NHL On NBC: Should Happen/Will Happen for the Rest of the Season

The animosity toward the game selections by NBC for it’s hockey broadcasts this year have reached an unprecedented level.  Devils fans, Sharks fans… any fans West of Pittsburgh have been annoyed that their teams have been shafted for national attention by the cruising Red Wings, the dull-as-dirt Rangers, and the floundering Penguins.  With no disrespect for the Flyers and Caps, who brought their end of the bargain to their NBC games, it’s time for a little change.

So it is with a little rejoicing that NBC has FINALLY brought the NHL-best Boston Bruins to use the Rangers as a punching bag on March 8th.  This sets up four more weeks of interesting decisions for the NHL on NBC.  There are legitimate choices as to when to feature which teams, and what would be entertaining and draw ratings to the joke of a 12:30 timeslot.  We go week-by-week and tell you what should get picked, and what will get picked.

NHL.com Confirms Bruins/Rangers March 8th

From NHL.com:

The NHL on NBC  will travel to New York’s Madison Square Garden March 8 for an Original Six matchup as the New York Rangers host the Eastern Conference leader Boston Bruins. Mark it on your TV sports calendar for 12:30 ET on NBC.

As the Bruins make their playoff plans and anticipate potential home-ice advantage deep into the spring, their long-time rival New York is staggering after a quick start. Look for All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to make an effort to stop the likes of Boston scorers Marc Savard, Phil Kessel, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci. Nine different Bruins appeared headed for potential 20-goal seasons. It will be Boston’s first appearance on NBC this season.

That’s Sunday, March 8 at the usual 12:30 ET start time. Bruins at Rangers, Original Six squared and squared off.

What fun, eh?  Stay tuned for a Should happen/Will happen for the rest of the NBC season.

Open Thread For Pens-Caps

Every time the NHL has a nationally televised game, we give you a chance to snark away at the jokesters calling it with this open post/thread.  Feel free to post opinions on the game, humorous anecdotes, and anything just plain stupid the announcers might happen to say.  Enjoy.

Pittsburgh vs. Washington, 12:30 PM
Play by Play: Mike Emrick
Color: Eddie Olczyk
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire 

Luke Schenn Will Make Your Husband Gay.

nothing but man love.

I always enjoy paying attention to Google Ads. Really there is some comedy gold to be had in there. Going through my email this morning I had ads for new laptops, Cheerios, karate training and Rangers jerseys. Now, I am not entirely sure what let to Google asking me if my fake hubby is gay (yes that is a real screenshot from last week). Is it all the Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud albums I was looking up on Amazon? I may have perhaps looked at the new David Beckham Armani spread. But like….I had to. So if that makes me gay, well I don’t plan on being straight then. Or maybe it makes me straight. I have no idea. Anyways I might have a husband who likes looking up pictures of Schenners. And really that is ok with me. He is totally like Preston Mayers in Can’t Hardly Wait and I would love to share a strawberry Pop Tart with him while Kenny the Gangster is yelling WHY YA GOTTA WASTE MY FLAVOR and Melissa Joan Heart is still trying to get everyone to sign her yearbook.

Center Ice Open Thread

We’re going to be watching Center Ice again tonight, and hope you’ll join us for some commenting.

Hockey Diversity Roundtable This Monday on NHL Net

NEW YORK – The NHL Network will host a roundtable discussion on Monday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET to celebrate Black History Month and the National Hockey League’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative. The panel, which features Hockey Is For Everyone ambassador Tony McKegney, NHL alumnus Ray Neufeld, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jamal Mayers and Montreal Canadiens draft pick P.K. Subban, will reflect and comment on the increase of minority players in the NHL. The two-hour feature will be hosted by Dan Pollard, co-host of NHL On The Fly, which airs nightly on the NHL Network. 

The panel will discuss the various challenges faced by minorities in hockey, the increase in minority participation in the NHL and current role models for minority youth. Other topics to be discussed include: collegiate hockey vs. junior hockey, the election of U.S. President Barack Obama, hockey’s importance to youths, education scholarships for amateur hockey athletes, marketing the game and hockey in the U.S. The roundtable forum will include reflections of players from their respective careers and thoughts about future opportunities for minorities.

The Hockey is for Everyone initiative is a component of “The Biggest Assist Happens off the Ice,” the NHL’s social responsibility program that builds on the League’s long-standing tradition of addressing important social issues in North America and around the world. Hockey is for Everyone provides support and unique programming to non-profit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering children of all backgrounds opportunities to play hockey. The initiative is supported by NHL member clubs, players, NHL alumni, and fans. To date, Hockey is for Everyone has exposed close to 45,000 boys and girls to unique hockey experiences. 

To celebrate this initiative, the NHL hosts the annual Hockey is for Everyone Month in February. The league-wide initiative includes numerous activities to promote the diversity of the game that involve our clubs, players, alumni, fans, and grass-roots diversity programs, all with the goal of raising awareness and celebrating the growth of the game.

Programming Note

We’re out for most of the afternoon.  Stay tuned for some bonus posting tonight.

Report: Could NBC Actually Be Airing a Decent Game in the Near Future?

Hey, Tom Gulitti from the Bergen Record and Fire & Ice has some info for us again:

 

It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it appears likely that NBC will televise the Devils’ game on March 22 in Boston, which would shift the start from 3 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

 

Whaaaa?  NBC actually choosing a game between two quality teams?  That’s gold, Jerry!  Gold!

If this is true, then the NBC schedule for the rest of the season looks like this.  We’re taking into account the probability that the Penguins will have used up their 4th appearance – likely taking on Boston themselves – by the time March 22nd rolls around.  Get ready for an all-Boston March:

Announcers and Open Thread For Tonight’s Penguins-Canadiens Game

With “Hockey Night in Canada” presenting a special Thursday night HNIC presentation of Pens-Habs, we thought we’d give it the open thread treatment.  Feel free to post opinions on the game, humorous anecdotes, and anything just plain stupid the announcers might happen to say.  Enjoy.

Montreal vs. Pittsburgh, 7PM
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Mike Milbury
Reporter: Elliotte Friedman 

NBC Promo For Sunday’s Pens-Caps, Plus Press Release

And here’s the NHL’s super-cool one:

Here’s NBC’s PR: