Your Announcers and Open Thread For Coyotes-Red Wings

Phoenix vs. Detroit, 7PM, VERSUS
Play by Play: John Forslund
Color: Andy Brickley
Reporter: Charissa Thompson

NHL Network to Have Winter Classic Monday

Good night for those of you who have NHL Network.  Not only will they be airing the entire Winter Classic II broadcast from NBC, but they’ll be showing you a half-hour special, titled “Ivy and Ice”, which was produced locally in Chicago.  We’ve seen some clips, and it’s definitely worth your time.  Enjoy it.

Gary and Ron’s Annual Airing of Grievances

A not nearly as contentious meeting between Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean and Commissioner Gary Bettman at this year’s All-Star Game as there have been in the past.  They cover everything that needs to be covered.  MacLean never throws Gary a softball, but he never quite hangs him out to dry like we’re sure some people would like to see done.  Must-see TV/Internet, we recommend you give it a click if you have the nine minutes.

Could Columbus Become the New Pittsburgh?

 

The Blue Jackets are 22-20-5

We were originally thinking of titling this “Could Columbus Become the New Buffalo?” but we realized we were being a bit hasty, since the two markets are a bit different.  Columbus is a little larger, and Buffalo just has hockey ingrained in it’s culture like so few other cities in the United States, it’d be unfair to both sets of fans to think Columbus could possibly match the kind of euphoria and ratings the Sabres produce.

But is there a chance that the Jackets could develop a following akin to say, the Penguins have in Pittsburgh if they start flexing their playoff muscle?  

VERSUS All-Star Broadcast: Keep it Simple, Stupid

There’s the shootout portion of last night’s All-Star Game on VERSUS.  Overall, it was the best of the three since the lockout and likely as good as the 2004 game in Minnesota, which isn’t saying too much since it went to a shootout too.  VERSUS did an okay of getting the game to the people, and a better job of keeping an eye on the action than they did during the Superskills last night.  But there were some pet peeves that we need to talk about.

For a review of some of what was talked about on the CBC, here’s the awesome William Houston.  But now, let’s break down the All-Star coverage:

THN: FOX Could Be Interested in Paying for NHL Rights

 

The NHL On FOX Lasted From 1995-99

Right up front, here’s the scoop from Ken Campbell at The Hockey News:

 The free lunch for NBC is over. That’s the message the NHL will give to the network when it begins negotiating a new national television contract to replace the one that expires after this season.

Since the lockout, the league has had a deal with NBC that essentially gave the network its NHL property for free. In a deal similar to the one that the Arena Football League had, NBC doesn’t pay the NHL any money, but guarantees that it will cover production costs. Any money made by the broadcasts first goes to covering those costs and if any profits are left over after that, 80 percent go to the league and 20 percent go to NBC.

But that arrangement for NBC is about to end, according to those who are familiar with the league’s television contract. With paying customers in the form of TSN and CBC in Canada and Versus in the United States, the league feels it has the leverage to begin charging a national broadcaster for its product.

Well golly, NHL, way to show some spunk.  The NHL will likely ask for $10-20 Million a year for it’s TV rights.  While most people believe NBC wants to keep the NHL at least for the Winter Olympics, Campbell sees another former hockey TV partner lining up for a potential reconciliation: