Hockey's Summer Valley

BBM Canada has released its top 30 ratings for the week ended June 27, 2010, and neither the NHL Awards Show (CBC) nor the NHL Entry Draft (TSN/RDS) made the list.

In English, the 30th most-watched show for the week was The Bachelorette on City-Tv with an audience of 906,000. That means that both the NHL Awards Show and NHL Entry Draft drew less than 906,000 on their respective English-language networks. In French, RDS' coverage of the NHL Entry Draft was unable to beat 30th-ranked Un gars, une fille (a Radio-Canada repeat, from well over a decade ago) and its audience of 478,000.

None of this is really surprising. Too much time had elapsed since Chicago's Stanley Cup win and interest for hockey in late June - even in Canada - is not at the top of the charts. And so, it being now July, this blog will go on hiatus for the summer and will return in September in preparation for the start of the 2010-2011 NHL Season. Until then, enjoy the summer!

Free Agent Festival

The NHL's free agency period gets underway tomorrow at noon and Canada's sports networks will all get a piece of the action, even though they'll have to work around tennis, baseball, football, and/or soccer to get there.

TSN will provide the most coverage - six hours of live material - with both TSN2 and TSN.ca delivering the bulk of the content. Given TSN is televising the Wimbledon Tennis Semi-Finals, the network's hockey coverage (a.k.a. "Free Agent Frenzy") will begin on TSN2 at noon and continue through five o'clock, at which time the talking heads will shift to TSN until six o'clock. Live streaming of the entire six hour production will be provided on TSN.ca. And if TSN weren't airing a CFL doubleheader, hockey coverage would have probably continued well into the night.

Over at Sportsnet, a free agent special will air at 3 o'clock - immediately following Blue Jays Baseball. After a break for Toronto FC Soccer, SportsNet will resume hockey coverage at 9 o'clock with a one hour primetime special. In French, RDS will air a 90-minute free agent special at 5:30 p.m. before switching gears to the Montreal Alouettes CFL game. And should the Canadiens make any free agent splashes, you can be sure that RDS will interrupt regular scheduled programming to bring viewers all the goods.

Between the three networks, hockey fans will have their hands full on Canada's birthday. But is there anything more Canadian than hockey, even if it is July 1?

Preseason Index

Unlike the regular season schedule, which is released in one piece by the NHL itself, each team's preseason schedule is released by the individual team in question at different dates. And, unlike the regular season, there is no uniformity as per the "format" of each team's preseason schedule. For example, last year had the Carolina Hurricanes playing only four preseason games while the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, and Florida Panthers each played nine. In short, each team is responsible for arranging its own preseason schedule and the outcomes can differ wildly.

With the preseason schedule for the upcoming season only partially released, I decided to look at last year's preseason slate, hoping to unearth any patterns displayed by the league's 30 teams. More specifically, I tried to assess the health of each franchise by awarding one point for each preseason home game, each preseason home game that was sold out, and each preseason home game that was televised on a widely-available network in the home market (i.e. CBC, TSN, RDS, etc.). To be fair, I also awarded half points for games that weren't sold out but reached at least the 90% mark as well as half points for games that were televised via less traditional means (i.e. TSN2, LEAFS TV, internet streams, etc.). The results were quite predictable (note that teams with an * travelled to Europe during the preseason):


All five of the top spots were taken by Canadian franchises: The Montreal Canadiens came in first place, with a total of 13 points. They were followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs (12 points), Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames (10 points each), and Edmonton Oilers (8 points). The only Canadian team not to make the top five was the Ottawa Senators (6.5 points), which was good enough for a seventh place tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. Also not surprising were the results at the bottom, with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning all tied for last place with only one point each.

As the 2010 Preseason Schedule continues to be released over the coming days, it will be interesting to see if last year's scheduling trends continue into next season. Considering that the stability (or lack thereof) of the league's 30 franchises is pretty much where it was at this point last year, there's every reason to believe that the Panthers, Islanders, and Lightning of this world will once again find themselves at the bottom of the pile.

Draft Decisions

General Managers weren’t the only ones making interesting decisions at this year’s NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Broadcasters of the event, TSN and RDS, both incorporated some changes into their coverage when compared to how things were handled in years past.

TSN made the choice not to interview every player taken in the first round. In fact, only a handful of the 30 first round choices sat down for an interview with host James Duthie. Instead, the specialty channel chose to air a double dose of analysis from hockey gurus Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire. At times, this provided for insightful commentary, but the duo ended-up sounding like a broken record on many occasions – particularly as it became evident that defencemen Brandon Gormley and Cam Fowler were not going to be taken anywhere near the fourth and fifth spots that McKenzie had originally predicted. McKenzie’s exclamation of “But oh my goodness”, punctuated each and every time he contemplated another team passing on the defencemen to go with someone else, probably aired more often than the show’s theme music. It was with great relief to viewers at home that the blueliners were finally taken 12th and 13th so that McKenzie could finally shift to another topic. In all fairness to TSN, interviewing 30 players in a row can be just as repetitive, so kudos to the specialty channel for at least trying to find the right balance. I just hope TSN realizes that the search for that balance should still continue.

Over at RDS, the French-language network opted not to send their full contingent to Los Angeles, no doubt trying to save on costs in the same way the network picks-up feeds from other broadcasters during the regular season for non-Canadiens games and then dubs over French commentary from the Montreal studios. Let’s just say that this doesn’t make for entertaining television and the network really does a disservice to its viewers by not airing its own production. Interestingly, unlike TSN, RDS placed more emphasis on player interviews, with Stéphane Leroux making the journey out to L.A. to speak with many of the draft selections, most notably Canadiens top pick Jarred Tinordi. Whereas TSN uses NHL analysts to cover the draft, RDS provides a different perspective with Leroux, a junior hockey specialist covering the QMJHL. But with Leroux one of the only RDS members to actually fly to L.A., it must have made for some pretty lonely mornings around the breakfast table.

Draft Day

After hockey fans were pushed to their limits on Wednesday with the annual NHL Awards Show, the game returns to being about . . . well . . . the game, with tonight’s NHL Entry Draft.

Don’t get me wrong, Wednesday night had its moments. The skit about Anaheim Ducks teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan having trouble reconciling after being on different ends of the ice for the historic Canada-U.S. Gold Medal Game was pretty funny:



So too was Dave Tippet’s remark, when he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year with the Phoenix Coyotes, that he’d like to thank the team’s owners but doesn’t know all 29 of them (i.e. the other 29 franchises that own the Coyotes because they still don’t have a real owner). But the evening on a whole had little to do with hockey and was far too caught up with Holywood celebrities, most of whom probably haven’t been to a hockey game in their lives. I didn’t see too many shots of Snoop Dog in the crowd during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but come the NHL Awards Show I guess we’re all supposed to believe that he’s one of the game’s biggest fans:



Well, the time for make-believe is over and the time for real hockey stuff is back. The NHL Entry Draft is everything that the NHL Awards Show isn’t. When TSN and RDS sign on the air tonight at 7 o’clock with their draft coverage, it will all be about strategy instead of entertainment. Without being crude, if the NHL Awards Show is like a striptease (albeit with second and third rate strippers), then the NHL Entry Draft is like jury selection. Who will be the first pick? Who will move away from one of the “safe choices” to choose someone off the radar screen? Who will crack and make a deal to get a better spot? The actual trial – next season’s slate of games – is still months away. But a key variable in determining the trial’s outcome will be revealed tonight. I wonder if Snoop Dog will be watching.

Award Day

CBC will broadcast tonight’s NHL Award Show from Las Vegas beginning at 8:30 p.m. There once was a time when the annual gathering was held at the Convention Centre in Toronto but, seeing as the Ontario capital looks more like a war zone these days as it prepares to host the G20 Summit later this week, it’s probably a good idea that the NHL has selected an alternative site for this year’s festivities.

Now Las Vegas isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of hockey superstars. Throw in names like Snoop Dog, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Mark Wahlberg – all of whom will be part of tonight’s “action” in some capacity – and one develops a firm understanding that the ceremony has little, if anything, to do with hockey. Even for the hockey diehards among us, the NHL Awards Show can be difficult to watch. Nonetheless, for the athletes who have worked hard all season long, there are some pretty impressive trophies waiting in the wings. Once all the hoopla has been cut away, it will be interesting to see who wins what. It will also be interesting to see who is watching and in what numbers.

Thankfully for those of us in Quebec (including me and, by extension, this blog), tomorrow’s St-Jean Baptiste Day means a day of vacation. Odds are, we’ll need it to recover from tonight’s “spectacle” in Vegas. The blog returns on Friday.

Schedule Day

The NHL released its 2010-2011 schedule earlier today. Although the league should be commended for moving ahead the release day of this important document by almost one month compared to past seasons, it was nonetheless disappointing to see that the document did not contain broadcast information for the national networks. I guess it would be too much to ask to have our cake and eat it too.

A broadcast schedule will follow at some point over the summer, but all we can do for now is speculate as per what it will look like. Although TSN’s plans are too difficult to determine because the network airs games at different times and at different days throughout the week, CBC is a pretty predictable creature with its Saturday night doubleheaders. And so, after a special Thursday night broadcast to open the season on October 7 (the previously announced Canadiens-Leafs followed by the Flames-Oilers), look for the Saturday telecasts to begin in earnest on October 9 with regional action of the Senators-Leafs and Canadiens-Penguins followed by the Kings-Canucks.

One interesting quirk is CBC’s contractual obligation to not show the Leafs on three Saturdays throughout the year. From what I see on the schedule, the public broadcaster might have found a cute loophole in that the Leafs are only absent from Saturday nights on two hockey dates – October 16 and January 8. There is technically a third “non-Leaf” Saturday – Christmas – when there aren’t any hockey games at all.

Some other observations about CBC’s theoretical schedule for the upcoming year include a pair of rare Saturday afternoon game for the Canadiens on December 4 against the Sharks and March 12 against the Penguins (to go along with the traditional Super Bowl Weekend afternoon games on February 5 and 6 against the Rangers and Devils respectively), as well as a special Sunday telecast at six o’clock for the outdoor game on February 20 between the Canadiens-Flames.

Over at RDS, of course, the French-language specialty channel will once again provide coverage of all 82 Canadiens games, together with periodic Senators contests and other games from around the league. One interesting date to note is October 29 when a Canadiens game will coincide with a Montreal Alouettes contest in the Canadian Football League. RDS, which covers both teams, will have to move the Alouettes game to digital sister station RIS.

Look for subtle revisions of the schedule to made between now and the start of the regular season. Here’s hoping we get confirmations of the broadcast schedules well before then!

Quebec's Exhibition

Not to be outdone by Winnipeg – once an opponent in the NHL and now an opponent to get back into the league – Quebec City will also be playing host to pre-season hockey in the fall. Whereas Winnipeg will see the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks take on the financially unstable Tampa Bay Lightning on September 22, Quebec City will get to see another financially unstable franchise – the New York Islanders – go up against the Montreal Canadiens on October 2. Just as I made the case that the Lightning’s pre-season journey to Winnipeg could be testing the waters for the team’s potential relocation to the Manitoba capital, the same could be speculated about the New York Islanders getting a lay of the land for a possible move to Quebec.

Since the Nordiques left town in 1995, Quebec City has been the site of two pre-season tilts. In 2002, it saw the return of its Nordiques – reincarnated as the Colorado Avalanche – battle the province’s beloved Canadiens. And last year, the Canadiens paid another visit to Quebec City, this time against the rival Boston Bruins. But there is no obvious connection with this year’s opponent – the New York Islanders – unless, of course, you throw possible relocation into the mix. Just like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Islanders are one of the weaker sisters in the NHL when it comes to finances, and rumours of the team’s relocation have been in the works for years (albeit, usually to another U.S. location).

