Morning Music Breakdown

Alex Ovechkin on VERSUS

According to the Washington Capitals Twitter feed, the great #8 will be on VERSUS’ halftime show for Arizona-Oregon State, which airs tonight at 7:30 PM if you don’t have DirecTV.

Adrian Dater Rips the You-Know-What Out of VERSUS/DirecTV Situation

As we’ve said many times before, Denver Post/VERSUS.com columnist Adrian Dater is our kinda guy.  Opinionated, out-spoken, hard-working, passion, and maybe just a little nuts.  The piece he put together on the VERSUS/DirecTV split is many of those things.  It includes the key piece of info that should give every hockey fan hope:

A DirecTV spokesman said the possible effects of incurring the wrath of NHL fans might be enough for the satellite provider to put Versus back on its listings, even if a new agreement isn’t reached by Thursday.

“If we don’t have a deal with Versus by the time hockey season starts, DirecTV would certainly be open to putting these games up for our customers while we continue to negotiate,” DirecTV vice president of public relations Darris Gringeri said. “Obviously, Versus has to allow us to do that, but we’d certainly be open to doing that. At the end of the day, it would be their decision.”

A Versus spokesman who did not want to be named said: “Why would it be our decision when DirecTV is the one who took us down in the first place?”

That last paragraph aside, this is definitely good news.  We may have to remind you that VERSUS got added to about 9 million DISH Network homes in hopes of people dropping DirecTV during the dispute.  If VERSUS gets back on DirecTV, the NHL On VERSUS will be in 84 Million Homes at least on October 1st.  We’ll see where it goes from him, but for now, it appears there is light at the end of the tunnel.

NHL American Television Schedule For October and November

This is a compilation of what you can watch on VERSUS and NHL Net for the first two months.  The pair of networks will combine to air 44 games over the season’s first eight/nine weeks.  Enjoy what’s to come after the jump.

NHL Net Eschews Weekly HNIC Simulcast For More Balanced (Oct./Nov.) Schedule

Here is the NHL Net schedule for the first two months.  Granted, they have dropped the full HNIC simulcast.  But there will be 24 games broadcast in October and November on the league’s flagship channel.  Honestly, this is just as good (if not better).  You still get to see the HNIC pre-game.  For most weeks, You still get to see Coach’s Corner.  You still get to see Hotstove.  That’s really all you’re afraid of losing.

Instead of getting a late game that will battle for your affections with SNL and sleeping, you get a more spread out schedule of games.  We’re especially curious to see if any of the weekday games (Aside from the ones that are TSN productions) are going to be original NHL Net broadcasts.  We will find out soon, we assume.

The October/November NHL Network Schedule is after the jump.

HNIC Radio Returns For Season 3 on Sept. 28

CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA heads back to the airways, Monday, Sept. 28, with HNIC Radio exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Season three will feature all the marquee interviews, intelligent hockey talk, and breaking news from the world of hockey that listeners have come to expect. Returning to its regular time slot, HNIC Radio on SIRIUS airs from 4-7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Channels 122 and 97, beginning Sept. 28. (Encore broadcast immediately following from 7 -10 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday, on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Channel 122; and channel 97 replays the broadcast from 8-11 p.m. and 12 a.m. – 3 a.m. ET).

Jeff Marek returns as the host of HNIC Radio on SIRIUS, alongside rotating co-hosts including Kelly Hrudey, Cassie Campbell Pascall, Craig Simpson and Scott Morrison. Mike Milbury, Scott Oake, Mark Lee, PJ Stock, Pierre Lebrun, Jim Hughson and Elliotte Friedman return as contributors. Also, the newest members of CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA broadcast team, Glenn Healy, Kevin Weekes and Guy Carbonneau have been added to the show on a weekly basis to provide their perspective on all NHL-related matters.

HNIC Radio on SIRIUS hits the ground running, providing listeners with all of the latest news from NHL training camps as well as intriguing stories and happenings from the off-season. Fans are invited to drop by the Front Street CBC Sports set inside the CBC building in Toronto, from Wednesday, Sept 30 to Friday, Oct 2, between 4 and 7 p.m. ET, to watch live broadcasts of HNIC Radio on SIRIUS.

