matchup hasn't happened since 1991. That is before we knew the name Gary Bettman.
The Flames and Oilers had been on terrific stretches. Hard to imagine one of the best rivalries where both teams are good and the NHL Network doesn't care. The teams are done playing each other for the regular season.
NHL the month in preview November 2021
NHL the month in preview October 2021
March 7 Toronto @ Columbus, 7:30p John Buccigross/Cassie Campbell-Pascall ESPN+/Hulu
March 9 Washington @ Edmonton, 8p Brendan Burke/Darren Pang/Tarik El-Bashir TNT
March 9 Montréal @ Vancouver, 10:30p John Forslund/Bret Hedican TNT
March 13 Toronto @ Buffalo (Hamilton), 3p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones/Wayne Gretzky TNT
March 22 Edmonton @ Dallas, 8:30p Steve Levy/Mark Messier ESPN+/Hulu
Cassie Campbell-Pascall also was on the last ESPN+ telecast involving a Canadian team all the way back in January. She offered a good Canadian perspective on questions. If you were watching in the postgame, we even saw Timbits (Columbus has Tim Hortons).
Yes, the Heritage Classic was later in the week but TNT dropped the ball, giving us John Forslund (who doesn't like Canada) and Bret Hedican. An all-Canadian matchup is John Forslund's nightmare. Forslund did have a Canadian travel dream of calling a game in Toronto on Monday, Vancouver on a Wednesday, Ottawa on Thursday, and Montréal on Saturday. All of those were Seattle Kraken road games except for the detour to Vancouver.
The TNT graphics got off to a terrible start in that all-Canadian matchup with the wrong team on the power play on the first 2 power plays. Their solution was to take off the power play clock for most of that second power play. The wrong team is better than having no clock at all.
Mark Messier has a long ago connection to the Edmonton Oilers. Still, this might have been the second game he called all year for ESPN. Messier told the audience the Edmonton power play was difficult to stop when the Oilers didn't register a single shot in that power play. Steve Levy is really good and an enjoyable listen.
Tracking the NHL 2021 media changes
The NHL Network is carrying far fewer live NHL games this season. The ESPN+ package helps make that a decent decision. The channel usually airs a game on Saturday nights. NHL Network didn't air a Saturday game for the last 2 weekends in March.
March 19 had a ESPN+ game on ABC. Even with the new deal, U.S. outlets are afraid to show 2 games at the same time. The channel didn't air a game in the evening on March 26. There was no obvious reason.
There was a ESPN+/Hulu game on March 26. If that was the reason, that was weaker than a teabag in Lake Ontario.
Our guide to the NHL Canadian teams coverage
The NBC Sports properties in Chicago, San Jose, Washington, and Philadelphia would sometimes show other games from their sibling outlets. We haven't seen that this season. Then again, the ESPN+ contract makes that meaningless since you can pick up the feed you want from an unprotected game.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
The NHL Network carried no CBC feeds in February (mostly Olympics) and only a single game in March.
The Edmonton Stingers, Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) champions, were playing in the Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) on CBC Gem. The Porter is a really great show on CBC that will run on BET+.
John Bartlett didn't get to the 6th promo of the night. The missing promo was for the closing ceremony of the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing. The CBC promos are the only compensation the network gets for showing Hockey Night in Canada.
We aren't even getting matinee HNIC rebroadcasts on the NHL Network.
March 12 early game: Edmonton Stingers basketball; Son of a Critch (1st); CBC News app; Run the Burbs (2nd); The Porter (3rd)
photo credit: NHL
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @BradyTkachuk71; @canadian_xing
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.