Look for the Quebec City matchup to be on French-language RDS, whereas the Winnipeg game may get shutout from Canadian television. After all, neither the Blackhawks nor Lightning regional broadcasts are available in the Winnipeg area – at least for now, pending relocation of course!

Final Numbers

Complete numbers, as highlighted in bold, are now available for the final round of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs:


CBC was able to draw an average of 3,135,000 for the six game series between the Flyers and Blackhawks, producing the public broadcaster’s best Audience per Household (“APH”) figure of the playoffs at 0.241. As with previous rounds, there seems to be some controversy as to the exact average, although this time the NHL is low-balling the numbers by its report that CBC only drew 3,107,000. But, the last time I checked, the six-game average of 3,164,000 (game 1), 2,775,000 (game 2), 2,960,000 (game 3), 2,439,000 (game 4), 3,396,000 (game 5), and 4,077,000 (game 6) does, in fact, calculate to 3,135,000 and not 3,107,000. Either way you look at it, the series outdrew the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, which had been the public broadcaster’s top draw prior to the Stanley Cup Final.

It was quite another story at RDS, where the average audience for the final round of only 656,000 gave the French-language specialty channel its worst APH figure of the playoffs at 0.219 – less than half what the channel had been earning for the previous rounds involving the Montreal Canadiens. If, as Pierre Houde indicated last week, more than 1,500,000 people watched the decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on his network, it could have only been at the game’s peak. According to BBM Canada, the audience average for the entire game on RDS was only 970,000. For comparison purposes, that’s lower than the 1,126,000 average that watched the decisive game of the previous year’s Stanley Cup Final – and this, despite the fact that a new method for calculating viewers is supposed to yield inflated numbers when comparing to past seasons. Suffice it to say that the Canadiens third round elimination was pretty much entirely responsible for the network’s poor showing in this year’s final series.

The consolation prize for RDS is that the channel recorded the three highest APH figures in this year’s playoffs with its coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins (0.582), Canadiens-Flyers (0.556), and Canadiens-Capitals (0.446) series – all of which had better APH numbers than CBC’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now it’s time to clean the slate – and do it all again next year!

Lightning Strikes Winnipeg

For the second straight year, NHL pre-season action is coming to Winnipeg. And, for the second straight year, the Tampa Bay Lightning are part of the equation. The announcement was made yesterday by True North Sports & Entertainment Limited – the same group led by David Thomson that has offered to purchase the ailing Phoenix Coyotes and move them back to the Manitoba capital where they were once known as the Jets. But so far, all the group has to show for its efforts is a pre-season game to be played at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre on September 22 between Tampa Bay and the Chicago Blackhawks. This, on the heels of last year’s matchup between the Lightning and Edmonton Oilers.

The involvement of the Chicago Blackhawks makes perfect sense. The team is, after all, the Stanley Cup Champions and its captain is Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, just like last year’s choice of the Oilers given their geographic proximity to Winnipeg. But the Tampa Bay Lightning? One could chalk it up to a purely random choice, if not for the fact that: (a) there is no obvious connection, geographic or otherwise, between the cities of Tampa Bay and Winnipeg; (b) the Lightning aren’t exactly the league’s most stable franchise from a financial perspective; and (c) this is the second consecutive year that the team has been chosen to travel to Winnipeg. In fact, the Lightning have played more pre-season games in Winnipeg in recent history than they have in their own city – last year saw the team play three road games and four neutral site contests. So what could all this mean?

Is it possible that David Thomson is hedging his bets? If his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes ultimately fails, does his back-up plan involve the Tampa Bay Lightning? Is he using the pre-season as a test to see how the team resonates with Winnipeg hockey fans? Or is all of this pure coincidence – the work of an over-imaginative hockey blogger running out of ideas for his site? Only time will tell. Nonetheless, the decision to have the Lightning travel to Winnipeg is just another piece of evidence pointing to the demise of professional hockey in the American sunbelt. As if we needed more evidence . . .

Hockey's Void

It has been exactly one week since the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup and it will still be another week until the NHL hosts its annual award show in Las Vegas. The league has established way too much time between events and risks losing the attention of the throngs of casual fans who migrated to the game over the course of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their focus will have shifted to other things, if it hasn’t already. Most notably, there’s the World Cup of Soccer and game seven of the NBA Championship. Hockey, for many, has already become yesterday’s news.

With it being a struggle for even the most committed hockey fan to stay conscious until late June for the league’s annual award show, the NHL should seriously consider moving up the event. If a potential game seven of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for a Friday, as was the case this year (June 11), the award show should air no later than Monday (June 14) as opposed to two weeks Wednesday (June 23). And, while we’re at it, the league might as well reschedule the draft from the last Friday of the month (June 25) to the first Friday after game seven (June 18).

The NHL was right to congratulate itself (to a point) regarding the success of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. But while the league focuses squarely on its past achievements, it’s losing a huge opportunity to continue to make inroads with an expanded fan base.

Coyote Ugly

The prospect of the NHL’s return to Winnipeg has continued to gather steam in recent days, with CBC reporting last week that Jerry Reinsdorf’s group has officially withdrawn from efforts to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. Reinsdorf was quoted by the public broadcaster as saying “it was time to move on”. That leaves Ice Edge Holdings and its notoriously shaky financial backers as the only remaining bidder committed to keeping the franchise in Arizona – that is, if you don’t count the handful of home games that Ice Edge wants to see the team play in Saskatoon to compensate for the anticipated unprofitability in the dessert.

