One More “If the Playoffs Started Today” on TV…
April 10, 2009 Leave a comment
Once again, let’s remind you of the matchups, and we’ll begin with the Canadian networks:
East
#8 Montreal vs. #1 Boston
#7 NY Rangers vs. #2 Washington
#6 Pittsburgh vs. #3 New Jersey
#5 Carolina vs. #4 Philadelphia
West
#8 St. Louis vs. #1 San Jose
#7 Anaheim vs. #2 Detroit
#6 Columbus vs. #3 Vancouver
#5 Calgary vs. #4 Chicago
CBC (Picks #’s 1-2): CBC will likely jump at the possible Montreal-Boston series. They will likely go with whomever the Canadiens play in Round 1. With the 2nd pick, they will probably take Columbus-Vancouver. Vancouver draws higher ratings than Calgary, as simple as that.
TSN (Pick #3): TSN uses their right to a Canadian series for the first time by taking Calgary-Chicago.
CBC (Pick #4): CBC will likely go with Anaheim-Detroit here. That way, they can flip flop it with Columbus-Vancouver for the purpose of doubleheaders, and capitalize on the Ontario Red Wings fan base.
TSN (Pick #5): I think Pittsburgh-New Jersey seems a pretty good lock here. TSN will likely want the star-power of Crosby, Malkin, Brodeur, Parise, etc.
CBC (Pick #6): Rangers-Washington, and they’ll likely go with Pittsburgh if TSN takes this ahead of them.
TSN (Picks #7-8): TSN will get a good balance of East and West with St. Louis-San Jose and Carolina-Philadelphia shuttling between TSN & TSN2.
NBC: Not too difficult. NBC will take NY Rangers-Washington and Anaheim-Detroit. NBC sees New Jersey as almost a Canadian team, as shown by their treatment of the Devils in the regular season, so even their series against mighty Pittsburgh won’t get picked. Perhaps for the Western series they gamble on Blues-Sharks, because they are two good local markets, but the Red Wings have as national a following as any NHL team, so Ducks-Wings will do. If those series end before NBC’s 2nd week of coverage, it’ll be Devils-Penguins and Blues-Sharks, no doubt.
VERSUS: VERSUS will likely take what it can get of Devils-Penguins, Rangers-Washington and Flyers-Hurricanes (on the weekends) while flip-flopping Red Wings-Ducks and Blues-Sharks whenever they’re in the 10PM timeslot out on the coast. Expect a few CBC games to be mixed in there too.
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