Hot topics for discussion will include a look at all six Canadian teams as they begin the 2009/10 season, the ongoing Phoenix Coyotes situation, and the defending Cup champions in Pittsburgh.  The show will also examine personnel changes around the NHL, including a coaching change in Dallas, Chris Pronger heading to Philadelphia, and phenom John Tavares as he launches his career with the Islanders. Special guests will include top NHL players Scott Gomez, Mike Comrie, Tim Thomas, Chris Pronger and Martin Brodeur, NHL coaches and officials—as well as regular members of the HNIC Radio on SIRIUS broadcast team: Ron MacLean, Kelly Hrudey, Mike Milbury, P.J. Stock, Elliotte Friedman, Mark Lee and on Wednesday, Sept 30, a special in-studio appearance by Ron MacLean, followed by Don Cherry, on Friday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m. ET.

Hockey fans can visit CBCSports.ca 24 hours a day, seven days a week for live and on-demand video streaming of all games as well as comprehensive NHL coverage, including weekly columns from CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA personalities, breaking news, in-depth reports, broadcast schedules and more. At game time, Jeff Marek will be joined by Scott Morrison at the I-Desk, found on CBCSports.ca. The show will feature a mix of post-game interviews and coaches press conferences, game highlights, comments from online bloggers and discussions with Elliotte Friedman and Scott Oake from rinkside.

Hoedown Friday

Official NHL Live! Return Press Release

NEW YORK/TORONTO — NHL Radio’s NHL Live! returns to NHL Network in the U.S. and Canada for the 2009-10 season on Mon., Sept. 28 at Noon ET. NHL Network will again present the program in high definition. NHL Live! originates from the NHL/Sirius XM studio inside the NHL Powered By Reebok retail location in the heart of New York City and, when it returns from summer hiatus on Sept. 28, can be heard Monday through Friday on NHL Home Ice (XM 204 and Sirius 208 in the U.S.), NHL.com and for the first year on the Pittsburgh Penguins HD Radio Network.

The two-hour daily program boasts comprehensive coverage of the NHL including interviews with NHL players, coaches, executives and analysts. Hosts Don La Greca, Rob Simpson, Deb Placey and Sam Rosen return and will helm the show on a rotating basis with analysts E.J. Hradek, Billy Jaffe, Bill Clement, Jim Dowd, Joe Micheletti and other notable names from the world of hockey. Weekly contributors for this season include Mike Milbury, Bob McKenzie, Kevin Allen, Jay Feaster and Eddie Olczyk.

Fans will continue to play a major role in the program. Not only are they able to visit the one-of-a-kind studio located at the corner of 47th St. and 6th Ave. in Manhattan, but viewers and listeners are invited to submit questions and comments by calling 1-877-NHL-ON-XM (1-877-645-6696) or emailing nhllive@xmradio.ca. NHL Live is a production of NHL Radio.

Featured Schedule on NHL Network For Opening Week

Monday, Sept. 28
Noon NHL Live Season Premiere
8:00 Victoria Cup: Chicago vs. HC Davos
10:00 NHL On the Fly Eastern Conference Preview Show

Tuesday, Sept. 29
8:00 Victoria Cup: Chicago vs. ZSC Lions
10:00 NHL On the Fly Western Conference Preview Show

Wednesday, Sept. 30
10:00 NHL On the Fly: Is This The Year?

Thursday, Oct. 1
7:00 The Off-Season: Shane O’Brien
7:30 NHL Draft All-Access: Matt Duchene
8:00 NHL On the Fly: Regular Season Premiere

Friday, Oct. 2
6:30 Rangers at Penguins Pre-Game Show
7:30 Rangers at Penguins
10:00 NHL On the Fly

Saturday, Oct. 3
12:00 Chicago vs. Florida
3:00 Detroit vs. St. Louis
6:00 NHL On the Fly
6:30 HNIC Pre-Game
7:00 Toronto vs. Washington
10:00 Calgary vs. Edmonton
1:00 AM On the Fly

Sunday, Oct. 4
6:30 The Making of EA’s NHL 10
7:30 Sid and Stanley: Bringing the Cup Home

Morning Music Breakdown