Meanwhile, David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Ice Edge has until Friday to produce a term sheet, stating how much financing the group’s bankers are prepared to lend – at least theoretically. As Shoalts rightly points out, albeit with slight exaggeration, “anyone can get a term sheet from a bank [and] the document is not binding”. Even if Ice Edge were able to get a $100 million loan – a figure outlined in a memorandum of understanding reached last week with city council – there is still the matter of finding the other $65 million to cover the anticipated $165 million sale. Where that would come from is anyone’s guess, but few believe Ice Edge has that kind of money. And if Ice Edge can’t close a deal, there’s no one left on the list who is prepared to keep the team where it is.

With next year’s schedule expected to be released exactly one week from today, it’s probably too late for Canadian hockey broadcasters to be planning a trip to Winnipeg for the 2010-2011 campaign. But if I were CBC or TSN, I’d certainly be scouting potential hotels in the Winnipeg area for the following season – if not in Saskatoon for this year.

Soccer Boots U.S. Hockey

Conventional wisdom has always dictated that hockey ranks pretty low on the pecking order when it comes to the other team sports that compete for audience interest in the United States – certainly after football, baseball, and basketball. But soccer? Surely hockey can do better than soccer? Can’t it?

Well, no – at least not according to television ratings. Saturday afternoon’s World Cup of Soccer telecast between England and the United States drew 16,800,000 viewers to ABC and Spanish-language Univision, more than double the 8,280,000 who watched last week’s decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC – the “most watched and highest-rated NHL game in 36 years”. And this was just a preliminary round soccer game.

Can you imagine what the audience would be if the U.S. were to make it to the World Cup Final? Would it be more than the 27,600,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? It would certainly be more than the 17,100,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. After all, the most recent World Cup Final in 2006 – in which the U.S. was not a participant – drew 17,002,000. Can you see a hockey game drawing those kinds of numbers in the U.S. without American content?

I can’t – at least not in the next 36 years.

36 Years and One Month

According to the league, NBC’s coverage of Wednesday’s Stanley Cup clinching game “was the most-watched and highest-rated NHL game in 36 years”. Granted, the feat doesn’t sound quite as impressive when you consider that U.S. conventional television didn’t broadcast the Stanley Cup Final for 15 of those 36 years (cable only from 1981 through 1994; season cancelled in 2005). And let’s also not forget that the two teams involved in this year’s final, Chicago and Philadelphia, represent the third and sixth largest populations in the United States. So, in many ways, it would have been unsettling had the game not produced such high ratings. Nonetheless, the average audience of 8,280,000 that watched Wednesday’s contest on NBC is still excellent news for the NHL. Here's hoping the league can take advantage of this momentum going into next year.

In Canada, the final game drew 4,077,000 on CBC. Not only does this not go back 36 seasons, it doesn’t even rank as the top audience this year: Game 7 of the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, played less than a month ago, drew 4,239,000 to the public broadcaster. Over at RDS, play-by-play man Pierre Houde seemed to indicate yesterday that his network attracted about 1,500,000 for the final game (still to be confirmed) – significantly up from the average of 593,000 who tuned in for the first five games of the series, but a drop in the bucket compared to the 2,417,000 who watched the decisive game of the Canadiens-Penguins affair on the French specialty channel.

Full ratings for the entire series will be available next week on a network-by-network basis, complete with tables, charts, and my trademark APH rating scale. Until then, enjoy the weekend!

29 Hours of Goodbyes

In a 29-hour span of time that began yesterday at 6:30 p.m. and will end tonight at 11:30 p.m., three hockey institutions have said, or will be saying, goodbye. Most famous, of course, was the 2009-2010 NHL Season, which concluded last night with an overtime goal by Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks in game six of the Stanley Cup Final. And although his Stanley Cup clinching goal will never be confused with Bobby Orr’s flying heroics in 1970 – indeed, last night’s broadcasting transition from “where’s the puck?” to “the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup” was awkward to say the least – the fact remains that Kane’s effort closed the books on one of the most exciting – and most watched – hockey playoffs in years.





But the Blackhawks and Flyers weren’t the only ones saying goodbye last night. Prior to its 8 o’clock hockey broadcast, French-language RDS held a 90-minute televised gala to honour Jacques Demers, former Canadiens head coach and subsequent network commentator, who worked his last game on May 24 when Montreal was eliminated by the Flyers. Demers, 65, is retiring his hockey microphone to join the Canadian Senate on a full-time basis. The fact that the gala took place on the eventual clinching game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final was purely coincidental – the date, June 9, was chosen to correspond with the 17th anniversary of the last Stanley Cup won by the Canadiens in 1993, of which Demers was the winning head coach. Guests on hand included his former players Patrick Roy, Vincent Damphousse, Eric Desjardins, and Patrice Brisebois, as well as satellite appearances by hockey personalities Kirk Muller, Marcel Aubut, Ron MacLean, and Don Cherry. The most interesting contribution was by Barry Melrose, whom Demers first met when the two were with the Cincinnati Stingers of the now defunct World Hockey Association. Melrose, of course, is better known for his days with the Los Angeles Kings, where he was the losing head coach in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against Demers’ Canadiens. It came out during last night’s gala that Melrose refused to speak with Demers for years after the series – still fuming about Demers’ decision to request a measurement of Marty McSorley’s stick in game two – and that it took a chance meeting in an airport well over a decade later for the two to resolve their differences.



Demers’ departure from RDS will leave the network with some pretty big shoes to fill next year, but it won’t be the only French-language broadcaster to lose a piece of its hockey arsenal. As reported a few weeks ago, Radio-Canada will be without its hockey debating show La Zone with Michel Villeneuve, which will air its final 30-minute broadcast tonight at 11 o’clock. Like its former competitor L’Attaque à 5 (better known as 110%), La Zone is being taken off the air because it can’t compete with the leverage that RDS is able to exercise as the sole French-language television rights holder of the Montreal Canadiens. You can be sure that one of the topics up for discussion tonight on La Zone will be a retrospective of the decisive game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final – providing a way for the show to go out in style and for us to end our 29 hours of goodbyes.

NHL CALENDAR:
Tuesday, June 22
Release of 2010-2011 NHL Schedule
Wednesday, June 23
NHL Awards at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m. (CBC)
Friday, June 25
NHL Entry Draft at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)

Is Tonight The Night?

Nearly two months have gone by since the start of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, and tonight could play host to their final game. The Chicago Blackhawks have the chance to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961 – that is, provided they can beat a Philadelphia Flyers team that has only lost once on home ice in these playoffs. If the Flyers continue their home dominance, there will be a decisive game seven on Friday in Chicago. Whenever the Stanley Cup is ultimately presented, U.S. viewers will get to watch the ceremony on NBC, while those of us in Canada can choose between CBC and French-language RDS.

For NBC, these are the playoffs that started with a whimper and promise to end with a bang. It’s no secret that the U.S. broadcaster was pretty unhappy with the available matchups in the first three rounds: In the East, superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby never got a chance to play an American team (let alone each other) before their premature ouster by the Montreal Canadiens and, in the West, ratings magnets Detroit and Chicago (which also managed to avoid each other) played against small market franchises like Phoenix and Nashville. The Stanley Cup Final, however, has represented a complete change in fortune for NBC, with two of the largest U.S. hockey markets going head-to-head for the NHL’s most coveted prize. Indeed, NBC is averaging 5,390,000 viewers for the series so far, which represents the best numbers on the southern side of the border since 2002.

For RDS, it was exactly the opposite: The first three rounds got better and better for the French-language broadcaster, with its beloved Canadiens stunning the hockey world with back-to-back upsets against the Capitals and Penguins, before finally bowing out in the third round against the Flyers. But without the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, RDS can’t hope to come close to attracting the number of eyeballs that were glued to their televisions during the first three rounds. Whereas the average RDS audience grew from 1,338,000 to 1,746,000 during the rounds with the Canadiens involved (which is amazing, considering the channel is only available in 3,000,000 households), it was only able to attract a fraction of that – 610,000 – for the first game of the Stanley Cup Final.

That leaves CBC, which has experienced a less volatile ratings rollercoaster than the league’s other broadcasting partners. Although the public broadcaster did benefit from Canadian content throughout the first three rounds, the network made the mistake of not picking the Canadiens-Capitals series in the first round and, consequently, was not able to maximize the potential audience for the Canadiens surprising Stanley Cup run. And, although the Stanley Cup Final features two American-based teams, CBC has managed to draw decent audiences through the first half of the series.

So, the question remains, is tonight the night? Or will viewers be treated to a seventh game in the Stanley Cup Final for consecutive years? Regardless the network, you've got to think it will be good for ratings.

TONIGHT’S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers – Game 6, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)

Generous Arithmetic

On May 14, when the league reported that CBC was averaging 1,860,000 viewers through the first two rounds of the playoffs, I couldn’t figure out why my calculations were only showing 1,835,000 over the same span of 37 telecasts. That is, until I discovered that the NHL and its broadcasting partners were presenting somewhat distorted numbers – in their favour of course – when issuing periodic updates about how “well” this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have been doing in the television ratings department.

Take April 27 as an example. On this date, the public broadcaster issued a press release to announce that its round one average audience was 1,422,000. On average, CBC claimed that its Senators-Penguins series drew 2,000,000 per game, its Kings-Canucks matchup brought-in 2,031,000, its Avalanche-Sharks duel attracted 825,000, and its Bruins-Sabres tilt interested 736,000. But anyone bothering to take out a calculator and determine a weighted average for the four series (each of which lasted six games) would find that these numbers do not average 1,422,000 but, rather, 1,398,000. Even worse for CBC, the Senators-Penguins series really drew 1,965,000 viewers and not the rounded 2,000,000 figure, meaning that the public broadcaster’s true average audience for the first round was only 1,389,250 as opposed to the inflated 1,422,000. CBC’s generous arithmetic attributed an extra 32,750 viewers per game than were really watching. Over the entire 24-game sequence, this amounted to an aggregate audience overestimate of 786,000 – more than the average for the Bruins-Sabres series! No wonder the NHL reported a 1,860,000 average after two rounds as opposed to the 1,835,000 that I had calculated!

Fast forward exactly one month to May 27. This time, the NHL says that, through the first three rounds of the playoffs, CBC is averaging 1,950,000 viewers per game. Even if we take the inflated 1,860,000 figure as an accurate starting point after two rounds, the NHL’s numbers are still over the top. CBC’s third round coverage consisted of the entire Eastern Final, which drew an average of 2,673,000 over five games, and one game in the Western Final, which drew 1,257,000. Weighted with the 1,860,000 figure after two rounds (37 telecasts), these numbers only produce an average of 1,940,535 after three rounds (43 telecasts) – not 1,950,000. But, of course, the 1,860,000 figure was an over-estimate to begin with – using the real figure of 1,835,000 after two rounds would yield an average of 1,919,023. Again, this represents more than an “extra” 30,000 viewers per game.

The NHL and its broadcasting partners should be ashamed of themselves for publishing these twisted figures. Journalists should equally hang their heads for not having enough integrity to get out a calculator and verify a few numbers.

TONIGHT’S GAMES
No games scheduled

Stanley Cup Sabotage?

Viewers on both sides of the border had some issues with the Stanley Cup Final schedule over the weekend. While Canadians were deprived of the beloved Saturday night timeslot with games instead on Friday and Sunday nights, Americans saw their Sunday evening play host to both the NHL and NBA Championships. Given where hockey ranks in the pecking order of the average U.S. sports fan, it’s fair to guess that most selected the basketball court over the hockey rink. And the NHL knows this, because it purposely scheduled an additional off-day between Sunday’s game and Wednesday’s contest so as not to go head-to-head with the NBA Finals on the Tuesday. So if the league doesn’t want to compete with basketball on Tuesday, why in the world would it want to do so on Sunday? Is the NHL purposely trying to sabotage its own product?

