Canadian Crossing

2019 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview

The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs have a bit of the old (Toronto, Winnipeg) from last year's playoff run and a bit of the new (Calgary).

This will be the first time in a long time that Toronto has made the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. If the Jets advance past the first round, this will be the first time Winnipeg has won playoff series in back-to back years in the team's NHL history.

Montréal fell out of the playoffs in the final week. Vancouver and Edmonton made mild pushes but ultimately ended up falling short of the wild card. Ottawa was out of it before Christmas.

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The season series criteria can be overrated leading into a playoff series. Boston has a 3-1 edge over Toronto. The other Canadian teams do have a boost over their opponents. Winnipeg has a 3-1 advantage over St. Louis while Calgary swept Colorado 3-0.

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Toronto has known for some time that Boston would be the opponent. The playoff format forces the Maple Leafs to play tougher teams then they deserve based on regular-season records. If the Maple Leafs survive to win the "Norris," the "Patrick" winner will be the easiest team they've played … for the conference final.

Toronto players would pick Boston as the team to overcome to finally advance to the second round. The rough, often illegal, play of the Bruins and the refs leaving their whistles in the dressing room will prove to be an ugly opponent for Toronto.

Winnipeg was destined all week to be the division winner with home ice in the first 2 rounds. You can argue that the Jets had a 2-month collapse even with 99 points. If the Jets defence is healthy and ready to go, the team could have a deep playoffs run.

Calgary hasn't won a playoff game since 2015. The Flames have lost 8 of the last 9 NHL playoff games. This Calgary team is in a more enviable position since all 8 of those losses were to Anaheim, a team not in the playoffs this season. Colorado will be a tough team but seeded lower than recent Flames playoff opponents. Calgary also has home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Calgary hasn't had home ice advantage in a playoff series since 2006.

The Calgary Flames are dressing for success by bringing back the old 1989 uniforms for home games during the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is the 30th anniversary of Calgary's only Stanley Cup title.

2019 NHL regular season notebook: Bob Cole goes out in a shootout

NHL Network, NBCSN, and ESPN+ games in 2018-2019 season analysis

Bob Cole goes out in style after 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Only a single Canadian team has played for the Stanley Cup in this decade. The Vancouver Canucks made it to Game 7 against Boston in 2011 in perhaps the worst-officiated championship series in any sport.

Montréal had a good shot in 2014 until Carey Price was undercut by Chris Kreider, paving the way for an easy New York Rangers series win. Winnipeg did well before running into a road block in the conference final last spring.

Just getting past the first round, something half the playoff teams do, has been a stretch this decade for Canadian-based teams. The new playoff format really hit home in 2015 when a pair of all-Canadian opening round series meant 2 Canadian teams advanced to the second round.

Canadian NHL teams advancing past 1st round in 2010s
Year	Team	Beat	Lost
2010	Montréal	Washington, Pittsburgh	Philadelphia
2010	Vancouver	Los Angeles	Chicago
2011	Vancouver	Chicago, Nashville, San Jose	Boston
2013	Ottawa	Montréal	Pittsburgh
2014	Montréal	Tampa Bay, Boston	NY Rangers
2015	Montréal	Ottawa	Tampa Bay
2015	Calgary	Vancouver	Anaheim
2017	Ottawa	Boston, NY Rangers	Pittsburgh
2017	Edmonton	San Jose	Anaheim
2018	Winnipeg	Minnesota, Nashville	Las Vegas

 

Here is the U.S. TV schedule for Canadian teams for the first 4 games.

April 10 St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 8p (NHLN)
April 11 Toronto @ Boston, 7p (NBCSN) | Colorado @ Calgary, 10p (NBCSN)
April 12 St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 9:30p (CNBC)
April 13 Toronto @ Boston, 8p (NBC) | Colorado @ Calgary, 10:30p (NBCSN)
April 14 Winnipeg @ St. Louis, 7:30p (CNBC)
April 15 Boston @ Toronto, 7p (NBCSN) | Calgary @ Colorado, 10p (CNBC)
April 16 Winnipeg @ St. Louis, 9:30p (CNBC)
April 17 Boston @ Toronto, 7p (NBCSN) | Calgary @ Colorado, 10p (NBCSN)

Looks like I can’t shake @rayferrarotsn. Starting Thursday, we’re scheduled for 8 games in 9 days for @NHLonNBCSports, on the St Louis/Winnipeg and Colorado/Calgary series. How early will Ray want to get to the airport?

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) April 8, 2019

Game 1 of the Winnipeg series will be from the Rogers Sportsnet feed. The Calgary series seemed destined for the CBC feed but NBCU had other thoughts. NBCU went out of its way to carry the CBC feed for the Flames in 2017 (we didn't complain). The last NBCU crew to cover the Calgary Flames in the playoffs in 2015: the late Dave Strader and Brian Engblom.

Gord Miller and Ray Ferarro will bounce back and forth between the Western Canada matchups. Doc Emrick will work Game 1 of the Toronto series but he will be stuck with Mike Milbury in for Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher. Milbury might know how to behave in a non-biased way with Boston but hasn't proven himself that he can.

Look for Eddie Olczyk to leave the studio to work in Toronto if that crew stays on that series.

The NHL Network may offer Canadian feeds in the matinee rebroadcasts.

NBCSN is carrying both games on April 11 and April 17 while the teams are on different channels on April 13 and April 15. The NHL Network is available both nights to start coverage of a late game. NBCU will also be streaming both games.

There might be conflicts for Game 2 and Game 4 of the Jets series on CNBC. If the earlier game goes to OT, the NHL Network will be the option for the start of the Winnipeg game.

For Canadian viewers, Rogers will pull up a Sportsnet channel to handle the start of late games (Flames) if the Maple Leafs game goes to overtime. That might be Rogers Sportsnet West though there are no regional restrictions in the playoffs. Rogers will also be streaming both games.

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames will run on the CBC. Rogers Sportsnet will have the Winnipeg Jets, though CBC will carry Game 3 of the Jets series.

CBC wants as many nights with a NHL lead-in to The National. You might remember that the Jets were on Sportsnet in the first round last year.

