John Garrett has been the stable force on Vancouver Canucks telecasts for a very long time. His retirement leaves a gigantic hole on the Canucks TV broadcast crew.
Garrett will do select broadcasts next season but otherwise will enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Maybe golf with former partner Jim Hughson.
Garrett knew the nuance of local versus Hockey Night in Canada telecasts in ways that Louie DeBrusk will never get.
The primary colour Canucks TV analyst is a great position for those who want to make a move. John Shorthouse is a generous play by play person. Shorthouse and Garrett is shorthand for excellent hockey broadcasting.
A few names in my head for a replacement:
Jennifer Botterill. Good chemistry with studio work for Rogers Sportsnet and gets to call a few games for TNT. Could see where this doesn't fit into her plans but an intriguing choice.
Patrick Sharp. Canadian NHL player who has done studio analysis for NBCSN and occasional analysis on Chicago TV games for NBC Sports Chicago. Does Sharp want to do that many games for any team?
Drew Remenda. Canadian NHL player back working San Jose games. He had worked Edmonton games for awhile and has Hockey Night in Canada experience.
Corey Hirsch. Did Vancouver Canucks radio analysis and then left before this season. Has filled in for Garrett in the past on Canucks TV. Would Hirsch want to come back for this?
Jamal Mayers. Has been an occasional analyst on Hockey Night in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet. Might be a bit inexperienced for the Canucks job but should be in the mix.
Cheryl Pounder. Done studio work for TSN. Don't know how much colour analysis she has done.
Anson Carter. He is more of a studio person for TNT and Sportsnet. Carter has a sharp mind that would do well with colour analysis. This won't happen but a name worth mentioning.
Shane Hnidy. Not saying he would leave Las Vegas and occasional TNT work for the Vancouver Canucks job. He did Winnipeg Jets games so he isn't afraid of Canada.
Kevin Bieska. He is perfect on the surface. Well-known former Canucks player. Experience with analysis on Sportsnet, though not game analysis. He can be a bit irritating in the studio. A chance to reinvent himself in the Canucks booth could work out well.
Cammi Granato. So having an assistant general manager also serving as a colour analyst would be highly unusual. Granato certainly knows the players. Would also be amusing if ESPN then sent Ray Ferraro (Granato's husband) to cover a Vancouver Canucks game. That is not likely to happen because ESPN+ has only carried a single Vancouver game in the last 2 years (Seattle Kraken initial home opener) and may never cover a game in Vancouver. Ferraro cut back on Toronto Maple Leafs games on TSN4 this season for a lighter schedule.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Greg Millen, and Daryl "Razor" Reaugh have career paths that likely don't include a job with the Canucks.
The Winnipeg Jets did a really healthy search to replace Dennis Beyak, not an easy job. Dan Robertson was an excellent choice to call the Jets games on TSN3. Colour analysis is a different skill set.
If we missed someone, especially with BC or Vancouver roots, let us know in the comments section or tweet us @canadian_xing.
TNT reunites Rick Tocchet and the studio crew with a trip to Vancouver (8) as the Canucks host Anaheim. Tocchet left the panel to be the Vancouver coach. The U.S. channel has the reigning Stanley Cup champs in Toronto (15). One of Gary Bettman's favourite desert teams (the one with 5,000 home seats) travels to Edmonton where the crowd will be about 4x the size (22).
ESPN takes the month of March off from Canadian teams. Cowards.
NHL Network starts out March with rare (for them) coverage of Toronto in Vancouver on Hockey Night in Canada (4). The U.S. channel also throws in an all-Canadian matchup (that isn't Toronto-Montréal) with Connor McDavid in Toronto on Hockey Night in Canada (11).
The other 3 telecasts for the month involve the Habs hosting Colorado (13) and a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs games, hosting Carolina (17) and in Nashville (26).
The NHL Network isn't carrying Hockey Night in Canada games on the last 2 weekends of the month since ABC is invading the Saturday night space. Given the "growth" that only exists in Gary Bettman's mind, the U.S. channel is not allowed to carry a second national game at the same time. The ABC telecasts in Canada (via cable or satellite) cut into the audience for Sportsnet and CBC for the Saturday night games.
While ESPN blows off Canada for March, ESPN+/Hulu loves Connor McDavid, just not in Edmonton. The channel features Oilers road games in Buffalo (6), which was a late addition, Boston (9), and Las Vegas (28). Rogers Arena is a nice place. They are invited to come north of the border.
The other game in March is the John Tavares bowl from Long Island (21).
Rogers Sportsnet has been better about this in the 2022-2023 season but is pulling an exclusive on the Toronto at Vancouver game (4) to promote SN Now subscriptions. This is also a loss for NHL fans in Buffalo and western Washington who can't watch the game via CBC on cable. CBC viewers will get Edmonton at Winnipeg that night.
The NHL trade deadline is March 3. We have more on the coverage later in this story.
TNT
March 8 Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p March 15 Colorado @ Toronto, 7p March 22 Arizona @ Edmonton, 10:30p
NHL Network
March 4 Toronto @ Vancouver, 7p (HNIC) March 11 Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC) March 13 Colorado @ Montréal, 7:30p March 17 Carolina @ Toronto, 7p March 26 Toronto @ Nashville, 6p
ESPN+/Hulu
March 6 Edmonton @ Buffalo, 7:30p March 9 Edmonton @ Boston, 7:30p March 21 Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7:30p March 28 Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid hit the 50 goals mark for the first time in his career, only taking 61 games to accomplish the feat. Rooting on some level for an Edmonton-Toronto Stanley Cup final and have lots of scoring.
We generally ignore the NHL All-Star Game due to the inconsistency of the event and the oddity of some of the events within the weekend. A chance to take a break from thinking about hockey.
We also generally ignore this time because of the lack of interest in Canada. For only the 4th time in the 2000s, the NHL All-Star Game will be on Canadian soil. The 2024 NHL All-Star Game will be at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on February 2-3, 2024.
Ottawa, well Kanata, is the last Canadian city to host the All-Star Game back in 2012. This has been the only appearance in the Ottawa region.
Montréal has hosted 12 All-Star games, only 3 since 1970: 1975, 1993, and 2009. The latter is the only time at the Bell Centre.
This will be the 9th All-Star game for Toronto, only the second since 1970. Toronto hosted the 2000 All-Star Game at the then Air Canada Centre.
Vancouver has hosted 2 All-Star games: 1977 at the old Pacific Coliseum and 1998 in what was then General Motors Place. The NHL All-Star Game has only been on Alberta soil twice: 1985 at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary and 1989 at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
For those counting at home, Gary Bettman has been the NHL commissioner for 4 NHL All-Star games on Canadian soil with the fifth coming in 2024.
Winnipeg and Quebec City never hosted a NHL All-Star game.
The 2023 trade deadline coverage starts on Friday. Let's start in Canada.
TSN
TradeCentre, the consensus best NHL trade coverage, starts at the earliest time at 8 am (All times Eastern Standard). Coverage starts at 8 am on TSN1, TSN4, and TSN5. TSN3 joins the coverage in progress around noon.
Rogers Sportsnet
Hockey Central Trade Deadline, while the second best in Canada, is still better than anything in the United States. Sportsnet's coverage starts at 10 am.
NHL Network
After years of aligning with TSN, the U.S. network jumped to the Sportsnet coverage. The U.S. channel carries the Sportsnet coverage until 2 pm. At 2 pm, an hour before the deadline, the NHL Network switches over to its own coverage with NHL Tonight: 2023 Trade Deadline Day.
ESPN family
TradeCentre from TSN runs on ESPN+ starting at 8 am. That is the good news for U.S. readers. The bad news is that The Point from ESPN runs its own trade coverage starting at 2 pm on ESPN2.
Analysis
The idea is that U.S. fans lose the best coverage at the most important time of the trade deadline. The Canadian outlets are faster at picking up trades with less filler. If you are stuck below the 49th parallel, we suggest TradeCentre on ESPN+ and switching to the NHL Network coverage at 2 pm.
TSN has an advantage over Sportsnet. The NHL Network coverage is decidedly better than ESPN's in-house results, based off last year.
Trades of note
Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari going from St. Louis to Toronto is significant, provided lightning can strike twice in O'Reilly's case. Veteran leadership from player who have crashed through the first-round blunders: let's hope that helps.
The Montréal Canadiens rolled a huge gamble in acquiring Shea Weber for a younger and less injury prone P.K. Subban. The Habs even got Evgenii Dadonov for Weber's contract for the unofficially retired Canadiens defenceman in 2022.
Weber's contract went from Las Vegas to Arizona about a week ago with a 5th round pick for Dysin Mayo. Weber will never wear the sweaters of these teams. As long as Montréal isn't paying the bills. Thanks, salary cap.
We reviewed Black Ice, the really intriguing documentary on Black ice hockey players and racism. You can find the film on Crave in Canada. The film definitely deserves a U.S. release at some point. TSN showed the film and the NHL Network should fight hard to get the film on its channel.
February 7 Edmonton @ Detroit, 7:30p Bob Wischusen/Chris Chelios/Mark Messier ESPN+/Hulu February 15 Chicago @ Toronto, 7p Brendan Burke/Darren Pang/Jackie Redmond TNT February 19 Edmonton @ Colorado, 3p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu February 19 Toronto @ Chicago, 6p Mike Monaco/Kevin Weekes/Emily Kaplan ESPN+/Hulu February 21 Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Ryan Callahan ESPN+/Hulu February 23 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p Mike Monaco/Cassie Campbell-Pascall/Emily Kaplan ESPN
A bit surprised Eddie Olczyk didn't cover a Chicago-Toronto game for TNT. He played for both franchises.
We sort of forgive the use of Brian Boucher for the Oilers game (19) since Ray Ferraro worked the outdoor game the night before. Doesn't explain the additional game in Buffalo (21). Kevin Weekes was solid in the Maple Leafs game in Chicago (19). This is how a former NHL goalie should provide analysis.
Fun to hear Cassie Campbell-Pascall on a game on ESPN involving a Canadian team. Campbell-Pascall used to provide analysis on Flames games until this season.
On the Canadian side, Victor Findlay may get some good opportunities to fill in for Bryan Mudryk on Montréal telecasts on TSN2. Mudryk also covers curling for TSN. Last season, Dan Robertson jumped up from Canadiens radio to fill in on the TV side. Robertson left to call the Winnipeg Jets games on TSN3.
Yet Robertson called the Habs game in New Jersey for TSN2. The Jets and Canadiens were in the greater NYC area so with an off day, he called a Montréal game.
The NHL Network usually cuts back on Canadian teams in the second half of the season. The U.S. channel went 3 weeks without carrying a single Canadian team. There was only a single HNIC game in February on the NHL Network.
The 2023 Junos, once again with host Simu Liu, will be on March 13 on CBC. Plan B made its debut Monday night.
The ski and snowboarding promo ran before the start of the 2nd period, a technical violation.
February 25 early game: 2023 Junos; Son of a Critch (1st); FIS freestyle ski and snowboarding; 2023 Junos (2nd); Canada's Ultimate Challenge; Plan B (3rd)
Your humble narrator saw Black Cop at the Chicago International Film Festival in October 2017. Writer/director Cory Bowles (Trailer Park Boys) was there and held a post-film Q&A. The after Q&A in the hallway was legendary in my mind. Bowles shared a lot about the history of Africville technically inside Halifax in Nova Scotia.
I thought that night that someone should do a documentary on the history of Africville based on what Bowles told us that night.
Black Ice is several documentaries under a single umbrella united by director Hubert Davis. Akim Aliu starts out the documentary, which feels appropriate. The film goes over the situation from current and recent former Black ice hockey players, including Sarah Nurse, P.K. Subban, Saroya Tinker, Mark Connors, and Wayne Simmonds.
You hear the stories of racism from their perspective. The stuff they ignore and the stuff they can't ignore. I vaguely remember the "banana" incident involving Simmonds. Having him talk about it helped give perspective. Simmonds has played more than 1,000 NHL games. Hard to imagine what he has been through.
Tinker talks about the thrill of playing for Angela James for the Toronto Six to play for a Black coach who can understand her situation.
We learn about the horrible quote by then Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe, "I'll give any man $10,000 who can turn Herb Carnegie white.” Carnegie never played in the NHL.
Simmonds also mentions a subtle form of racism in organised hockey. He talks about the conundrum of why you don't see Black centres. This falls into horrible stereotypes for Black athletes that they "can't" be catchers or quarterbacks or centres because they aren't "smart" enough.
As much as I have covered and followed hockey, I confess I hadn't thought about that aspect. I looked up Jarome Iginla and Dustin Byfuglien, two of the smartest NHL players I've seen, regardless of colour (neither of which is in the documentary). Both were on the wing. Hell, Byfuglien was so talented to play defence and as a forward. Simmonds had a point to really ponder that seemingly would also translate to a lack of Black coaches in organised hockey.
The documentary also focuses on the history of Black hockey players in Canada based on the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes. The film incorporates research from Darril Fosty and George Fosty's 2004 non-fiction book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925.
The film covers the rise and fall of Africville, complete with the literal destruction of the community. This film is one of the few to show old footage of Africville to get a sense of what was lost. The topic deserves a full documentary but this was a good start.
The encouraging part of the documentary is Black coaches teaching young Black boys and girls how to play hockey. One team is called the Seasides after the Africville Seasides, one of the Coloured Hockey League teams.
A key theme in this part of the documentary is the idea of having Black people play together so they might have a friend on and off the ice. The saga of being the only Black player on a team, boys or girls, men or women, was common among many of the adult players.
Too often we hear about the history of Willie O'Ree breaking the NHL colour barrier in 1958 and then Mike Marson was the next Black player 16 years later in 1974. Google Larry Doby to find out the first Black player in the American League, 3 months after Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier.
Davis presents the information in an engaging fashion. Sometimes, information can be wonderful and presented poorly. Black Ice does a really good job of keeping the audience from being bored.
The dialogue is definitely triggering, especially the n-word mentions. This is a reality of what these players have been through in their careers.
Seeing young people of colour on the ice is inspirational and educational. Black Ice delves into the history that people of all colours should know.
Black Ice won the People's Choice Award for documentaries at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The film made the TIFF Top Ten list of Canadian films for 2022.
Black Ice has aired on TSN and is available on Crave in Canada.
video credits: YouTube/Crave; TSN photo credit: Black Ice
TNT gives us the first half of the Chicago-Toronto season matchup from Scotiabank Arena (15).
The main ESPN network (23) gives us a rare Calgary Flames game (for them) at one of Gary Bettman's favourite desert teams (the one that has more than 5,000 home seats).
NHL Network knows this is the second half of the season where fewer games feature Canadian teams. Amazingly, the U.S. channel doesn't show a single Toronto game in February.
The channel rarely carries an all-Canadian matchup that doesn't involve the Maple Leafs. Yet Ottawa is at Montréal (25) on Hockey Night in Canada. The U.S. channel has an Edmonton home game with Boston on the itinerary (27).
ESPN+/Hulu gives us the second half of the Chicago-Toronto doubleheader from the Windy City (19) and follows the Maple Leafs to Buffalo 2 days later (21). The U.S. outlet also has Connor McDavid in the Motor City (7) and Denver (19).
ABC starts carrying Saturday afternoon games, none involving Canadian teams, after the All-Star Game break.
The NHL All-Star Game break runs through February 5 with games starting back on Monday. There is a U.S. outdoor game on February 18; the league loves to schedule the Habs and Leafs together when that happens.
TNT
February 15 Chicago @ Toronto, 7p
ESPN
February 23 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p
NHL Network
February 25 Ottawa @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) February 27 Boston @ Edmonton, 8:30p
ESPN+/Hulu
February 7 Edmonton @ Detroit, 7:30p February 19 Edmonton @ Colorado, 3p/Toronto @ Chicago, 6p February 21 Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p
The Vancouver Canucks waited hours after Hockey Day in Canada to announce what everyone knew: Rick Tocchet would replace Bruce Boudreau as head coach of the team. The crowd at the Edmonton-Vancouver game knew. Boudreau knew this was his last game but not officially. Most coaches who get fired get no warning. This was too much warning but not in a good way.
The way Canucks management handled this was a sad story to how things have been so poorly run of late. Jim Rutherford has a good reputation. Bruce Boudreau has an amazing reputation. How could things fall apart so quickly.
Bo Horvat could have been guided into staying with Vancouver by more competent management instead of being a lame duck in a Canucks sweater. The trade to the New York Islanders might benefit the Canucks in the long run but the loss of leadership looms large now.
Trent Cull also lost his job as an assistant coach. Adam Foote has been named an assistant coach and Sergei Gonchar has been hired as a defensive development coach.
Tocchet has coaching experience, mostly as an assistant coach. He did lead Tampa Bay from 2008–2010 and Arizona from 2017-2021. He spent the last year and a half on TNT studio coverage.
Tocchet, like Boudreau, can't play defence or get Thatcher Demko back in goal quickly. A coaching change is like changing the colour of a couch that is on fire.
As we alluded to last month, the unofficial is now official. The 2023 Heritage Classic will feature the Battle of Alberta at Commonwealth Stadium on October 29. That date is the day after the end of the CFL season. The Edmonton Elks home season ends 15 days before the NHL game.
The starting time is still to be announced. The original Heritage Classic was at night in Edmonton. As far north as Winnipeg and Regina (recent Heritage Classic sites) are, Edmonton is much further north so that would affect sunshine issues and sunsets.
The October 28 edition of Hockey Night in Canada won't feature either Alberta team so they can get ready for the Heritage Classic.
Really sad news about Ottawa Senators assistant coach Bob Jones being diagnosed with ALS. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and the entire Ottawa Senators organisation.
Turns out there was a brief NHL Center Ice free preview running January 1-7. This was on a week where there were no Canadian teams on Monday or Wednesday. The free previews used to have a pattern compared to the random lack of pattern.
Gary Bettman says NHL teams do not tank. Connor Bedard would be that reason, if they did. Bedard was the World Juniors tournament MVP with 9 goals and 14 assists with 2 game-winning goals in only 7 games. Shane Wright scored a key goal on his birthday in the gold medal game for the Canada team in the World Juniors. Gord Miller pointed out that Halifax wouldn't have another long wait to host the tournament. Presumably, this also applies to Moncton, the co-host for the 2023 tournament.
January 11 Nashville @ Toronto, 7:30p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT January 12 Toronto @ Detroit, 7p Bob Wischusen/Ray Ferraro/Emily Kaplan ESPN January 14 Calgary @ Dallas, 2p Stephen Nelson/Kevin Weekes NHL Network January 19 Tampa Bay @ Edmonton, 9p John Buccigross/Ray Ferraro/Leah Hextall ESPN January 23 Columbus @ Calgary, 9:30p John Buccigross/Ray Ferraro/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu January 25 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT January 25 Columbus @ Edmonton, 9:30p Brendan Burke/Darren Pang/Jennifer Botterill TNT
ESPN has listened to some of my pleas and had Ray Ferraro on all 3 of its games in January. 2 of them games were in Western Canada, the channel's only 2 regular season games in Canada. By the way, unless the schedule changes, ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu has no more games in Canada until the playoffs.
Stephen Nelson and Kevin Weekes are my top choices for a NHL Network crew. They got an exciting game involving the Calgary Flames.
We get where John Buccigross got a little too excited over the Columbus presence with Johnny Gaudreau in Calgary. That would be easier to take if ESPN weren't so reluctant to come to Canada.
TNT lost one of its studio people in Rick Tocchet when he took over as the Vancouver head coach. The only scheduled game TNT has left involving the Canucks is March 8 with a home game against Anaheim. Could be a fun reunion.
We had no bananas or CBC promos in December. January had all of that.
There were 3 Hockey Night in Canada games available. We have covered the new shows as well as CBC News Explore.
The first promo of the January 21 game ran before the beginning of the 2nd period, which is a technical violation. The CBC Docs promo was relevant since the content from the Jason Priestley directed film was about longtime Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard.
We have complained when the CBC promos run after commercials yet running them after betting commercials is definitely worse.
January 7 early game: Run the Burbs; Bollywed (1st); Son of a Critch; National Skating Championships (2nd); Son of a Critch; Bollywed (3rd)
January 14 early game: National Skating Championships; Bollywed (1st); Son of a Critch; Run the Burbs; Bollywed (2nd); CBC News Explore (3rd)
January 21 early game: None (1st); CBC News Explore; Run the Burbs; CBC Docs [Offside: The Harold Ballard Story]; Canada's Ultimate Challenge (2nd); Bollywed; Son of a Critch (3rd)
photo credit: NHL; NHL Twitter captures: @TheAthleticNHL
TNT starts 2023 with a couple of Toronto home games. Nashville crosses the border (11) in their yellow sweaters. The U.S. network has an Original 6 game as part of an all-Canadian doubleheader as the New York Rangers come to Scotiabank Arena (25) followed by Johnny Gaudreau and his squad in Edmonton.
The main ESPN network gets close to being on Canadian soil with the Maple Leafs in Detroit (12). Finally, the network finally crosses into Canada almost a year and a half into the new deal with Dave Randorf's team in Edmonton (19). TNT had the opening half of that latter rivalry back in November.
NHL Network features the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada hosting Detroit (7), in Boston (14), and a rare all-Canadian matchup in Montréal (21) as part of Hockey Day in Canada. Calgary gets a Showcase game in Dallas (14).
The Winnipeg Jets get 3 games in the month: in Pittsburgh (13) and hosting Arizona (15) and St. Louis (30). Ottawa gets more love from the U.S. channel hosting Nashville (9) and in Pittsburgh (20).
The Maple Leafs also get a Sunday game hosting Washington (29).
ESPN+/Hulu finally figured out how to get to Canada 4 days later after the addition of the Oilers game mentioned earlier and finally shows a NHL game on Canadian soil. Maybe they were afraid of how good butter tarts are and stayed away as a result. The U.S. network will show Johnny Gaudreau's return to Calgary (23). Unless the schedule changes significantly, these will be the only ESPN games in Canada in the regular season in 2 years of the contract.
Why is Rogers Sportsnet giving a gift to the CBC to let the public broadcaster show a Friday night game? Best not to ask. Both CBC and Sportsnet will show the Battle of Ontario at Scotiabank Arena on January 27 as a Hockey Night in Canada Special.
Hockey Day in Canada will be on January 21 in Owen Sound, ON. Tampa Bay is the lone U.S. team and there are 2 prime time games in the East. ESPN+ will have the other 3 games that day for the U.S. audience.
The NHL takes an All-Star Game break February 2-5 so we have added the February 1 game to this schedule.
TNT
January 11 Nashville @ Toronto, 7:30p January 25 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p/Columbus @ Edmonton, 9:30p
ESPN
January 12 Toronto @ Detroit, 7p January 19 Tampa Bay @ Edmonton, 9p
NHL Network
January 7 Detroit @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC) January 9 Nashville @ Ottawa, 7:30p January 13 Winnipeg @ Pittsburgh, 7p January 14 Calgary @ Dallas, 2p (Showcase) Toronto @ Boston, 7p (HNIC) January 15 Arizona @ Winnipeg, 7p January 20 Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 7p January 21 Toronto @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) January 29 Washington @ Toronto, 5p January 30 St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 8p
ESPN+/Hulu
January 23 Columbus @ Calgary, 9:30p
Hockey Night in Canada
January 7
Detroit @ Toronto, 7p/St. Louis @ Montréal, 7p/Seattle @ Ottawa, 7p/Colorado @ Edmonton, 10p
January 14
Toronto @ Boston, 7p/Montréal @ NY Islanders, 7p/Ottawa @ Colorado, 7p/Vancouver @ Florida, 7p/Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p
January 21 (Hockey Day in Canada)
Tampa Bay @ Calgary, 3p/Toronto @ Montréal, 7p/Winnipeg @ Ottawa, 7p/Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
January 9 Seattle @ Montréal, 7:30p/Nashville @ Ottawa, 7:30p
January 10 Vancouver @ Pittsburgh, 7p
January 11 Nashville @ Toronto, 7p/Edmonton @ Anaheim, 10p
January 13 Winnipeg @ Pittsburgh, 7p
January 14 Calgary @ Dallas, 2p
January 16 Ottawa @ St. Louis, 8p/Calgary @ Nashville, 8p
January 18 Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 7p/Colorado @ Calgary, 9:30p
January 23 NY Islanders @ Toronto, 7p/Columbus @ Calgary, 9:30p
January 25 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p/NY Islanders @ Ottawa, 7p/Columbus @ Edmonton, 9:30p
January 27 Ottawa @ Toronto, 7p (Hockey Night in Canada Special)/Calgary @ Seattle, 10p
January 30 St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 8p
February 1 Boston @ Toronto, 7:30p
Dreams do come true. 👀@FriedgeHNIC reports that the Heritage Classic is returning to Edmonton next year for the Battle of Alberta at Commonwealth Stadium. pic.twitter.com/6FwIV2LM4T
While not official, Elliotte Friedman reported that the 2023 Heritage Classic will be the Battle of Alberta from Commonwealth Stadium. Friedman said the game would likely be in October.
Lake Louise seemed more ideal but the logistics were more difficult. Commonwealth Stadium was the site of the original Heritage Classic in 2003.
The potential October date means the game won't be that cold, the NHL will continue its lackluster promotion (compared to the U.S. outdoor games), and this will affect the CFL Edmonton Elks. The 2023 CFL schedule has the Elks final home game is October 14 with a road game in Winnipeg and a bye to finish the season.
This means one of the U.S. networks will be required to carry the Battle of Alberta.
Maybe Montréal can get an outdoor NHL game when Gary Bettman is no longer the NHL commissioner.
The Ottawa Senators were supposed to go into the holiday break with a home game against Detroit on December 23. The winter storm made that non viable so the game was postponed until February 27.
After last year's COVID-19 postponements, having a game postponed because of weather feels a lot more normal.
Monday Night Hockey is the replacement for Hometown Hockey. David Amber shifted from the late Saturday Hockey Night in Canada slot to host the Monday segments. Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Anson Carter are consistently on the panel with a random fourth person.
Hope Carter is enjoying those Atlanta-Toronto flights. They may get rougher as winter truly rolls into Canada. Carter gets to show off his hockey insights in a better format than the TNT studio show. Campbell-Pascall feels at home in this format. She is working as an analyst for ESPN games. Greg Millen took over as the fill-in for Kelly Hrudey on Calgary Flames telecasts with Rick Ball.
The studio setup is very above average but not sure what the draw is otherwise. Maybe that is the draw. The studio crew is better than the Wednesday night games.
Carey Price will likely not play in the NHL for the Montréal Canadiens or any other team. We briefly touched on Carey Price and the whole hunting and guns issue last week. His heart seemed in the right place.
December 1 Edmonton @ Minnesota, 8p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu December 6 Toronto @ Dallas, 8:30p Bob Wischusen/Ray Ferraro/Emily Kaplan ESPN+/Hulu December 14 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p Brendan Burke/Darren Pang/Jennifer Botterill TNT December 18 Ottawa @ Minnesota, 2p Jamie Hersch/Dave Reid NHL Network December 21 Edmonton @ Dallas, 9:30p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT December 28 Calgary @ Seattle, 10p John Forslund/Darren Pang/Kathryn Tappen TNT December 30 Edmonton @ Seattle, 10p Leah Hextall/Ray Ferraro ESPN+/Hulu
We note that schedules are subject to change. TNT switched out its previous game on December 28 and brought in the Calgary Flames in Seattle. A good point to check back with the blog for updates, good or bad.
John Forslund is the local Seattle announcer, continuing a TNT pattern with Canadian teams. Kathryn Tappen normally works for NBC.
The December 6 game took a while to show up on the ESPN+ menu. Odd to look for the exclusive game and that game isn't even on the ESPN+ NHL page. Hulu might have had it but the games only show up on my computer, not the TV path.
The all-Canadian matchup on December 14 was our first look at the backup TNT team this season. Burke does a fine, credible job. Pang and Botterill make the team what it is. Having Botterill helps because she covers the Canadian teams on Hockey Night in Canada. Good to see her get plenty of work on both sides of the border.
Jamie Hersch did a good job in the NHL Network showcase game (18). The Senators didn't do as well.
ESPN+/Hulu gave a nice gift at the end of the calendar year with an all-Canadian crew with the Oilers in Seattle.
Rogers Sportsnet had already decided to take the December 3 Maple Leafs game for itself, not knowing Mitch Marner would set the all-time Toronto record for most consecutive games with a point at 19. Marner finished his streak at an impressive 23 games.
As we predicted, the Habs-Oilers game in Edmonton was way more exciting with a lot of power play goals and lead changes.
.@NHLNetwork went from one of best @NHL crews to the worst crew to chase #AlexOvechkin. Saved its audience time because they weren't going to sit through what was on the screen. Ovi didn't even get the goal.
The December 17 CBC promos would have been American holiday specials, Canadian shows coming in January, and their news and sports outlets. There were 3 potential Hockey Night in Canada games available. The December 3 game had Rogers Sportsnet playing the Grinch while the December 10 game on the NHL Network aired on Citytv. NHL Network switched out the HNIC feed for the December 17 game for less than logical reasons.
ESPN+ did offer both feeds, something they don't normally do for a NHL Network game.
The NHL Network continued its obsessive Alex Ovechkin chase, showing the NBC Sports Washington feed for a Ottawa home game and Winnipeg road game in subsequent days.
You can check out our CBC television winter preview to see what some of those promos could have been. Hopefully, January will mean some CBC promos.
photo credit: NHL Twitter captures: @Sportsnet; @canadian_xing
Editor's note:This story has been updated to reflect an extra Calgary Flames game on TNT (28), the removal of HNIC from the feed (17), an additional Ottawa game (22), and an extra Winnipeg game (23).
TNT gives the U.S. audience an all-Canadian matchup with the Vancouver Canucks in Calgary (14). The U.S. network had an all-Canadian game last season and gave that to John Forslund. Hoping not to have a repeat of that assignment. Edmonton travels to Dallas (21) in a matchup where ESPN was so fascinated, that network carried both Oilers games in Dallas but couldn't set foot in Edmonton.
ESPN had a game involving a Canadian team in November but is dark in December.
NHL Network has some Hockey Night in Canada love with Toronto Maple Leafs road games in Dave Randorf country (3) and the U.S. capital (17). The U.S. channel also some HNIC love for the rematch of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals at the Bell Centre (10).
The Ottawa Senators are involved in the other NHL Network game with a Showcase game in Minnesota (18).
ESPN+/Hulu went from 1 game in October to 0 in November to 3 in December. The U.S. network is still afraid to come to Canada but is willing to show the Edmonton Oilers on the road in Minnesota (1) and Seattle (30). The U.S. network loves to show Canadian teams in Dallas, proving so with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third-largest city in Texas (6).
Rogers Sportsnet is keeping the Toronto Maple Leafs to itself on December 3. As we've noted, Sportsnet does this on occasion to boost its Sportsnet NOW subscriptions. The Maple Leafs will likely struggle in western Florida that night while CBC shows the high-flying scoring of Montréal at Edmonton. If I were glued to the couch in Canada, watching the Habs and Oilers would be more fun.
CBC and Citytv are not showing Hockey Night in Canada on December 31. The networks are carrying New Year's Eve programming. The games are available on various Sportsnet channels.
The NHL will take a holiday break from December 24-26.
TNT
December 14 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p December 21 Edmonton @ Dallas, 9:30p December 28 Calgary @ Seattle, 10p
NHL Network
December 3 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p (HNIC) December 10 Los Angeles @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) December 17 Toronto @ Washington, 7p (HNIC) December 18 Ottawa @ Minnesota, 2p (Showcase) December 22 Washington @ Ottawa, 7p December 23 Winnipeg @ Washington, 7p
ESPN+/Hulu
December 1 Edmonton @ Minnesota, 8p December 6 Toronto @ Dallas, 8:30p December 30 Edmonton @ Seattle, 10p
Hockey Night in Canada
December 3
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p/Montréal @ Edmonton, 7p/San Jose @ Ottawa, 7p/Washington @ Calgary, 10p/Arizona @ Vancouver, 10p
The start of Toronto Maple Leafs games feels very different without Martina Ortiz Luis singing O Canada at Scotiabank Arena.
We've seen Luis on Wynonna Earp so we know she has more ambitions than just anthem singing. Her inflections on O Canada was beautiful and truly unique. Good luck to Martina Ortiz Luis in her career.
Ryan Reynolds would need a sugar daddy or sugar mama, in his words, to be a part of the ownership of the Ottawa Senators. The challenge is intriguing. The Canadian actor is part owner (with Rob McElhenney) of Wrexham AFC in Wales, a team in the lowest level of professional football in England. Their ownership is featured in Welcome to Wrexham.
The hope is that new ownership would be tied to a deal for a new Ottawa-based arena at LeBreton Flats. There may be fewer people working in downtown Ottawa these days but a downtown arena will do wonders for the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
Rogers Sportsnet will carry all 3 versions of the Battle of Alberta on a national basis in Canada. The fact that there are only 3 games involving these exciting rivals is a true shame, especially after such an amazing playoff series this spring.
Other than the all-Canada division of 2021, the U.S. outlets have shown Connor McDavid type speed to avoid broadcasting the Battle of Alberta. So we can't be surprised that TNT and ESPN showed no interest in carrying any of those games. TNT is willing to come to Canada while ESPN still hasn't been on Canadian soil. The NHL Network also came up empty (again) in not showing this rivalry.
ESPN hasn't shown Calgary anywhere but does have 2 Flames games scheduled this year.
U.S. fans should note that December 27 is the final Battle of Alberta game. ESPN+ will have the game via the Rogers Sportsnet feed.
"(Ottawa GM Pierre) Dorion’s worked hard to see what’s out there, and I believe he’s come across two challenges. One is that he’s dealing from position of weakness and teams are trying to hijack him. Two is that there are plenty of players who can block a trade to Canada, and it’s possible that’s happened. It’s not an Ottawa issue, but a Canada issue."
Elliotte Friedman said what was in our minds. We thought the end of the primary portion of the pandemic meant Canada was a slightly more desirable destination.
Higher tax rates, though paid in American dollars. Pressure-filled markets and media coverage. Snow and lots of it. More customs experiences.
This spring marks the 30th anniversary of the Stanley Cup being presented to a Canadian team: Montréal Canadiens in 1993.
Players want to win the Stanley Cup. They will play in Canada if they think that team will win the Stanley Cup. Think of the significant number of NHL players who weren't alive when the Habs won the Cup or not old enough to remember.
The guys from Triumph hosted the Hockey Night in Canada intro on November 12, which was the Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend. Triumph has a documentary out called Triumph: Rock and Roll Machine. We will have a review some point soon. Worth a watch to learn some Canadian music history.
Harnarayan Singh has been the primary fill-in for Rick Ball on Calgary Flames telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet West while Ball is out with a pulmonary embolism. John Bartlett also stepped up for some Flames games out east.
He returned on November 12 on Hockey Night in Canada, his first game since the first game of the season. He is also doing road games, which is a bit of a surprise. As we said last month, our thoughts go out to Ball, his family, and friends during his continuing recovery.
Ball also made a trip to After Hours to talk with Scott Oake and give thanks to all the well wishing people.
Speaking of After Hours, Scott Oake had a special co-host in Las Vegas last Saturday. Gary Lawless was a journalist covering the Winnipeg Jets before the Golden Knights hired him. The After Hours co-hosts haven't had journalism experience such as what Oake has, but the co-hosts aren't employed by the team whose player and coach appear on the show.
I get the whole deal with Lawless being on while Oake is in Las Vegas, but Lawless being employed by the team should be disclosed.
If Scott Oake had Sara Orlesky on after a Winnipeg Jets game, her employment status should be disclosed. When you have former journalists and the implication is that they are a journalist, that dispels actual journalism. This may seem a matter of semantics but as lines blur, disclosure is paramount.
Tara Slone landed on her feet in the South Bay with the San Jose Sharks in a content position similar to what Sara Orlesky is doing with the Winnipeg Jets. The former Hometown Hockey host was let go when Rogers cancelled the show over the summer.
Sharks fans and South Bay residents should hope Slone ends up in a bar playing music. Slone was the lead singer of Joydrop and has had a solo music career.
Her music cred came in handy when having bands on Hometown Hockey. Sorry that the show was gone and glad she found a good NHL opportunity. Hard to imagine a kitchen party in San Jose but here's to trying.
ESPN signed recently retired defenseman P.K. Subban to their coverage. Subban will work primarily as a studio analyst and also work as an occasional in-game analyst.
Subban has charisma that will take him far in a broadcasting career. ESPN is smart to have him start out mostly in the studio to get more experience.
November 6 Toronto vs. Carolina, 5p Mike Monaco/Brian Boucher/AJ Mleczko ESPN November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p Dave Randorf/Shane Hnidy/Nabil Karim TNT November 12 Ottawa @ Philadelphia, 1p Stephen Nelson/Mike Rupp NHL Network November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT November 19 New Jersey @ Ottawa, 1p Stephen Nelson/Kevin Weekes NHL Network November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p Alex Faust/Shane Hnidy/Jackie Redmond TNT November 26 Edmonton @ NY Rangers, 1p E.J. Hradek/Kevin Weekes NHL Network November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT
TNT got smart and brought in Dave Randorf. This was in part because Randorf covers what was the home team (8). Still, Randorf understands the idea of a national telecast, a difficult task at times for some U.S. national announcers.
Randorf is one of the few announcers who has called a national game in Canada and the United States.
ESPN had audio issues with AJ Mleczko at ice level. Unfortunately, we could hear Brian Boucher just fine. ESPN should work harder to have Ray Ferraro on the few games they cover with Canadian based teams.
The TNT primary crew was in Edmonton on November 16. Olczyk is now on the West Coast so being out west isn't a stretch. Albert, Olczyk, and Jones are good announcers to have in a dog game and that game (16) was a dog.
I liked the days of Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes calling games so having Weekes on a showcase game is great. Stephen Nelson is growing on your humble narrator and has an edge over E.J. Hradek.
Shane Hnidy, former Winnipeg Jets analyst on TSN3, called 2 games on TNT, the latter involving his current employer. Randorf and Hnidy are good guys but looks bad to have them work games with their present employer in a national telecast.
We decided to include the October 15 games since they appeared on the NHL Center Ice free preview.
The Sunday night block is defined as Heartland, Great Canadian Baking Show, and Moonshine. The Buzzr is a CBC Sports newsletter. My Life as a Rolling Stone: Sixty Years of Rock and Roll is only on CBC Gem.
Good to get some love for Season 2 of Sort Of in the CBC promos on CBC and CBC Gem.
The October 15 (early game) Family Feud Canada promo aired before the start of the 2nd period. The October 15 (late game) The National promo aired before the start of the 3rd period. The November 5 curling promo aired before the start of the 3rd period, which is a technical violation. Promos are supposed to run during game action. We know this game went fast but Rogers Sportsnet is supposed to air 6 promos, not 5.
