You Know, the FOX Network Once Produced 60 Hockey Games in One Season

THAT, my friends, is an NHL On FOX denim shirt that seems eternally available on eBay.  Not that you’d ever want that thing, but the point is, FOX promoted the NHL.  Shirts, pucks, a series of hockey cards, FOX immersed itself in marketing the game.  Sure, they had some really stupid ideas like the Glow Puck, but they also showed a lot of games.  In fact, see if you can count how many they showed from this 1997-98 NHL On FOX Schedule:

Jan. 18 – NHL All-Star Game, 4:00 PM

Jan. 24 – 3:00 PM
Boston vs. Pittsburgh
New Jersey vs. NY Rangers
Philadelphia vs. Detroit
St. Louis vs. Chicago
Dallas vs. Colorado
Los Angeles vs. Anaheim

Jan. 31 – 3:00 PM
NY Rangers vs. Boston
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay vs. Florida
Dallas vs. St. Louis
Colorado vs. San Jose
Chicago vs. Los Angeles

Feb. 7 – 3:00 PM
Carolina vs. Boston
New Jersey vs. NY Islanders
Detroit vs. St. Louis
Chicago vs. Dallas
Philadelphia vs. Colorado
Los Angeles vs. Anaheim

Feb. 28 – 3:00 PM 
Pittsburgh vs. Boston
Philadelphia vs. NY Rangers
Washington vs. Tampa Bay
Phoenix vs. Dallas
Chicago vs. Colorado
St. Louis vs. Los Angeles

March 7 – 3:00 PM 
Chicago vs. Boston
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh
NY Rangers vs. New Jersey
Florida vs. Washington
Dallas vs. St. Louis
Detroit vs. Los Angeles

March 14 – 3:00 PM 
NY Rangers vs. Boston
Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh
Detroit vs. Philadelphia
Chicago vs. Tampa Bay
Phoenix vs. St. Louis
Colorado vs. Los Angeles

March 21 – 3:00 PM 
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh
Boston vs. Buffalo
Detroit vs. NY Rangers
Florida vs. Tampa Bay
Colorado vs. San Jose
Phoenix vs. Los Angeles

March 28 – 3:00 PM 
Florida vs. Boston
NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh
Carolina vs. Philadelphia
Detroit vs. St. Louis
San Jose vs. Dallas
Anaheim vs. Colorado

April 4 – 3:00 PM 
NY Rangers vs. NY Islanders
Florida vs. Philadelphia
Los Angeles vs. Washington
Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay
Detroit vs. Chicago
Colorado vs. St. Louis

April 11 – 1:00 PM 
Florida vs. Pittsburgh
Washington vs. Philadelphia
Dallas vs. Tampa Bay
NY Rangers vs. Detroit
Phoenix vs. St. Louis
3:00 PM PT 
Colorado vs. Los Angeles

April 18 – 3:00 PM 
Boston vs. Pittsburgh
NY Rangers vs. Philadelphia
Chicago vs. Dallas
Detroit vs. Colorado
Anaheim vs. Los Angeles

The answer, if you do your math, is 67 games if you include the All-Star Game.  That’s not even tabulating in playoff games and Game 1 of that year’s Stanley Cup Finals.

VERSUS and NBC, combined, currently show only 66 games a year.

Sigh.

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