Rogers Sportsnet will run U.S. simsubs on every game the channels will carry outside of the Jets series. Rogers will produce the Pittsburgh-NY Islanders games that appear on the CBC. All games on the CBC have to be produced by Rogers.

Toronto-Boston: Jim Hughson/Craig Simpson/Kyle Bukauskas
Pittsburgh-NY Islanders: John Bartlett/Garry Galley/Christine Simpson
Winnipeg-St. Louis: Dave Randorf/Louie DeBrusk/Scott Oake
Calgary-Colorado: Rick Ball/Cassie Campbell-Pascall/Ryan Leslie

The announcers for the Toronto series are a no-brainer. Bartlett and Galley will follow their series but will cover other Eastern series if that series run short and CBC needs other Eastern games. Rogers is going truly local with the Calgary coverage. The normal West Coast crew will spend some time in the Midwest. Greg Millen gets to sit out the first round.

2019 Alberta election preview

The NHL was very smart to have the Calgary Flames not play on April 16, the day of the Alberta election. CBC viewers in Calgary and Edmonton who want Sidney Crosby and the Penguins might have to stream Game 4 of that series.

April 10 Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders, 7:30p
April 11 Toronto @ Boston, 7p | Colorado @ Calgary, 10p
April 12 Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders, 7:30p
April 13 Toronto @ Boston, 8p | Colorado @ Calgary, 10:30p
April 14 NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh, Noon | Winnipeg @ St. Louis, 7:30p
April 15 Boston @ Toronto, 7p | Calgary @ Colorado, 10p
April 16 NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh, 7:30p
April 17 Boston @ Toronto, 7p | Calgary @ Colorado, 10p

The NBCU family will make good use of Gord Miller, Chris Cuthbert, and Ray Ferraro. The best way to follow the TSN announcers is through their Twitter feeds. If Gord Miller is trapped at O'Hare Airport in Chicago waiting to fly into Minneapolis-St. Paul in a snowstorm, his Twitter feed is more entertaining than ¾ of your cable channels.

As we noted, Miller and Ferarro will split time with Winnipeg and Calgary for Game 1. Chris Cuthbert will be in Nashville for Game 1.

Gord Miller Twitter feed
Chris Cuthbert Twitter feed
Ray Ferraro Twitter feed

The Montréal Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in the 1993 Stanley Cup final to win the Stanley Cup. This is still the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup.

logo credit: NHL
Twitter capture: @GMillerTSN

2019 NHL regular season notebook: Bob Cole goes out in a shootout

Bob Cole went most of his 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada without having to deal with shootouts. His last game ended in a shootout. Who knows how he would have ended the broadcast but Cole ran out of time with the late games starting so soon.

The NHL Network tried to give Cole more time; maybe the Canadian audience got a slightly smoother transition.

Let's not have us remember too much for how it ended but remember almost everything before that happened.

CBC/Rogers did a nice job giving us a box full of Cole on the screen in overtime and the shootout. Kudos to Greg Millen who let Cole finish by himself.

Bob Cole goes out in style after 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada

The Winnipeg Jets did their best/worst to give away the "Norris" title in the last week of the season. I trust Ray Ferraro over his concern for the team.

Winnipeg has never won a division title in its NHL history. The chance to draw a wild card team in the first round and secure home-ice advantage for at least the first 2 rounds is the reward for a division title. The Jets even had the ROW tiebreaker.

Instead of home ice with the wild card Dallas Stars, the Jets have to get past the very-hot St. Louis Blues.

Winnipeg giving up 3-goal lead against NY Islanders on March 28, including a pair of goals in the last 2 minutes. The Jets blew a 2-0 lead against Colorado last week. If Winnipeg had won that game in OT, collapse or not, the Jets would be division champs.

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Montréal has a few chapters worth of why the Canadiens just missed the playoffs. The extended time without Shea Weber. The tough schedule down the stretch. The tough loss in Columbus on March 28. Paul Byron getting into a fight and missing key games. No second goal in Washington Thursday night.

The Habs had a good season and they should be proud. But getting 96 points and no playoffs is a hard drink to swallow.

The Montréal Canadiens is the only team with a positive goal differential to miss the playoffs.

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Ryan Poehling had a marvelous debut in Bob Cole's final game, scoring a hat trick in his first game. Poehling is now the third Habs player in history to accomplish that feat, along with Alex Smart in 1943 and Joe Malone (5 goals) in 1917.

Leon Draisaitl became the first Edmonton Oilers player to score 50 goals since 1986-1987 when Wayne Gretzky (62) and Jari Kurri (54) reached that feat. Yes, the Oilers did win the Stanley Cup that season.

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Mathieu Perreault was called for a penalty for Winnipeg early in the 1st period Saturday night, leading to a power play goal for the opposition. There was a player who fell near Perreault and Perreault didn't touch anyone. Yet the penalty was called. Let's hope those officials do not work the Stanley Cup playoffs. We've seen biased officiating against Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs on numerous occasions. Most of them are not that egregious but some are pretty close.

NHL Network, NBCSN, and ESPN+ games in 2018-2019 season analysis

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NHL Center Ice's primary advantage over NHL.TV is the intermissions content. TSN's Bob McKenzie spoke earlier last week about the idea of the Toronto Maple Leafs bringing up Michael Hutchinson to back up Frederik Andersen. Well, the Maple Leafs did give Garret Sparks a 10-day break. Hutchinson backed up Andersen in Montréal and will serve as the backup in Boston and at least the first 2 games of the playoff series.

As McKenzie noted, Sparks isn't eligible to play for the Toronto Marlies. Sparks will work with the goalie coach during the break.

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The NHL Network took the St. Louis feed late on Saturday afternoon. The shootout wiped out 17 minutes of the Rogers pregame. The U.S. channel did pick up Canadian feeds for both Hockey Night in Canada games. However, the NHL Network couldn't resist taking out the Rogers Sportsnet intermissions in the late game. I do remember the days when carrying a late HNIC game wasn't saved just for the final day of the season.

Rogers clearly doesn't like the Winnipeg Jets assigning Kevin Quinn and Jason York to the desert. Rick Ball and Drew Remenda would have been a nice treat for a crucial game for playoff seeding. Ball is supposed to be the late game play-by-play person next season on Hockey Night in Canada.