The November 26 game also only had 5 promos. They had plenty of time and opportunities to get in that 6th promo but made other decisions.
The November 12 game was via the Citytv feed, not CBC.
October 15 early game: Fakes; The Buzzer (1st); Family Feud Canada; Sunday night block (2nd); The National; Summit '72 (3rd)
October 15 late game: Fakes; The Buzzer (1st); Family Feud Canada; Sunday night block (2nd); The National; Summit '72 (3rd)
October 29 early game: Sunday night block (1st); Summit '72; The National; Moonshine; Skate Canada International (2nd); Great Canadian Baking Show (3rd)
November 5 early game: Moonshine; Sort Of (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show (2nd); Mixed Doubles Curling Super Series; Sunday night block (3rd)
November 26 early game: My Life as a Rolling Stone: Sixty Years of Rock and Roll; The Fifth Estate (1st); Marketplace; Soccer North (2nd); Sort Of (3rd)
In my fast food days, I wanted French fries and onion rings. Most places didn't have onion rings. If they did, the fries were often better.
Harvey's allows you to have both French fries and onion rings aka frings. Both look good, based on the ad that ran during the NHL Center Ice free preview of Canadian NHL teams feeds to start the 2022-2023 NHL season.
The preview was not long: 4 days.
Your humble narrator hasn't spent much time in Canada, because, pandemic. Haven't been to a Harvey's in a lot longer period of time. Poutine. Deep fried pickles. Fries with rings. This is not the Harvey's I remember.
This Rogers Communications ad came on the heels of the huge outage in July of this year. A outage so huge that Wikipedia literally has a page devoted to the impact of that outage.
The only thing Canadians can agree on is that the large telecoms (Rogers and Bell) suck at what they do.
Does this ad convince you Rogers (or anyone else) will do better in customer service? No. Do the people in these boardrooms think these ads are great? Do workers fear telling their bosses that the ads aren't that great? Absolutely.
Bad apologies are often better than no apologies, up to a point.
Your humble narrator has severely cut down on French fries consumption during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been especially true at home. The idea of having a bad day and making it a McCain's "fry-day" is cute. Each member of the family has their terrible moment of the day and feels better with frozen French fries baked in the oven. This ad ties in emotions well.
One can celebrate with carbohydrates but do so responsibly.
We are a sucker for Canadian tourism ads because the toughest audience of those to see parts of Canada is, well, other Canadians. Some of the Northwest Territories are south of the North of 60. This refers to 60° latitude, ⅔ the way to the North Pole from the equator.
Hockey Day in Canada in the winter of 2020 was based in Yellowknife, a rare look into the territories. They had a contest to win a trip to the north to Whitehorse (Yukon), Yellowknife (Northwest Territories), or Iqaluit (Nunavut).
You can still find trees in Yellowknife at 62° latitude but the treeline is not far away where trees do not grow. The area is beautiful and quite remote.
Love the cleverness of the campaign to tie in stories with the experience of traveling there.
Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon are excellently talented Canadian NHL players who play for American teams. They have become the spokespeople for Tim Hortons trading cards.
They don't speak much. Crosby offers to trade his card of himself to a kid. A guy yells out from his truck once the players are outside. "Hey, McKinnon. Where's the Cup?" McKinnon holds up a Tim Hortons cup. The guy in the truck was asking about the Stanley Cup, which McKinnon finally won over the early summer.
I saw a Joe Fresh ad with mindless models wearing okay clothes. I know Joe Fresh sells clothes but I automatically assume Joe Fresh is a grocery store. Even when I know, I still make that assumption.
We hate gambling ads because they are geared toward an audience that knows about same game parlays. Gambling ads are not trying to get the casual person involved. If you know the world, you are invited.
The idea of a guy sitting in a bathroom at a party, obsessing over how to bet. The bathroom is larger than almost any bathroom you have seen. Suddenly, American actor Jon Lovitz pops into the bathroom. Lovitz is louder than the guy wants him to be. Lovitz points to a bet on the guy's phone and tells him to pick that bet.
We don't normally post ads that are terrible but this one needed attention. Most gambling type people likely don't know who Lovitz is. I do know who Lovitz is (he is very talented) and I knew that was a problem for this ad.
Made me miss Jon Hamm doing ads for Skip the Dishes.
Citytv, a Rogers property, is generally fourth among the 4 major Canadian networks. The network produces fewer Canadian TV shows of note and doesn't offer a national newscast.
Citytv+ allows customers to stream content from Citytv, FX, FXX, as well as Omni. All of this is available for $4.99/month through Prime Video.
Canadians can stream Citytv programming for free, just like Americans can do for its over-the-air networks. Then again, most Canadians can't get Citytv with an antenna.
KFC was advertising its Bacon Lovers Sandwich. I loved what KFC was doing a few decades back. While we are not a fan of the Baconator at Wendy's, that was a sandwich that celebrated bacon. A huge, likely tasteless piece of fried chicken with the orange sauce would take away from the presence of the bacon.
Real bacon lovers will stay at home and make a great BLT to appreciate the bacon.
TNT finally gets to show Canadian teams this season. The network airs a rare Tuesday night game on Election Night in the United States. The Edmonton Oilers are in Dave Randorf country that night (8). The Oilers host their opening round playoff opponents from Los Angeles (16). The Ottawa Senators make their TNT debut at Gary Bettman's favourite desert locale (23). The Oilers are in Chicago on the final day of the month (30).
ESPN waited until late April to show a Canadian team as part of the new deal. The network is still afraid to go to Canada, choosing a Toronto road game against the team that benefited from the fine play of David Ayres (6).
There are no ESPN+/Hulu games this month.
NHL Network starts out November with an Original 6 matchup on Hockey Night in Canada as Boston comes to Toronto (5). The other HNIC games on the U.S. network include Sidney Crosby in Montréal (12) and Toronto where Crosby plays his home games (26).
The Canadian teams join in on the Saturday matinee Showcase games that the NHL Network produces on its own with announcers not on site. The Ottawa Senators are in Philadelphia (12) and host New Jersey (19). Edmonton travels to Madison Square Garden as well (26).
The Calgary Saturday afternoon game (19) where Matthew Tkachuk now plays is likely not a Showcase game. The U.S. network shows Montréal at home hosting Buffalo (22) on the week of U.S. Thanksgiving. Winnipeg travels to Chicago on the Sunday after U.S. Thanksgiving, which is not opposite the Grey Cup this year.
Credit to the NHL Network for featuring every Canadian team in November, except for the Vancouver Canucks. Given the Vancouver start, that isn't too bad.
TNT
November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p
ESPN
November 6 Toronto @ Carolina, 5p
NHL Network
November 5 Boston @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC) November 12 Ottawa @ Philadelphia, 1p (Showcase) Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) November 19 New Jersey @ Ottawa, 1p (Showcase) Calgary @ Florida, 4p November 22 Buffalo @ Montréal, 7p November 26 Edmonton @ NY Rangers, 1p (Showcase) Toronto @ Pittsburgh, 7p (HNIC) November 27 Winnipeg @ Chicago, 7p
Hockey Night in Canada
November 5
Boston @ Toronto, 7p/Las Vegas @ Montréal, 7p/Philadelphia @ Ottawa, 7p/New Jersey @ Calgary, 10p/Nashville @ Vancouver, 10p
November 12
Vancouver @ Toronto, 7p/Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p/Winnipeg @ Calgary, 10p
Ron MacLean is back to hosting both segments of Hockey Night in Canada now that Hometown Hockey is no longer a thing. David Amber is hosting the Monday night national telecasts aka Monday Night Hockey.
I still think Hometown Hockey could have run as a separate program on Citytv, especially given how little actual Canadian content runs on the Rogers-owned network. Then they could show bits and pieces from that show during the Monday night telecasts.
We did find out Randip Janda will be part of the Vancouver Canucks radio coverage on Sportsnet 650. Janda replaces Corey Hirsch, as we noted earlier.