Instead of scheduling games for Friday and Sunday night, with an extra night off before the next game on Wednesday, it would have made much more sense to have games on Saturday and Monday nights, before continuing with the series as planned on the Wednesday. The latter plan would have given Canadians the beloved Saturday night timeslot and ensured the league that it would not have to go up against the NBA Finals (and lose, no doubt) on Sunday. Whereas game four ran the risk of seeing the Stanley Cup being awarded on U.S. cable, robbing the league of maximum network exposure for the marquee moment, game five could have seen the Stanley Cup get hoisted while the majority of U.S. eyeballs were glued to basketball.

It’s a good thing for the league that the Flyers are being a lot more competitive than a lot of people thought going into the series. Whatever happens now, the Stanley Cup will be awarded unopposed from a sports perspective on network television in both Canada and the United States. Despite its efforts to the contrary, it looks like the NHL will get the maximum exposure for its marquee moment.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Third Round Statistics

Unlike earlier rounds in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the third round of the spring tournament contained no barrage of network press releases announcing record audience after record audience. So it’s not that surprising that viewership numbers from the most recent round were unable to keep up with the pace set by its predecessor:


RDS continued to lead the pack with a 0.556 Audience per Household (“APH”) figure for the specialty channel’s coverage of the Canadiens-Flyers series. But the channel’s 1,667,000 average audience for the series was unable to beat the 1,746,000 average and 0.582 APH that was recorded during the preceding Canadiens-Penguins matchup. Likewise, CBC’s 0.206 APH and 2,673,000 average audience for the Canadiens-Flyers fell short of the 0.211 APH and 2,747,000 eyeballs for the Canadiens-Penguins. With the series involving the Flyers lasting only five games compared to the dramatic seven game affair with the Penguins, it’s not surprising that viewership wasn’t at quite the same level. Throw in the fact that Philadelphia doesn’t have the same marketing power of a Sidney Crosby, and both RDS and CBC should be relatively pleased with their numbers for this third round series. Nonetheless, both networks must be wondering what could have been if the Canadiens had prevailed and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

Now the other third round series was a little strange from a number of perspectives. First, the Blackhawks-Sharks tilt was split between two Canadian networks, with TSN providing coverage of the first three games and CBC televising the balance of the series. Second, the series involved games at wildly different times, with the first contest being played on a Sunday afternoon, the second on a late night Tuesday, the third on a primetime Friday, and the fourth on a Sunday afternoon again. Finally, the series was a four game sweep, meaning that only one of the games was played in the traditional prime time slot. All of this, not surprisingly, meant lower ratings than would have otherwise been possible. The joint effort between TSN and CBC only earned a 0.129 APH and an average of 1,287,000 viewers – behind every series in this year’s playoffs involving a Canadian team, including a trio of first round matchups.

Just like in the earlier rounds, afternoon games in the third round received less viewers than their evening counterparts, with the Blackhawks-Sharks experiencing a percentage decline in the single digits, while the Canadiens-Flyers saw a 24% drop:


The above “NBC Effect” table shows that, on average, a playoff game loses about 15% of its audience when it gets moved to daylight hours for the American broadcaster. It’s a good thing for CBC and RDS that each game of the Stanley Cup Final is an evening start.

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES:
Tonight
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 4, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Saturday
No games scheduled
Sunday
Flyers at Blackhawks - Game 5, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)

Flyers, NHL Rejoice

Last night’s overtime win by the Flyers in game three of the Stanley Cup Final put smiles on not only hockey fans in Philadelphia but also league executives in New York. Had the Flyers lost last night, the Blackhawks could have won the Stanley Cup as early as tomorrow night in a game that would have only been available to the U.S. audience via cable and satellite. Now that the series will last at least five games, the Stanley Cup is guaranteed to be awarded on U.S. network television via NBC, and the league will be able to maximize its exposure.

Now, if they had been smart, league executives should have never had to have held their breath in the first place. The broadcast schedule in the U.S., which grants two of the first four games to specialty channel VERSUS and the rest of the games to NBC, should have been designed to preclude VERSUS from potentially airing the Stanley Cup clinching game. In other words, instead of having VERSUS air two of the first four games, the specialty channel should air two of the first three games, thereby guaranteeing that NBC would air the Stanley Cup winning moment – be it game four, five, six, or seven. The NHL has worked too hard to let one of the greatest moments in professional sports fly under the radar screen.

When FOX televised game one of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final between the Red Wings and Devils, it marked the first time since 1980 that a game from the final round had aired on U.S. network television (and the first to do so in prime time since 1973, but I digress). Between 1995 and 1999, FOX split its coverage of the Stanley Cup Final with ESPN, not unlike today’s sharing of duties between NBC and VERSUS. But the way in which FOX and ESPN divided the games, combined with the length (or lack thereof) of each year’s final round, meant that ESPN often aired the decisive game. In fact, apart from the first year of the contract in 1995 when FOX aired the Devils clinching game, coincidence had it that each of the next four seasons deprived U.S. viewers of the chance to see the Stanley Cup being lifted on network television. To prevent this from happening in subsequent years, the NHL’s next broadcast contract with ABC and ESPN stipulated that ESPN would always air the first two games of the final series while ABC would air the remaining contests. So from 1999 through 2004, regardless in which game the Stanley Cup was won, the NHL knew the clinching game would air on U.S. network television.

Why the league abandoned this format is unclear – but the result is not. The current arrangement between NBC and VERSUS is a step backwards for the NHL and the league should consider itself lucky that it has escaped without harm – at least so far. Next year, everyone will have to hold their breath all over again.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No game scheduled

Jets Getting Louder

During a May 11 interview on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman seemed to dismiss rumours that a franchise in Winnipeg was on the short-term radar screen. When reporter Scott Oake started talking about a potential ownership group coming forward in the Manitoba capital to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes, Bettman interrupted with “you say that’s true, but nobody has confirmed that in Winnipeg for sure”. Well, now it appears that Bettman himself has provided this confirmation.

Fast forward 17 days after the CBC interview: It’s now May 28, and Bettman is addressing the media with his annual update on league affairs prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final. Instead of dismissing the Winnipeg rumours as he did during the Oake interview less than three weeks earlier, Bettman does a 180-degree turn, confirming that “Winnipeg did make a bona fide offer” and, referencing the Jets original departure from Winnipeg in 1996 and the Nordiques move from Quebec City one year earlier, he adds “I’d like to try and fix something that I wish might not have happened in the first place”.

So, what does all this mean? The Phoenix Coyotes have yet to find a buyer that is committed to keeping the team in Arizona. The league has set a deadline of June 30 to ink a deal and there is growing speculation that none will be reached. If the June 30 date comes and goes without an announcement, the league would be in a legal position to move the team unless city council were to make good on the infamous $25 million guarantee - far from a certainty. Nonetheless, with the NHL schedule set to be released on June 22, it is highly unlikely at this point that any franchises will be on the move in time for next season. But after that, all bets are off.

Bettman’s drastic shift in message to the media in such a short period of time suggests that the league is now actively embracing Canadian relocation and that teams in both Winnipeg and Quebec City are legitimate short-term possibilities. “Winnipeg, I believe, has an NHL building,” Bettman commented, “and in Quebec, they’re talking about building one”. And at NHL headquarters in New York, you’ve got to believe that they’re seriously talking about teams coming back to Canada. They're certainly talking about it on this side of the boarder.

TONIGHT'S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 3, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

Fabricated Atmosphere

I did a piece a while ago about National Anthems and how NBC, apart from the Stanley Cup Final, rarely embraces the arena atmosphere prior to puck drop. Well, the final round is now upon us and, true to form, NBC has started to televise the player introductions and anthem theatrics. This year is a particular treat because both the Blackhawks and Flyers have arguably the most storied anthem traditions in the NHL – with Jim Cornelison accompanying the famed Chicago organ before Blackhawks games, and the late Kate Smith belting out God Bless America in front of the Flyers faithful. The atmosphere in both arenas is always electric in anticipation of the tune-to-come, and NBC should be congratulated for recognizing these important traditions and bringing them into the living rooms of the U.S. audience:



CBC, on the other hand, made what I consider to be a major pre-game no-no during last night’s broadcast. Instead of bringing viewers the authentic atmosphere inside Chicago’s United Center prior to Cornelison taking the ice, the public broadcaster only provided the video feed from the arena, choosing to replace the audio with the theme song from the Phantom of the Opera. You see, Don Cherry had just done a promotional piece in a phantom costume underneath the bleachers of the arena, and CBC apparently thought it was necessary to extend the musical number throughout the entire player introductions. So, instead of hearing the crowd getting worked-up into a frenzy, Canadian television viewers only got to see them. The authentic audio feed was absent (except for the final few seconds), replaced with something a lot more cheezy:



The pre-game atmosphere at a Stanley Cup Final game is explosive and CBC is usually pretty good at recognizing this. Let’s hope the public broadcaster gets it right as the series now shifts to Philadelphia.

TONIGHT'S GAMES
No games scheduled

Leveraging Hockey 110%

Hockey can make or break a Canadian television network. Advertising revenue from CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, for example, subsidizes the majority of other CBC programmes that are money losers. When rumours swirled a few years ago that CBC ran the risk of losing NHL TV rights to rival CTV, industry insiders openly questioned if the public broadcaster could survive such a fatal blow. Although CBC was ultimately able to retain its NHL package, another broadcasting chain has not been so lucky and has slowly succumbed to its wounds.

Télévision Quatre-Saisons (“TQS”) was launched in 1986 as the third French-language television service throughout the Province of Quebec. Sports, particularly hockey, quickly became a staple item on the TQS schedule. Beginning in 1988, the network became the official broadcaster of the Quebec Nordiques. In 1995, when the Nordiques relocated to Colorado as the Avalanche, TQS shifted its hockey focus to the Montreal Canadiens, airing at least one of the team’s games per week. In 1998, to complement the Canadiens coverage, the network introduced a nightly sports debate show entitled 110%. Airing after the games, 110% gave former coaches (like Jean Perron and Michel Bergeron), retired players (such as Enrico Ciccone and Marc Bureau), and active journalists (including Michel Villeneuve and Pierre Rinfret) the opportunity to debate the Canadiens performance and what adjustments the team should make for the next game, the next series, the next season, etc. The show, first hosted by Paul Rivard and later by Jean Pagé, became infamous for having all its guests talking (read: screaming) at the same time and the ambience mirrored the passionate debates that Quebeckers would have about hockey over their office water coolers and home dinner tables. Jean Perron, as an example, is shown here expressing what he believes to be a lack of historical success with Russian players with the Canadiens:



110% was a huge success, so much so that it gave rise to spoof segments on comedy shows, such as this 10% clip from a Radio-Canada New Year’s Eve Special, in which the show was removed from its sports context and placed into a political one:



But the show was not only mimicked in comedy segments – its successful format on TQS gave rise to competing sports debate shows on other networks. In 2005, Radio-Canada launched Au-dessus de la mêlée and, in 2008, RDS premiered L’Antichambre. The rival networks also poached TQS’ talent base, with Radio-Canada taking Michel Villeneuve and RDS grabbing Michel Bergeron. Meanwhile, TQS wasn’t only losing its talent – it was also losing its hockey footprint. The Canadiens announced in 2002 that conventional networks were no longer in the team’s future – the Canadiens would now air exclusively on cable channel RDS.