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The NHL Center Ice season-ending preview traditionally went to the last game of the season. Given the 3-week opening preview is now 1 week AND there is no midseason preview anymore, losing the last day is very sad. So we hoped to have CBC promos from the late game preview, but we don't.

Thanks to the NHL Network, we do have the early game CBC promos. Unfortunately, we only got 3 promos. This might be a new low, even for Rogers.

Kyle Bukauskas read the Street Legal promo. The Street Legal promo was for the season finale but we found out earlier on Saturday that the revival of the old CBC show is done so that was the series finale.

We realise that getting promos late in the 3rd period would have been problematic. Frontloading CBC promos is better than no promos at all.

Early game: Street Legal; CBC Music (1st); Northern Rescue (2nd); None (3rd)

photo credit: Hockey Night in Canada/CBC/Rogers

NHL the week in preview April 5, 2019

There are 2 days left in the NHL schedule though the Canadian teams are off today.

NHL Network is carrying a Canadian tripleheader to make up for lost time. The channel starts in the late afternoon with Vancouver's final game of the year in St. Louis. The U.S. outlet will carry the CBC feed for Toronto-Montréal. The nightcap on the NHL Network is Winnipeg in Gary Bettman's second-favourite desert team, hopefully with a HNIC feed.

CBC will carry the classic Toronto-Montréal matchup with the final call for Bob Cole on the call in La Belle Province. The Battle of Alberta is the late game on CBC from southern Alberta.

CityTV handles the end of the Ottawa season at home with the team from the Ohio capital.

Rogers Sportsnet 360 and SNW carry the Winnipeg Jets in the desert home of Jets 1.0.

There are no ESPN+ games with Canadian teams on Saturday.

NHL Network

Saturday
Vancouver @ St. Louis, 4p
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10p

Tape delayed
Friday Winnipeg @ Colorado, 2p
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, 3p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 7p
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p

City

Saturday
Columbus @ Ottawa, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Saturday
Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10p

NHL Center Ice free preview

Saturday
Columbus @ Ottawa, 7p
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p

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The Calgary Flames clinched their first division title since 2006 and you have to go back to 1990 for the last time before 2019 that the Flames are conference champions.

The Winnipeg Jets have never won a NHL division title. The Jets are making this more exciting but not in a way Jets fans want.

Bob Cole goes out in style after 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada

As you can see, the NHL Network did add the final Bob Cole telecast. This is the only Toronto-Montréal game the channel covered this year. Those with the NHL Center Ice free preview got to see Cole's last call in Winnipeg. They had a nice tribute to Cole as did we earlier in the week.

You can check out The National interview with Bob Cole within our tribute listed above.

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The 2019 NHL Draft Lottery is being moved up to the day before the Stanley Cup playoffs on Tuesday. NBCSN, Rogers Sportsnet, and TVA Sports will cover the proceedings at 8 pm Eastern. The Ottawa Senators have the worst record in the league so the Sens have a 18.5% chance of drawing the top pick, a pick that will go to the Colorado Avalanche. The worst that Senators pick can fall to is 4th place.

Vancouver and Edmonton have much slimmer chances to move up.

The best team not to make the playoffs have a 1.0% chance of getting the #1 pick.

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We feel quite sad about the loss of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The league announced it was ceasing operations shortly after the Calgary Inferno defeated Les Canadiennes de Montréal to win the Clarkson Cup.

The CWHL had 4 of its 6 teams in Canada (Toronto Furies; Markham Thunder) as well as the Worcester Blades (MA) and Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays (China).

The National Women's Hockey League announced they would add franchises in Montréal and Toronto. The league currently has teams in Boston; Buffalo; Stamford, CT; Newark, NJ; and St. Paul, MN.

The NWHL is very east-dominant so there would be a concern over whether Calgary can keep a team, especially being league champs.

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We have often wondered if people who live in the Detroit area are aware of Canada right across the river in Windsor and the CBC. The Christine Simpson interview with Dan Petry made us wonder if Canada does make an impact in Detroit. Petry, who was a star pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, talked about the impact that Don Cherry and Coach's Corner made on him. Petry's son Jeff became a NHL defenseman with the Montréal Canadiens. In the interview, we get to see how excited Petry is to finally meet Cherry.

CBET/Windsor, good old Channel 9, had something to do with that story.

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Renous, New Brunswick won Kraft Hockeyville 2019. The New Brunswick community beat out Rich Valley, Alberta; Saint-Polycarpe, Quebec; and Wilkie, Saskatchewan. The community or a nearby place will host a NHL exhibition game as well as getting $250,000 in arena renovations. Given the pattern, look for the Montréal Canadiens or the Ottawa Senators or both to be the teams in that battle.

@indemand you should know that @NBCSN has dumped the @NHLFlames telecast on April 3 in Anaheim. Your @NHL #CenterIce service hasn't picked up that game.

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 26, 2019

We did inform InDemand that the Calgary Flames game on Wednesday night had been dropped by NBCSN. InDemand took its sweet time to make the change and add the game. InDemand has blown off a Canadian team or 2 in the final week of a season. ESPN+ also carried the game.

The Winnipeg Jets game Monday night in Chicago was the final ever NHL telecast on good old Channel 9 WGN-TV in Chicago. The local WGN feed has been available in Canada. All of the non-national games will air on NBC Sports Chicago as part of the new deal.

NBCSN spared us the unbearable Washington feed last night. John Walton is the Caps radio play-by-play person but he is pretty good, even with calling the hometown Caps. Joe Micheletti is one of the best U.S. colour analysts.

Chris Cuthbert was in St. Louis Monday night on NBCSN.

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Thanks to the NHL Center Ice free preview, we got CBC promos and a full list as well. The timely promo for the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards telecast was helpful. The Kim's Convenience promo ran right after an ad. The Red Bull Air Race preview and competition coverage started early Sunday morning at 1:30 am Eastern. We don't choose how the CBC uses their promos, but that was a bit of a stretch. With season finales being dominant, you have to be creative.

Early game: Canadian Screen Awards; Street Legal (1st); Kim's Convenience; Men's Rugby Sevens (2nd); Diggstown; Red Bull Air Race (3rd)

Late game: Canadian Screen Awards; Street Legal (1st); Kim's Convenience; Men's Rugby Sevens (2nd); Diggstown; Red Bull Air Race (3rd)

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing

Bob Cole goes out in style after 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada

Oh baby. The 50 years of Bob Cole on Hockey Night in Canada started in radio in 1969. Cole switched to television in 1973 when CBC expanded its coverage. He served as the #1 play-by-play guy from 1980-2008.

Cole was the #2 play-by-play guy at the CBC at the end of its run in 2014. Under Rogers, Cole fell further down in the announcers chain. Rogers shut Cole out for the playoffs in spring 2018. The Rogers wrapup seemed designed to make it exactly 50 years for Cole.

These are the 16 games Bob Cole called this season for Rogers. The original schedule was supposed to end on December 22 but was extended to April 6. All of them are Hockey Night in Canada except where marked.

• October 6 Montréal @ Pittsburgh, 7p+
• October 13 Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p
• October 20 Montréal @ Ottawa, 7p
• October 27 Pittsburgh @ Vancouver, 10p
• November 3 Chicago @ Calgary, 10p
• November 24 Boston @ Montréal, 7p
• December 1 NY Rangers @ Montréal, 7p
• December 9 Calgary @ Edmonton, 9p*
• December 15 Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p
• December 22 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p+
• January 5 Nashville @ Montréal, 7p
• February 6 Ottawa @ Toronto, 7:30p**
• March 9 Ottawa @ Boston, 7p
• March 16 Chicago @ Montréal, 7p
• March 30 Montréal @ Winnipeg, 7p
• April 6 Toronto @ Montréal, 7p+
• — Hometown Hockey; ** -- Wednesday Night Hockey; + — NHL Network

As we noted in the past, Cole served for a time as the news anchor for CBC in St. John's and would cover the NHL on the weekends. Republic of Doyle fans know Cole served as the voice of the republic on the St. John's-based CBC show.

Cole was the skipper for Newfoundland and Labrador to the curling Brier in 1971 and 1975. Cole was also a airplane pilot.

Given all that he has done and has lasted so long, we're not sure what Bob Cole does in retirement. Rogers would be gracious to let Cole contribute to special events such as Hockey Day in Canada — similar to how they use Dick Irvin Jr. — or on Hometown Hockey if they are in Newfoundland.

Cole could also work on a future Allan Hawco TV series shot on The Rock.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Cole might enjoy not having to spend time in airports. He will likely keep watching hockey and missing the broadcast booth.

Oh baby indeed.

videos credit: CBC News; This Hour Has 22 Minutes
photo credit: CBC News

NHL the week in preview March 29, 2019

NBCSN did cancel the telecast of the Calgary Flames in Orange County on Wednesday night, but did add the Habs in the U.S. capital Thursday night. Hopefully, that will not include the horrible Washington announcers.

CBC showcases the Battle of Ontario from Ottawa. The late Saturday game has Vancouver hosting Dallas.

Citytv goes all-Canadian with the Habs in Winnipeg.

Rogers Sportsnet jumps in with a late Saturday game as Edmonton tries to hold off Anaheim at home. Hometown Hockey will be in Saskatoon, SK with Calgary knowing the way to San Jose. Ottawa travels to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Rogers Sportsnet One will not be fooled on Monday as Edmonton has to wear sunglasses in the bright lights in the desert.

The NHL Center Ice free preview should be in progress.

Those in the Washington and Tampa Bay markets should get Bob Cole calling the Montréal Canadiens in Winnipeg on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.

NBCSN

Thursday
Montréal @ Washington, 7p

NHL Network

Tape delayed
Friday NY Islanders @ Winnipeg, 2p
Monday Calgary @ San Jose, 2p (90-min)
Tuesday Toronto @ NY Islanders, 2p (2-hour)
Wednesday Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 1p
Tampa Bay @ Montréal, 2p

ESPN+

Sunday
Calgary @ San Jose, 8p
Monday
Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7p
Winnipeg @ Chicago, 8:30p
Tuesday
Carolina @ Toronto, 7:30p
Tampa Bay @ Montréal, 7:30p
Wednesday
Calgary @ Anaheim, 10:30p
Thursday
Winnipeg @ Colorado, 9p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p
Dallas @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Montréal @ Winnipeg, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Anaheim @ Edmonton, 10p
Sunday
Calgary @ San Jose, 8p
Wednesday
Ottawa @ NY Rangers, 7:30p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Monday
Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p

NHL Center Ice free preview

Friday
Anaheim @ Calgary, 9p
Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p
Montréal @ Winnipeg, 7p
Dallas @ Vancouver, 10p
Anaheim @ Edmonton, 10p
Sunday
Calgary @ San Jose, 8p
Monday
Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7p
Tampa Bay @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Winnipeg @ Chicago, 8:30p
Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p
Calgary @ Los Angeles, 10p
Tuesday
Carolina @ Toronto, 7:30p
Tampa Bay @ Montréal, 7:30p
Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 8p
Edmonton @ Colorado, 9p
San Jose @ Vancouver, 10p
Wednesday
Ottawa @ NY Rangers, 7:30p
Calgary @ Anaheim, 10:30p
Thursday
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, 7p
Ottawa @ Buffalo, 7p
Vancouver @ Nashville, 8p
Winnipeg @ Colorado, 9p
San Jose @ Edmonton, 9p

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ESPN+ did well to carry the Nashville-Winnipeg game Saturday night but also to pick up the Hockey Night in Canada feed. Rogers went with John Shorthouse and Garry Galley. Rogers likely won't produce more than 5 series, if that, even if 4 Canadian teams make the playoffs. Shorthouse would be on the shortlist to expand beyond the primary four.

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The fact that the Calgary game in Anaheim got taken off the NBCSN schedule isn't a huge deal. The game only seemed to be on there to get Anaheim on U.S. television. The only obvious concern is that the U.S. channels will cover the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup playoffs with only a single early-season telecast for the team.