There are 2 notable points on the move. Janda is not a former player, an unusual move but not a huge shock. Play-by-play person Brendan Batchelor will be alone on Saturday games since Janda also hosts Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition.
Peter Ruttgaizer seems to be the one calling the Montréal Canadiens radio on TSN 690, ultimately replacing Dan Robertson, who is doing Winnipeg Jets television. Sean Campbell will likely be in the mix, especially when Bryan Mudryk slips away from Habs TV to call curling. Robertson filled in during previous years, getting some good TV experience.
Kenzie Lalonde, the new Habs sideline reporter on TSN, could fill in with Mudryk since Lalonde has hockey play by play experience.
Unlike Ben Wagner on the Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcasts, Batchelor does get a radio partner most of the time.
On the TV side, TSN4 is going with Mike Johnson to replace Ray Ferraro on Maple Leafs telecasts with Dave Poulin doing more Habs games on TSN2. Craig Button will likely appear on both on games in the west.
Didn't have the NHL Center Ice free preview lasting 4 days into the NHL season. A while back in the before time, the preview would run 3 weeks. ESPN+ has every non TNT, ESPN, ESPN+/Hulu game. I do love the local commercials, something the NHL Center Ice package gives you. Some days, I am more in love with the Canadian commercials with the hockey.
Speaking of commercials, no one seems to be enjoying the new digital ads. If you have trouble following the puck, the ads make following that puck a lot more difficult. You can still see the in-arena ads when the camera shoots at ice level. There was a charm to guessing where the game was based on the ads along the boards.
The ones collecting the new revenue don't honestly care whether the digital ads are distracting. The rich always need more $.
Jets Runway is a new feature on Winnipeg Jets games on TSN3. John Lu goes out of his way to say the feature is a partnership with the Winnipeg Jets and Bell Media. The Bell Media stamp is on the feature. From a journalism standpoint, this is "content." Content is the buzzword like you are pretending to do journalism but you aren't.
Watching the Jets practice and coach Rick Bowness talk to players isn't about getting you to eat a new snack chip. The timing is also intriguing after the NHL team hires Sara Orlesky, who hosted the Jets coverage on TSN3 since 2011, to create content.
TSN has studio coverage for its half of the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as the Montréal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators but not the Winnipeg Jets. Orlesky was able to fill the time when she was the host.
Orlesky is a trained journalist producing content that isn't journalism. Bell Media should have the same high standards that the company had … last season.
This is a journalism issue in the United States and Canada, not just applicable to TSN3 and the Winnipeg Jets.
Honoured to be joining the NHL on @Sportsnet broadcast team to call play-by-play on Hockey Night in Canada on a more regular basis this season. Heading to Ottawa to call the Senators/Flyers November 5th and then to Winnipeg for Jets/Penguins and Hurricanes November 19th and 21st. pic.twitter.com/oAvgvKeDRA
The Calgary Flames were down their on-air TV crew with Rick Ball and Kelly Hrudey out at the same time. Hrudey got COVID-19 and Rick Ball had a pulmonary embolism; both were mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada. Ball is reportedly okay. Our thoughts go out to Ball, his family, and friends during his recovery.
October 28 Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu
This is the first U.S. telecast of the Winnipeg Jets in the new TV deal (this is Season 2). The Jets got little love from NBCSN under the old contract. Winnipeg was on the NHL Network 5 times last season, 1 of them being a Hockey Night in Canada game.
The Jets were only invited to this charade because of the irony of a NHL team ripped from a city that loves hockey to a city that doesn't like hockey. Sounds cruel to me.
This was, unfortunately, the only Jets appearance set for U.S. television this season. Hope they spent some time talking about the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. If you skipped this game, you missed yet another stellar set of commentary from Boucher.
The NHL Network carried a single CBC feed on Hockey Night in Canada in October. We plan to run those promos in the next blog entry heading into December. We apologise for the delay. There are higher priorities these days.
photo credit: NHL Twitter captures: @NHLJets; @LuckyMikeLuck; @ryanlesliemedia
TNT and ESPN are going 0-for-October where Canadian teams are involved.
The NHL Network has a pair of Hockey Night in Canada games to start the season. The green of the Dallas Stars matches up with the rouge of Les Habs in Montréal (22). Toronto is in Los Angeles in a late afternoon local start (29).
The U.S. channel will likely carry the Rogers Sportsnet feed on a Monday night as Sidney Crosby and his team comes to Edmonton (24).
The lone ESPN+/Hulu game has the cruel irony of the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 at the very tiny desert home of where the Jets 1.0 went (28).
There should be a NHL Center Ice free preview.
NHL Network
October 22 Dallas @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) October 24 Pittsburgh @ Edmonton, 8p October 29 Toronto @ Los Angeles, 7p (HNIC)
NHL over-the-air broadcasts are very rare these days. Even Chicago has all of its games on cable.
Rogers runs into jams during the World Series. The Sportsnet channels will be occupied on October 17 so the Vancouver Canucks are in the U.S. capital on Citytv in Vancouver, which is CKVU-DT, Channel 10.
Not sure if Americans in Blaine, WA could pick up CKVU with an antenna. Our British Columbia readers know that they can access CKVU through cable.
The 4 pm local start means CKVU can show all the American TV shows that normally make up the vast majority of the Citytv prime time lineup.
Sportsnet Pacific has also added the game as well as CKVU.
Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro are amazing on their own in calling a NHL game. Combined they are better than the individual people. They are the Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier of NHL broadcasts.
Ray Ferraro announced yesterday that he is leaving TSN after 14 years. Ferraro is cutting back on his workload and staying with ESPN. Ferraro spent a lot of time in airplanes and airports for Maple Leafs games on TSN4.
Ferraro will be greatly missed on the TSN telecasts.
The Montréal Force is the new Premier Hockey Federation women's hockey franchise. The Montréal Force and Toronto Six are the Canadian teams in the league.
The Force will be based at the Verdun Auditorium in Montréal and also possibly play home games within Quebec in Gatineau, Quebec City, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Saint-Jérôme, and Sept-Îles.
There are 5 U.S. based teams in the 7-team league.
We railed against the P.K. Subban deal Montréal made for Shea Weber at the time of the trade. The offseason saw P.K. Subban retire and Weber after the first year of unofficial retirement. The fact that the Habs got Evgenii Dadonov for Weber's contract says a lot about the salary cap. The Habs are the last Canadian team to reach the Stanley Cup final (2021) and win a Stanley Cup (1993).
Excited to get back Kraft Hockeyville winners on the NHL preseason schedule. Rogers Sportsnet (and CBC before this) carried the Kraft Hockeyville games but not in 2022. They do have the national contract and should carry the national games.
The people of Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick, winners of Kraft Hockeyville in 2020 and 2021, got their NHL preseason games. The games, actually played in Gander, NF at the Steele Community Centre on October 6 and nearby Bouctouche, NB at the J.K. Irving Centre on October 8, deserved the national treatment in English.
The Winnipeg Jets are without a captain. Carey Price may not play another NHL game. Calgary gained some players and lost a lot of others. Jack Campbell is in Edmonton, Nazem Kadri is in Calgary, and Matt Murray is in Toronto. We don't encapsulate offseason changes for the Canadian NHL teams like we used to do.
Editor's note:This article has been updated to reflect the voluntary departure of Ray Ferraro from TSN.
This is Year 2 of the new U.S. TV deal. ESPN had the Stanley Cup finals last season so TNT covers the Stanley Cup finals in 2023.
As far as we know, the TNT on-air package remains the same. The TNT intermissions were more interesting than the NBC version and occasionally dealt with the game at hand.
As a reminder: Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, and Keith Jones as the primary team with Brendan Burke and Darren Pang as the backup team. Liam McHugh leads the studio crew with Anson Carter, Rick Tocchet, Paul Bissonnette, and sometimes Wayne Gretzky. Jennifer Botterill (Rogers Sportsnet), Tarik El-Bashir, and Jackie Redmond (Canadian) also contribute to the TNT package.
Here is the TNT schedule involving Canadian teams. Schedule is subject to change.
November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p December 14 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p December 21 Edmonton @ Dallas, 9:30p January 11 Nashville @ Toronto, 7:30p January 25 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p January 25 Columbus @ Edmonton, 9:30p February 15 Chicago @ Toronto, 7p March 8 Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p March 15 Colorado @ Toronto, 7p March 22 Arizona @ Edmonton, 10:30p April 5 Edmonton @ Anaheim, 10p April 12 San Jose @ Calgary, 10p
Calgary gets 2 games while Montréal has 0 games. TNT discovers Ottawa has a team but won't show them in Canada. Toronto and Edmonton dominate the schedule. Vancouver has 2 games.
The TNT schedule has mostly Wednesday doubleheaders with some Sunday games and a Tuesday game on the U.S. midterm election night.
Like TNT, the ESPN lineups should pretty much be the same. The regular season package is on ESPN and ABC. Canadian teams have more ESPN appearances than last year. You might recall ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu refused to show any NHL games on Canadian soil last season: the 2022-2023 season have a single game on Canadian soil. How did ESPN get so afraid of being in Canada.
The ESPN+/Hulu games are exclusive within the local markets. The ESPN play-by-play people are Sean McDonough, Steve Levy, John Buccigross, Bob Wischusen, and Leah Hextall (Canadian). Colour analysts include Ray Ferraro, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Brian Boucher, Kevin Weekes, A.J. Mleczko, Hilary Knight, and Ryan Callahan. Studio analysts include Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, Rick DiPietro, and Barry Melrose.
ESPN has reporters: Blake Bolden, Emily Kaplan, and Greg Wyshynski. Linda Cohn will host In the Crease for ESPN+ and contribute to NHL coverage.
October 28 Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10:30p ESPN+/Hulu November 6 Toronto vs. Carolina, 5p ESPN December 1 Edmonton @ Minnesota, 8p ESPN+/Hulu December 6 Toronto @ Dallas, 8:30p ESPN+/Hulu December 30 Edmonton @ Seattle, 10p ESPN+/Hulu January 12 Toronto @ Detroit, 7p ESPN January 23 Columbus @ Calgary, 9:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 7 Edmonton @ Detroit, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 19 Toronto @ Chicago, 6p ESPN+/Hulu February 21 Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 23 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p ESPN March 9 Edmonton @ Boston, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu March 21 Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu March 28 Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p ESPN+/Hulu April 4 Edmonton @ Los Angeles, 10:30p ESPN April 11 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p ESPN April 11 Edmonton @ Colorado, 9:30p ESPN
Gord Miller did some first-round playoff games for ESPN. The schedule didn't allow him to do too many games. We expect Miller to concentrate on hockey on TSN.
ESPN+, not to be confused with ESPN+/Hulu, carries every game not aired on TNT, the ESPN family, and the NHL Network. Those games are subject to local blackouts. ESPN has a new name for those games: NHL Power Play. So cute.
Our monthly NHL updates will feature ESPN+/Hulu games.
Hometown Hockey suffered a bit with the pandemic and the move to Monday nights last fall. Rogers has canceled Hometown Hockey after 8 seasons. The program ran on Citytv in the first season (2014-2015) and Rogers Sportsnet for the next 7 seasons.
Tara Slone as well as key people behind the scenes lost their jobs at Rogers. They told some really great Canadian stories. This was the exciting part of Rogers bid to carry NHL national games. The program would likely still be around if it wasn't for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ron MacLean will continue to host the early games on Saturday nights David Amber hosts the late games on Hockey Night in Canada.
The NHL Network didn't carry any Hometown Hockey footage this past season, even when carrying the Hometown Hockey game. The loss also deprives Canadians to get a flavour of small towns in their own country. Still Standing does this in a different way on CBC.
Going to miss this guy! Massive part of our Habs on TSN team! So happy my guy @JohnLuTSNMtl gets to go back home to Winnipeg for the Jets gig. @djpoulin20 said he will step up his suit game in John’s absence. Much love buddy ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ObkCywRQX0
Winnipeg Jets fans have only known Dennis Beyak on TV (and some radio) play by play in the 2.0 version. Beyak will still do amateur hockey for TSN but cut back his overall schedule.
Long-time Montréal radio voice Dan Robertson replaces Beyak as the new TV voice for the Jets on TSN3. Robertson called the Canadiens games on TSN 690 for 8 years, occasionally filled in on the TV side for the Habs on TSN2. Robertson was impressive in the few times your humble narrator saw him on TSN2.
Obvious suspects had been Brian Munz, who shared the Jets radio call with Beyak on TSN 1290 until the start of the 2021 season, or Paul Edmonds, who has been calling Jets radio since 2021 on 680 CJOB.
John Lu, who worked the NHL and CFL in Montréal, returned home to Winnipeg to replace Sara Orlesky, the only host in the history of the Winnipeg Jets 2.0, left TSN to work for the Jets content team as a senior host/producer. There is talk of postgame content on the Jets social media outlets and more interviews about the players without the helmets.
Bell Media isn't big on press releases so we may have to monitor how TSN 690 handles the Canadiens radio changes. Robertson called the Canadiens with former Habs player Sergio Momesso. Sean Campbell was Robertson's backup on radio when Robertson was filling in on TV. Campbell also does play by play for the Laval Rocket and Montréal Alouettes.
1/2 Want to thank @TSN_Sports for an unforgettable 14 years. I needed to find some balance in my life – I’m giving up some work to spend more time with my 4 boys, 2 grandkids and of course Cammi. Looking fwd to yr 2 on @ESPN and hope to pop on once in a while here in the future
The rest of the TSN lineup does not follow what we saw last season. Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro had been the most excellent team on Maple Leafs games on TSN4. Ferraro is staying with ESPN. Maybe Miller and Ferraro can call playoff hockey on ESPN. The team isn't just about people great at their jobs. Their chemistry was stellar, an adjective your humble narrator does not use often.
Miller and Jon Abbott with Jamie McLennan (mostly) on Senators games on TSN5; Robertson and Kevin Sawyer on Jets games on TSN3; and Bryan Mudryk (mostly) with Mike Johnson, Dave Poulin, and Craig Button on Canadiens games on TSN2.
The 3-headed analysts for the Habs will likely work the Leafs games with McLennan perhaps in the mix. Abbott should also see action filling in on Habs games when Mudryk is covering the world of curling.
No changes on the Rogers Sportsnet side on the local telecasts: Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson continue as the Sportsnet combo for local Toronto Maple Leafs telecasts with Greg Millen in the mix.
Corey Hirsch announced he was leaving Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, presumably including Canucks colour analysis. Hirsch says he is moving full time into his mental health initiatives. We only found out recently that the Vancouver Canucks will be back on Sportsnet 650 this season.
On the U.S. side, Eddie Olczyk flips from Chicago to Seattle. Olczyk with work with John Forslund and J.T. Brown on the Seattle Kraken TV coverage. Olczyk will stay with TNT on national games.
Chris Vosters is the new Chicago play-by-play person on TV. Vosters won the competition to replace Pat Foley, who started calling Chicago games in 1981.
We know Olczyk's brother Ricky is an assistant general manager for the Kraken. We also think Olczyk made a smart call. The Hawks coverage has been more rah-rah lately and Olczyk would have been in the way with the new direction. He also doesn't have to pay state income tax in Washington state.
Troy Murray and Patrick Sharp will replace Olczyk, who spent 16 years doing colour analysis in Chicago.
Dan Dunleavy is the sole play-by-play voice for the Buffalo Sabres. Dunleavy had shared the microphone with Hall of Fame announcer Rick Jeanneret. The Sabres had done a radio/TV simulcast in part because of the legacy of Jeanneret.
photo credits: NHL on TNT; NHL on ESPN logo credit: Hometown Hockey/Rogers Sportsnet Twitter capture: @BryanMudryk; @rayferrarotsn
