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 

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

And here’s the NHL’s super-cool one:

Here’s NBC’s PR:

Milbury and McGuire Preview Pens-Caps

Former Devils Radio Voice Injured in River Rats Bus Crash

From Tom Gulitti at Fire & Ice:

The Albany River Rats’ bus was involved in an accident early this morning on its way back from the team’s game in Lowell last night and former Devils radio announcer John Hennessy was among those injured. The accident occurred on the Massachusetts Turnpike “just before 3:30 a,m.” according to a press release put out by the Carolina Hurricanes. The team’s original bus broke down, which caused a delay. The replacement bus is the one that crashed.  There was apparently bad weather up in Massachusetts l

The team confirmed that players and staff members were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass. for treatment and the majority of the passengers are now returning to Albany. The team said “four players and one staff member” remained in the hospital to be treated for “serious, but non-life threatening injuries.”

Hennessy, who now does the radio for the River Rats, was the staff member who was injured and remains hospitalized.

Let’s hope Hennessy recovers, as he’s a class act and a MUCH better radio play-by-play man than the Devils have now.  It’s a travesty that, with the quality of some NHL announcers, he hasn’t gotten another shot at the big time.

John Tortorella Sees Pierre McGuire’s Team Canada and Gives You His Team USA

 

TSN Analyst John Tortorella

We’d love to see John Tortorella try to coach team USA and ignite a little fire in them himself.  Regardless of whether he does or not, he’s got his pick for the 2010 squad, after Pierre McGuire gave his on Tuesday.  Here goes:

Goaltenders:

Miller
Thomas
DiPietro

Defense:

Martin/Rafalski
Suter/Komisarek
Whitney/E. Johnson
Gleason

Forwards:

Parise/Stastny/Kane
Pominville/Kessel/Brown
Kesler/Drury/Wheeler
Booth/Gaustad/Backes
Stafford

Do you agree or disagree?  What are your picks for Team USA?

NHL Network Confirms Simulcast of Hockey Day in Canada

NEW YORK — The NHL Network will simulcast CBC’s Hockey Day In Canada programming in the United States, with over 13 hours of continuous coverage planned in celebration of the sport. Hockey Day In Canada is a yearly day-long broadcast of special features that celebrate hockey in Canada. This year marks the ninth annual broadcast.

The celebration commences from Campbellton, N.B. on Sat. Feb. 21 at 12 Noon ET as Hockey Day In Canada programming begins its 13.5-hour broadcast with Ron MacLean hosting live from the Memorial Civic Centre in Campbellton, N.B. Don Cherry, Scott Morrison, Dick Irvin and other special guests will join MacLean in Campbellton.

“Rivalries,” the theme of this year’s celebration, will be explored throughout the day. Whether it is individual or team, town or city, province or country, hockey rivalries give the game much of its color and are found everywhere from a shinny game on the local frozen pond to an NHL showdown on a Saturday night. 

Plus, with satellite locations in Plaster Rock, N.B, Windsor, Ont., Carlyle, Sask., Cold Lake, Alta. and Toronto, Ont., NHL Network viewers in the U.S. will be able to enjoy several stories highlighting the people, places and events that have shaped the game, including: 

BREAKING NEWS: Flyers-Rangers Can’t Top 1.0, Still Beats Last Year

From Sports Media Watch:

The 0.9 for NBC’s Rangers/Flyers game on Sunday marks a 13% increase from a 0.8 for Red Wings/Stars in ’08.

So, you know, the games aren’t great, the ratings aren’t great, but the NHL is trending up, still.  It’s something.