When Calgary was last in the playoffs in 2017, NBCU picked up the CBC feed for the whole series.

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The NHL Global Series was filled with Canadian teams last fall, but the series will be free of Canadian teams next season. Winnipeg did okay but Edmonton struggled with its trip.

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Chris Cuthbert worked Monday night in St. Paul on NBCSN while Gord Miller called the game in Denver Wednesday night for the same channel.

The NHL Network picked up the Columbus feed for the Habs game last night.

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This was the last of the CBC promos on the NHL Network for the regular season. Unfortunately, the final one only had 5 promos.

CBC used 4 of the 5 aired promos for shows instead of sports, a higher ratio than we've seen lately.

The long 3rd period promo for Diggstown aired right after a spot.

The final 2 weekends should be covered by the NHL Center Ice free preview. We will provide all that we can get depending on how well the preview works.

Early game: Mixed Doubles Curling (1st); Street Legal; Kim's Convenience; Schitt's Creek (2nd); Diggstown (3rd)

NHL the week in preview March 22, 2019

The NHL Network jumps back to the CBC feed with Hockey Night in Canada from Toronto. The channel picks up a surprise Montréal game on Thursday night in the Ohio capital on what should be the start of the NHL Center Ice free preview.

CBC goes Original 6 with the New York Rangers in Toronto in the early game. Calgary goes west to Vancouver in the nightcap.

Citytv goes to Montréal on a Saturday night with Buffalo in town.

Rogers Sportsnet has Hometown Hockey festivities are in Enoch Cree Nation, AB with the Habs in the U.S. south but not too far south. The Maple Leafs are in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

Rogers Sportsnet One is helpful on Wednesday with the Calgary Flames welcoming Dallas.

Rogers Sportsnet 360 as well as SNW and SNP embrace P.K. Subban and his friends traveling to Winnipeg on Saturday night.

The NHL Center Ice free preview should start on Thursday.

NHL Network

Saturday
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p
Thursday
Montréal @ Columbus, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Winnipeg @ Las Vegas, 3p
Thursday Dallas @ Calgary, 2p (2-hour)

ESPN+

Saturday
Nashville @ Winnipeg, 7p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p
Sunday
Montréal @ Carolina, 7p
Columbus @ Vancouver, 10p
Tuesday
Florida @ Montréal, 7:30p
Thursday
NY Islanders @ Winnipeg, 8p

CBC

Saturday
NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Buffalo @ Montréal, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Sunday
Montréal @ Carolina, 7p
Wednesday
Toronto @ Philadelphia, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Dallas @ Calgary, 9:30p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Saturday
Nashville @ Winnipeg, 7p

NHL Center Ice free preview

Thursday
Florida @ Ottawa, 7:30p
NY Islanders @ Winnipeg, 8p
Dallas @ Edmonton, 9p
Los Angeles @ Vancouver, 10p

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The NHL Network didn't think much of Calgary-Winnipeg but Rogers was smart enough to put its top team on the game. Fortunately for U.S. viewers, ESPN+ carried that Hockey Night in Canada game.

Rogers whined for some time that viewers didn't know where games were. They put their #1 team on a game only on Sportsnet West and Pacific, a striking move for Rogers.

Another nice move was Cassie Campbell-Pascall working colour with Bob Cole in Montréal. Rogers had a good roundtable on women in hockey. Campbell-Pascall had strong words over the need to nurture potential hockey analysts regardless of gender.

In watching Kendall Coyne Schofield in Edmonton on NBCSN, I was reminded of those early games Campbell-Pascall called on CBC, mostly with Mark Lee. She is the fill-in for Kelly Hurdey on Calgary Flames telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet West. I thought she was good from the start but she had greatly improved.

Coyne Schofield had moments of sharp analysis mixed with awkward moments and a few too many "awesome" mentions. To Campbell-Pascall's point, you have to give analysts time and experience to develop.

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The 2019 Heritage Classic is still on for October 26 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The press conference gave us the news that the home team has flipped from Calgary to Winnipeg.

Tickets will go on sale on April 25. A pre-sale priority will be given to Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames season-ticket holders.

The Toronto-Nashville matinee rebroadcast got dumped for a press conference for the 2020 Winter Classic on Wednesday.

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The Hometown Hockey game will also air on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network with the audio in the Plains Cree language. The Hometown Hockey crew and festivities are in Enoch Cree Nation near Edmonton in Alberta.

Montréal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price's mother is the former chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation.

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The first half of the Rogers pregame was lost to the U.S. audience for a Charlottetown-Halifax Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game. The missing content looked to be previews of the primary games i.e., not the one in Montréal.

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The Calgary-Winnipeg telecast made good use of Rush's Limelight. There are 3 possible connections: the "lime" in Limelight ties in the green of St. Patrick's Day; Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets in the limelight of the NHL; or the Junos that were held the next day in London, ON.

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The Simpsons had a bit of fun with Canada and the Calgary Flames in last week's E My Sports episode. Bart is the leader of the Evergreen Terrors video game team that gets past its first opponent to play the Calgary Lames in the North American final. In a valiant comeback, the Terrors get past the Lames.

When the Lames think they are going to win, they take maple syrup and try to throw it on the coach. The maple syrup is so thick that it never reaches the coach. The other major Canadian joke is that the officials tell the Canadian team they are out. They don't know they are out until the official says "oot."

The Simpsons airs on Global in Canada via Fox in the United States.

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We have noted in the past that Boston's Zdeno Chara leads a charmed life with referees and the league. Chara lifted the stick of Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele to the rafters in a game last week. A penalty would have been called on most NHL players, but not Chara, of course.

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NBCSN has a "Star Sunday" to market NHL players. Mark Stone was opposite Connor McDavid. Liam McHugh said about Mark Stone "not exactly a household name here." This exposes the hypocrisy of NBCSN not carrying Ottawa and Vancouver. If Elias Pettersson wins the Calder Memorial Trophy, NBCSN still won't know who he is.

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NHL Network went with the Chicago feed for the Vancouver game. 2 of the 3 U.S. telecasts for Vancouver have been against Chicago.

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NBCSN gave us the uninspired choice of Los Angeles play-by-play guy Alex Faust and the cluelessness of Brian Boucher for the Winnipeg game in Orange County Wednesday night. Kendall Coyne Schofield isn't as consistent as Boucher but at times, she is a better analyst.

Gord Miller will work Sunday night on NBCSN in Chicago.

NHL the week in preview March 15, 2019

NBCSN carries the Edmonton Oilers visiting the bright desert lights on Sunday night. The channel also has fun with the Winnipeg Jets in Anaheim in the late game on Wednesday night.

The NHL Network shows the Vancouver Canucks for the first time since November 2 as they travel to Chicago Monday night.

CBC starts out Saturday night with the Battle of Ontario in the nation's capital. Edmonton visits the lesser of Gary Bettman's desert children in the nightcap.

Citytv gets Bob Cole with the Hawks in La Belle Province on Saturday.

Rogers Sportsnet enjoys an all-Canadian matchup with the high-flying Calgary Flames in Winnipeg on SNW and SNP. Hometown Hockey from Lethbridge, AB has Vancouver in the Lone Star State. The regional channels jump in on Vancouver's trip to the Windy City on Monday. Wednesday Night Hockey involves the shortest Maple Leafs road trip to Buffalo.

Rogers Sportsnet One is all-Edmonton all the time following the Oilers to St. Louis on Tuesday and hosting Columbus on Thursday.

Those in the Washington and Tampa Bay markets should get Bob Cole and the Citytv feed from Montréal on Saturday night.

NBCSN

Sunday
Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p
Wednesday
Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10p

NHL Network

Monday
Vancouver @ Chicago, 8:30p

Tape delayed
Monday Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 1p
Tuesday Winnipeg @ Los Angeles, 1p
Wednesday Toronto @ Nashville, 3p
Thursday Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 1p

ESPN+

Friday
NY Rangers @ Calgary, 9p
Saturday
Calgary @ Winnipeg, 7p
Tuesday
Toronto @ Nashville, 8p
Columbus @ Calgary, 9p
Thursday
Winnipeg @ Las Vegas, 10p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p
Edmonton @ Arizona, 10p

City

Saturday
Chicago @ Montréal, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Calgary @ Winnipeg, 7p (SNW, SNP)
Sunday
Vancouver @ Dallas, 7p
Monday
Vancouver @ Chicago, 8:30p
Wednesday
Toronto @ Buffalo, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Tuesday
Edmonton @ St. Louis, 8p
Wednesday
Columbus @ Edmonton, 9p

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How much history did U.S. television give to Canadian teams last week. This was the first time since we've kept records (late 2010) that:

• a Hockey Night in Canada game was shown from Alberta
• 2 games from Alberta in the same week
• 2 games from Canada shown in the same day on NBCSN

The NHL Network has been reluctant to show teams from Alberta and far more so when those games are in Alberta. The home/road numbers are ridiculously embarrassing. NBCSN has embraced Edmonton, mostly on the road. The channel has only shown 1 regular season game from Calgary and that was last October (The 2011 Heritage Classic was on Versus and was a required telecast).

The attention to Alberta isn't even on the team currently in a playoff spot in the division. So yes, Connor McDavid is the first, second, and third star, er, reason.

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NBCSN brought in a top team for the big game in Toronto. Doc Emrick rarely gets to Canada, though he was in Winnipeg in October. Jeremy Roenick rarely does game analysis; like Eddie Olczyk, he has Chicago ties. Pierre McGuire was at TSN headquarters for the trade deadline coverage late last month.

The channel was really nice for the late game in Edmonton giving us the TSN duo of Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro along with Kendall Coyne Schofield.

We even got a O Canada from Edmonton, a highly rare moment on NBCSN in the regular season.

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Bob Cole got his first game in over a month after going more than a month before the previous game. This was the first of Cole's final 4 games.

You got as much attention as the Ottawa Senators did on the Rogers pregame. Yes, the Sens are out of it on so many levels, including being eliminated from postseason contention this week, but Rogers should find a way to update viewers.

The NHL Network went out of their way to remove Bob Cole from the highlights. The channel uses airs audio and video of the team scoring the goal, but took Cole out of all but a single audio clip. The channel is steering its coverage away from Bob Cole games to the finish, though the April 6 game might be on the channel.

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Gord Miller worked Tuesday night in Pittsburgh for NBCSN.

Chris Cuthbert will work with Shane Hnidy in the desert Sunday night for the Oilers game on NBCSN. Hnidy was the colour analyst for the Winnipeg Jets on TSN3 before jumping to Las Vegas. Given the possibilities, this is a good combo, especially with some of the crews calling Edmonton games on the channel earlier this season.

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We got a healthy dose of CBC promos with a Hockey Night in Canada game and 2 rare Sunday matinees on the NHL Network.

The Junos will air this Sunday with host Sarah McLachlan. The short track promo aired just before the 2nd period with Gene Principe reading the copy. We pointed out last week how the promos were supposed to be within game action.

The Street Legal promo after an in-game ad, another violation. The telecast ran back-to-back mentions with 2:01 left in the 3rd period.

The late game might not have had all 6 promos, unless John Shorthouse went out of order. The Schitt's Creek promo aired but not Diggstown afterward.

The Schitt's Creek promo serves as a helpful promo since the program also airs on Pop TV.

Early game: 2019 Junos (1st); Short Track; Street Legal (2nd); Bobsleigh; Schitt's Creek; Diggstown (3rd)

Vancouver matinee: 2019 Junos; Short Track (1st); Schitt's Creek (3rd)

Toronto-Edmonton matinee: Schitt's Creek; Diggstown (3rd)

NHL the week in preview March 8, 2019

NBCSN has a pure Canadian doubleheader for Wednesday Night Hockey. Chicago makes its only visit to Toronto in the early game (the coverage includes your humble narrator) and a rare Edmonton home game on U.S. TV with New Jersey in town.

The NHL Network recognizes that Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid is worth picking up the CBC feed for Hockey Night in Canada.

CBC has Toronto in Edmonton for a local 5 pm start. The newest desert team goes north to Vancouver in the nightcap.

Citytv follows the Ottawa Senators to Boston on Saturday night.

