The Official 2008-2009 NHL Thread...

[ih8nyy]

Ahhh opening day of the baseball season. Which only means one thing. The best playoffs of any sport, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just around the corner.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

Friday, June 5
Stanley Cup finals, Game 1, 8 p.m. ET

Saturday, June 6
Stanley Cup finals, Game 2, 8 p.m. ET

Friday, June 12
Stanley Cup finals, Game 5, 8 p.m. ET

Sunday, June 14
Stanley Cup finals, Game 6, 5 p.m. ET

Tuesday, June 16
Stanley Cup finals, Game 7, 8 p.m. ET

So, Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals won't be brodcasted by NBC? What if said team is up 3-0 and wins? I won't be able to watch it.

 

[ih8nyy]

So, Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals won't be brodcasted by NBC? What if said team is up 3-0 and wins? I won't be able to watch it.

I was looking at that too, and I figure VS. must have it.

What you don't VS.?

 

[NewYorkSpider]

I was looking at that too, and I figure VS. must have it.

What you don't VS.?

No. Hell, I finally got MTV and VH1 a few months ago. I'm pretty sure I don't have VS. Unless it's a secret channel.

 

[ih8nyy]

No. Hell, I finally got MTV and VH1 a few months ago. I'm pretty sure I don't have VS. Unless it's a secret channel.

:facepalm

 

[NewYorkSpider]

 

[ih8nyy]

Wait.

Seriously, you don't get Versus?

:garybettmanfail:

 

[Shifty]

Move to Detroit, get a house for dirt cheap and pick up the feed from CBC.

 

[Immortalfire]

I get VS.

 

[TMC1982]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...NHL-s-fortunes-i?urn=nhl,153166&cp=2#comments

In Part One of what should be a wide-ranging interview with Edwards, Steve Lepore of Puck The Media asks about Edwards's time on ESPN and follows up with two questions about its coverage of the game:

PTM: Following up, because of that, are you kind of glad that ESPN doesn't cover hockey anymore?
JE: Well, I think that all you need to know is - for those who wish that hockey was back on ESPN - last Saturday, which was probably the single most amazing night of the NHL season. Just in terms of teams switching places, dramatic things happening, crazy games, that kind of thing.
We went from Toronto to Philadelphia, we were in (Bruins radio play-by-play man) Dave Goucher's room, having a couple cold ones. Now, the Sweet 16 is going on in college basketball at the same time, the only hockey we saw in the entire sportscast of "SportsCenter" was about 45 seconds of the UNH-North Dakota game, which was the one UNH tied with one-tenth of a second to go, that went into Overtime. That was 56 minutes into the telecast. There was nothing on the NHL in the entire show.
​

So, for those of you that hope that hockey gets back on ESPN, that's what you're gonna' get.
That's where it belongs in ESPN's hierarchy, because there are some bozos sitting in the accounting department in a bunker in Burbank, California running Disney, who look at the numbers and completely ignore the passion of hockey fans. They say "Poker gets better ratings because we can attract more compulsive gamblers to the screen than we can passionate hockey fans, so just for the sake of that number, we're gonna' run poker instead of hockey. We're gonna run women's basketball instead of hockey."
We saw highlights of the Division II NCAA basketball championship, we didn't see a single NHL highlight in that entire "SportsCenter". Case closed.
PTM: Well Jack, you're gonna' be a big hero to a lot of hockey fans when this goes up...
JE: I'm not a hero, I'm just telling you the facts. I mean, that's what it is and you know, this whole idea that hockey will do better if you put it back on ESPN is a delusion. It is completely delusionary. It's more convenient, certainly. But it's not going to be better for the sport, because it's going to be behind golf, it's going to be behind women's basketball and, you know, I'm not dissing those sports.
​

 

[NewYorkSpider]

Flyers clinch a playoff spot tonight.

 

[ih8nyy]

Jack Edwards speaketh the truth.

 

[kane9321]

my sharks might clinch the presidents trophy...oh that would be sweet...i'd prefer drinking from the cup more..lol

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...NHL-s-fortunes-i?urn=nhl,153166&cp=2#comments

In Part One of what should be a wide-ranging interview with Edwards, Steve Lepore of Puck The Media asks about Edwards's time on ESPN and follows up with two questions about its coverage of the game:

PTM: Following up, because of that, are you kind of glad that ESPN doesn't cover hockey anymore?
JE: Well, I think that all you need to know is - for those who wish that hockey was back on ESPN - last Saturday, which was probably the single most amazing night of the NHL season. Just in terms of teams switching places, dramatic things happening, crazy games, that kind of thing.
We went from Toronto to Philadelphia, we were in (Bruins radio play-by-play man) Dave Goucher's room, having a couple cold ones. Now, the Sweet 16 is going on in college basketball at the same time, the only hockey we saw in the entire sportscast of "SportsCenter" was about 45 seconds of the UNH-North Dakota game, which was the one UNH tied with one-tenth of a second to go, that went into Overtime. That was 56 minutes into the telecast. There was nothing on the NHL in the entire show.
​

So, for those of you that hope that hockey gets back on ESPN, that's what you're gonna' get.
That's where it belongs in ESPN's hierarchy, because there are some bozos sitting in the accounting department in a bunker in Burbank, California running Disney, who look at the numbers and completely ignore the passion of hockey fans. They say "Poker gets better ratings because we can attract more compulsive gamblers to the screen than we can passionate hockey fans, so just for the sake of that number, we're gonna' run poker instead of hockey. We're gonna run women's basketball instead of hockey."
We saw highlights of the Division II NCAA basketball championship, we didn't see a single NHL highlight in that entire "SportsCenter". Case closed.
PTM: Well Jack, you're gonna' be a big hero to a lot of hockey fans when this goes up...
JE: I'm not a hero, I'm just telling you the facts. I mean, that's what it is and you know, this whole idea that hockey will do better if you put it back on ESPN is a delusion. It is completely delusionary. It's more convenient, certainly. But it's not going to be better for the sport, because it's going to be behind golf, it's going to be behind women's basketball and, you know, I'm not dissing those sports.
​

From a business standpoint, I dont understand why ESPN would want to televise the NHL? The national ratings for the NHL are abysmal. Bettman's succeeded on making hokcey a niche sport in the US, when in the early 90's it was starting to outdraw the NBA.

THe NHL is probably better off being on a niche network like Versus where it's the #1 sport on the network.

 

[ih8nyy]

my sharks might clinch the presidents trophy...oh that would be sweet...i'd prefer drinking from the cup more..lol

Who wouldn't? President's Trophy means zilch.

 

[Shifty]

Blackhawks get 100 points and Columbus BlueJackets earn a playoff spot with a 4-3 Shootout win over the Hawks. First time since 92-93 that the Hawks have gotten 100 points and the BJ's first playoff berth.

I like Columbus' chances against Calgary, real good chance of another 1st round upset for the Flames.

Chicago vs Vancouver? That would be an amazing series. Of course things aren't set yet, all depends on how Calgary does since they hold the tiebreaker over Vancouver.

CGY vs CLB, CHI vs VAN
VAN vs CLB, CHI vs CGY

CBC will have any of those combinations, don't know if Versus or NBC will have a first round game with a Canadian team. Maybe the series with Chicago since its a big market.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

If the season ended today, both the #1 and #8 seed matchups in each conference would be interesting to watch. The season series is 2-2 between Boston/New York and San Jose/St.Louis.

 

[Ironfan72]

I'm very proud of the Jackets, they were down 2-0 in the first, battles back and tied the game and only needed 1 point to make the playoffs and got a shoot-out win over a very talented Chicago team.
First time in franshise history the Jackets are in the Playoffs, Jackets need 1 point in the last 2 games to secure the 6th stop in the west.

 

[ih8nyy]

The Boston Herald is reporting the the 2010 Winter Classic will be played at Fenway Park on New Years Day.

God I hope this is true. Gotta get my hands on those tickets.

 

[ih8nyy]

Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe and Joe Haggerty of weei.com are both confirming that Fenway Park will host the next Winter Classic.

 

[Immortalfire]

Bruins vs. Who?

 

[ih8nyy]

Bruins vs. Who?

Not sure yet. Best bet would be the Habs. But who knows. All I know is I will be hitting my buddy up at StubHub to get the commission fee waived on tickets.

 

[Shifty]

Could be Habs but they want to have their own outdoor game in December as part of their 100 year celebration.

I think it will be Bruins vs Capitals, have Ovie apart of it. The Rangers will get a chance in 2012 probably.

 

[ih8nyy]

Could be Habs but they want to have their own outdoor game in December as part of their 100 year celebration.

I think it will be Bruins vs Capitals, have Ovie apart of it. The Rangers will get a chance in 2012 probably.

It's a tough choice. I respect the fact the Habs wanna do it as part of the 100 year celebration, but I wanna see an original six opponent. And knowing the Rangers want to do this makes it tough and I am sure Toronto wants to do one as well. I am sure the NHL wants to get all teams involved at some point. Oh well, bottom line is I just wanna go to the game.

 

[Immortalfire]

Maybe the home team will win this time...both the Sabres and Blackhawks have lost the Winter Classic.