Rogers Sportsnet has Hometown Hockey from Steinbach, MB with the local Winnipeg Jets against Alex Ovechkin in the U.S. capital. Wednesday Night Hockey is the aforementioned game in Toronto.

Rogers Sportsnet One helps out with a game Sunday night as that new desert team travels to Calgary. The channel will also have the Wednesday late game in Edmonton that will be shown in the U.S.

NBCSN

Wednesday
Chicago @ Toronto, 7p
New Jersey @ Edmonton, 9:30p

NHL Network

Saturday
Toronto @ Edmonton, 7p

Tape delayed
Saturday Winnipeg @ Carolina, 2p
Sunday Las Vegas @ Vancouver, Noon
Toronto @ Edmonton, 3p
Tuesday NY Rangers @ Edmonton, 1p
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, 2p (2-hour)
Wednesday San Jose @ Winnipeg, 1p
Thursday Chicago @ Toronto, 9a (2-hour), 2p (2-hour)
New Jersey @ Edmonton, 1p

ESPN+

Friday
Montréal @ Anaheim, 10p
Saturday
Las Vegas @ Vancouver, 10p
Sunday
Winnipeg @ Washington, 7p
Monday
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, 7p
NY Rangers @ Edmonton, 9p
Tuesday
San Jose @ Winnipeg, 8p
Wednesday
NY Rangers @ Vancouver, 10p
Thursday
Boston @ Winnipeg, 8p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Edmonton, 7p
Las Vegas @ Vancouver, 10p

City

Saturday
Ottawa @ Boston, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Sunday
Winnipeg @ Washington, 7p
Wednesday
Chicago @ Toronto, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Sunday
Las Vegas @ Calgary, 9:30p
Wednesday
New Jersey @ Edmonton, 9:30p

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Trade your 3 best scorers, then fire the coach. Guy Boucher was a godsend to the Ottawa Senators when he first arrived. Boucher had a good track record, made the Senators a top defensive unit, and nearly led them to the Stanley Cup final.

The Senators have enough self-inflicted wounds to jump on that bandwagon, but the timing of the decision looks horrible on top of the trades and the self-inflicted screwup that has been trying to get a downtown arena.

Former After Hours co-host Marc Crawford will do a fine job as the interim coach. I feel sorry for Anthony Duclair. This is a young man with a lot of talent but has had a few problems. Boucher was really good about Duclair to "put the counter back at zero." Duclair will be on his 3rd Ottawa coach in the fall if Crawford isn't hired.

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The Rogers pregame aired on time in the U.S. The NHL Network had a late Saturday afternoon game and has another one tomorrow.

Kelly Hrudey helped out Scott Oake in Calgary for the Jarome Iginla retirement ceremony. Brian Burke substituted for Hrudey. Now we need to get Nick Kypreos out of the studio every week and get Brian Burke on the set.

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We talk about the rarity of Hockey Night in Canada feeds in the second half of the season. With a bit of juggling, you could have seen 3 HNIC games on U.S. soil this past weekend. The NHL Network had the Maple Leafs, NHL.tv carried the Habs game, and ESPN+ actually carried the HNIC feed for the game in Calgary.

NHL.tv is great if you don't care about the ads or intermissions. They offer some free games, such as the Canadiens last Saturday. The cool part is you pick the feed so you could pick TSN5 if Edmonton plays Ottawa and even select the French language feed if you comprend Francaise.

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NHL Network used the Buffalo feed for the Oilers game Monday night. The Sabres feed is one of the best U.S. feeds. Detroit and Buffalo might be the best. Dallas had a good one when Dave Strader was still alive.

Chris Cuthbert worked for NBCSN in Orange County late on Wednesday night.

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We did get 6 CBC promos but the timing of them left a lot to be desired.

The letter and the spirit of the CBC promos is during the period. We occasionally see a promo before a period. Saturday's game had 3 promos before a period. There were 0 promos in the initial period. Jim Hughson finally gave us a promo before the 2nd period. Kyle Bukauskas ran off back-to-back promos to start the 3rd period. Back-to-back promos are also a violation of the letter and the spirit of the CBC promos.

Early game: none (1st); Murdoch Mysteries; Street Legal (2nd); Speed Skating; Diggstown; Dragons' Den; Rugby

NHL the week in preview March 1, 2019

The NHL Network remembers that there are CBC feeds on Hockey Night in Canada with its first CBC feed in almost 2 months. The U.S. channel will also follow Edmonton to western New York against the Sabres.

CBC gets the Buffalo-Toronto rivalry from Canada in the early game on Saturday. The network goes Wild in Calgary in the late game.

Citytv gets warm with Ottawa in western Florida.

Rogers Sportsnet enjoys Sidney Crosby in his favourite road trip to Montréal early on Saturday. Hometown Hockey from Winkler, MB features the nearby Winnipeg Jets in the Ohio capital. Wednesday Night Hockey has the Maple Leafs in Vancouver in a relatively decent time slot of a 6 pm local start.

Rogers Sportsnet One tracks the Edmonton Oilers to Buffalo on Monday and helps out late on Wednesday with Calgary in the bright desert lights.

Rogers Sportsnet West will have the Jarome Iginla number retirement ceremony prior to Saturday night's game. The NHL Network will run that footage Sunday afternoon at 3 pm Eastern.

NHL Network

Saturday
Buffalo @ Toronto, 7p
Monday
Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7p

Tape delayed
Friday Edmonton @ Ottawa, 2p
Tuesday Toronto @ Calgary, 9a (2-hour), 2p (2-hour)
Edmonton @ Buffalo, 1p
Wednesday Winnipeg @ Tampa Bay, 3p

ESPN+

Friday
Nashville @ Winnipeg, 8p
Saturday
Minnesota @ Calgary, 10p
Sunday
Vancouver @ Las Vegas, 4p
Monday
Toronto @ Calgary, 9p
Tuesday
Winnipeg @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p
Wednesday
Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p
Thursday
Montréal @ San Jose, 10:30p

CBC

Saturday
Buffalo @ Toronto, 7p
Minnesota @ Calgary, 10p

City

Saturday
Ottawa @ Tampa Bay, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p
Sunday
Winnipeg @ Columbus, 7p
Wednesday
Toronto @ Vancouver, 9p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Monday
Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7p
Wednesday
Calgary @ Las Vegas, 10:30p

hi @NHLNetwork. The @NHL schedule page says @NHL_Sens are on your channel tonight. Can you confirm? Merci. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/Aj8BQnk36z

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) February 22, 2019

The NHL Network never responded but the channel did switch to carry the TSN5 feed with Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro. TSN moved Ferraro to cover the game for the obvious reason: the Senators traded Matt Duchene while Columbus was in Ottawa.

When Duchene was traded from Colorado to Ottawa, his first game was against the Colorado Avalanche.

Duchene played well for Ottawa but his arrival came at a bad time for the franchise. The deal may cost Ottawa the #1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. The Sens get a 2019 1st round draft pick (lottery protected) from Columbus and a 2020 1st-round pick if Duchene stays with Columbus, which isn't likely.

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Those with ESPN+ were able to watch the TSN coverage of Monday's trade deadline. ESPN2 carried the TSN coverage during the crucial time of 1 hour before to 30 minutes after the trade deadline.

The NHL Network cut off the Rogers Sportsnet coverage at that time of 2 pm Eastern for its own coverage. The channel wasn't breaking trades so ESPN2 was the better choice.

The NHL Network couldn't use the TSN people (Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie) that NBCSN uses since they were at their day job. Even Pierre McGuire was in Toronto at the TSN desk.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

We know the NHL Network has been cutting back on its matinee rebroadcasts this season. Going with only 2 games in 2 weeks with Canadian-based teams is starvation. If human beings actually responded to the NHL Network Twitter feed, we could find out why these decisions are being made. As we saw from the Ottawa last-minute switch, there appears to be no human interaction from the channel.

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For Canadians who have relied on the WGN signal to get a few more NHL games, you should know that this will be the last season the Hawks will be on WGN. The new deal with NBC Sports Chicago keeps the games exclusively on cable starting in the fall.

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After TSN TradeCentre and covering the Maple Leafs Monday night in Toronto, Gord Miller worked for NBCSN in Philadelphia Tuesday night.

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We haven't had CBC promos on U.S. television in almost 2 months. We got a CBC feed with ESPN+ last Saturday. The service has shown quite a few HNIC games but not with the HNIC feed. An all-Canadian feed forces the hands of ESPN+.

So hopefully you will indulge a round of CBC promos even if they didn't appear on the NHL Network. There were 6 promos, 2 devoted to sports events the following day.

Cavendish and Burden of Truth were just wrapping up their runs while Street Legal and Diggstown are just beginning their runs.

Early game: ISU World Sprint Speed Skating; Cavendish (1st); Men's skeleton; Burden of Truth; Street Legal (2nd); Diggstown (3rd)

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing

NHL the week in preview February 22, 2019

Editor's note: The NHL Network did a very last-minute switch to add the Ottawa Senators home game against Columbus on Friday. The Matt Duchene trade is the primary reason.

The U.S. outdoor game means the NHL Network has to sit out another Saturday night. The channel will also blow off the Rogers pregame.

CBC gets to carry the Montréal-Toronto matchup from Canada's largest city. Citytv and ESPN+ will show the CBC feed. The late game features Edmonton hosting Anaheim.

Rogers Sportsnet carries a late Saturday game with Vancouver hosting the team hanging out part-time in Brooklyn. Hometown Hockey will be in Okotoks, AB with the hometown Flames in Ottawa. Wednesday Night Hockey has Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews in Toronto.

Rogers Sportsnet One has a Wednesday game with Calgary in New Jersey.

Rogers Sportsnet 360 has a late Wednesday game with the Vancouver Canucks way up in Denver.

The NHL Network will simulcast Rogers coverage of the trade deadline coverage on Monday starting at 8 am Eastern. Despite the 3 pm Eastern deadline, the NHL Network will run its own coverage starting at 2 pm Eastern. We think TSN coverage is better than Rogers coverage but both are way better than what the NHL Network can do.

NHL Network

Friday
Columbus @ Ottawa, 7p

Tape delayed
Tuesday Buffalo @ Toronto, 1p

ESPN+

Friday
Winnipeg @ Las Vegas, 10p
Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
Monday
Edmonton @ Nashville, 8p
Thursday
Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7p

CBC

Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p
Anaheim @ Edmonton, 10p

Citytv

Saturday
Montréal @ Toronto, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet

Saturday
NY Islanders @ Vancouver, 10p
Sunday
Calgary @ Ottawa, 7p
Wednesday
Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet One

Wednesday
Calgary @ New Jersey, 7p

Rogers Sportsnet 360

Wednesday
Vancouver @ Colorado, 9:30p

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The NHL Network showed its second Hockey Night in Canada game in 2019 but the coverage had so much love for Tampa Bay. The Canadian crews do have an eye out for Canadian teams but the love Dave Randorf and Garry Galley had for the Florida-based team was gushing.

I will never live long enough to have a game involving a Canadian-based team that would get that much love for U.S. national announcers.

The winter months means sometimes Ron MacLean stays on the site of Hometown Hockey. Having MacLean and Don Cherry at CFB Esquimalt, BC, just west of downtown Victoria on Vancouver Island, looked like a scheduled move. Was fun to have a sunset behind Don and Ron for Coach's Corner.

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Rick Ball is essentially the long-term replacement for Bob Cole. Rogers had 5 HNIC games last weekend and none of them had Ball on the call. 6 of the 7 Canadian teams were in prime time, but the Flames were in Pittsburgh in the afternoon.

Dave Randorf moved east for the weekend. The Edmonton crew (with Drew Remenda) covered the game in Brooklyn and John Shorthouse handled Vancouver in San Jose.

Rogers needs to decide if Ball will be a truly national announcer next season or if local announcers will cover in situations such as this past weekend.

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Chris Cuthbert worked the Maple Leafs game Tuesday night with Pierre McGuire in St. Louis. Cuthbert will also cover Sunday night in St. Paul. The Leafs game was on Sportsnet Ontario so the TSN people were eligible.