For TQS, the cable-only announcement was a fatal blow. Without the hockey property, TQS fell into severe financial hardship. In 2007, the network filed for bankruptcy protection. Its new owner, Remstar, changed the network’s name to V and announced that all in-house productions would cease in 2008 – with the only exception being 110%. But even the network’s crown jewel could not avoid fate forever. After all, rival RDS not only had exclusive coverage of the Canadiens, but it also now had its own sports debate show that immediately followed the games. The transition from game to debate on RDS was seamless, with viewers not given much time or reason to change channels. Not surprisingly, 110% suffered in the ratings department and, after a brief name change to L’Attaque à 5, the show aired its last broadcast on Friday – 11 seasons after it first started.

110% will not be the only hockey debating show going off the air for good this spring. Later in June, Radio-Canada’s attempt at the genre will also disappear into television history. La Zone with Michel Villeneuve (also a name change, this time from Au-dessus de la mêlée) has equally been bleeding viewers to RDS and the show will not be renewed next season. This means that the cable channel’s L’Antichambre will run unopposed next fall as the only hockey debate show in town.

The moral to the story is never to underestimate the importance of NHL broadcasting rights in the Canadian television industry. Not only do hockey ratings mean big bucks in advertising revenue during the games themselves, allowing the funds to be spent on more fragile areas of network programming, but the audience can be easily convinced to stick around after the game, boost ratings for complementary shows, and drive a dagger into the heart of the competition. When it comes to leveraging the game of hockey by 110%, no one does it as well as RDS.

TONIGHT'S GAME:
Flyers at Blackhawks - Game 2, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)

All about Leverage

Here’s something you don’t read every day: Kudos to Gary Bettman. Unlike previous years in which the NHL schedule was quietly released in mid-July – one of hockey’s few dead months – the league did things very differently this year, choosing instead to leverage the media spotlight of the Stanley Cup Final to announce the key highlights of next year’s campaign.

Although the complete schedule won’t be released until June 22 (also leveraged, this time with the Entry Draft), Gary Bettman’s timing to unveil all the highlights of next year’s schedule earlier this afternoon, on the eve of the Stanley Cup Final, shows that he can make some good business decisions. Just as hockey broadcasters air games at specific times to attract as many eyeballs as possible, the league is right to disseminate its message about next season to as many people as it can, and what better audience magnet could there be to the game of hockey than the Stanley Cup Final?

Next year’s highlights include a pair of doubleheaders to kick off the season on Thursday, October 7: On CBC, the Maple Leafs will host the Canadiens and the Oilers will entertain Calgary, while on U.S. cable the Flyers will play Pittsburgh and Chicago will take on Colorado. The New Year’s Day outdoor Winter Classic will be played between the Penguins and Capitals on NBC. There is also a strong possibility of a second outdoor game, this time featuring the all-Canadian matchup of Montreal in Calgary on Sunday, February 20. CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada, the annual celebration of our country’s “love and devotion to the game” will take place on Saturday, February 12 with Ottawa at Edmonton in the afternoon, followed by Toronto at Montreal and Calgary at Vancouver as the evening games. For the first time, the NHL will also experiment with the idea south of the border with Hockey Day in America on Sunday, February 20. The playoffs will begin on Wednesday, April 13.

The league reached a lot more people by making these announcements today as opposed to two months from now. This, Gary, is how you grow the game. Now, we just have to talk about that Phoenix thing . . .

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES:
Tonight
No games scheduled
Saturday
Flyers at Blackhawks - Game 1, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Sunday
No games scheduled

NHL's Tire

With the debut of the Stanley Cup Finals still two days away, hockey fans and broadcasters are no doubt bored with the excessive wait between rounds. For those counting, we’re in the middle of four straight days without any hockey on the tube and it’s starting to get tiring. So, it was with some irony that the NHL announced yesterday that it signed an “Official Tire” agreement. Granted, the deal was signed with Bridgestone Tires – as in the tires on a car – but, given the long wait between rounds, it would have made more sense to ink a deal with a mattress company.

According to the press release, the “Bridgestone brand will serve as the Official Tire of the NHL, NHLPA, and Hockey Hall of Fame for the next five years”. The communiqué goes on to list a plethora of events at which the tires will be featured and for which they will serve as a sponsor. But the real question, on my mind at least, was completely avoided: Why in the world does a hockey league need an Official Tire?

Could it be for the Zambonis? Well, the press release is quite specific with its message “for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars, it’s Bridgestone or nothing”. Cars, the text reads, not Zambonis. It must be for something else.

Maybe it’s for the moving vans when the Phoenix Coyotes finally croak and are relocated to Winnipeg. Again, the press release is quite explicit with the term “car”, but there probably won’t be enough cash left in the team’s $25 million rescue package to hire professional movers. Instead, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may have to make a few trips with his car in the middle of the night, just like a tenant skipping out on the rent. (It’s worth noting that the Coyotes original lease at Jobbing.com Arena ran through the year 2033.) But I’m not sure Bridgestone would want to associate its brand with the Phoenix Coyotes saga – too controversial and too few people.

How about having Bridgestone on hand to replace the slashed tires of sports journalists covering the visiting playoff team in Philadelphia? Too bad for Montreal Gazette sports writer Pat Hickey that the Bridgestone announcement hadn’t been made when his 1999 Honda Accord with a Quebec licence plate was vandalized in Philadelphia after game one of the Flyers series against the Canadiens. Still, I bet there are a few dozen Chicago-area sports reporters who would be very interested in such an offer from Bridgestone. And the good news is that they still have another 48 hours before the Flyers-Blackhawks series gets underway to make arrangements.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Disjointed Third Round

Of the three rounds played so far in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the third round has been, by far, the most awkward for viewers and broadcasters – particularly in regards to the Blackhawks-Sharks Western Final. The series lasted the minimum four games but managed to rotate between three different broadcasters and three different start times, of which only one was in prime time. The complete audience ratings haven’t been disseminated yet, but it’s a good bet the numbers will be all over the place.

In terms of broadcasters, TSN had the rights to the first three games of the series and the specialty channel announced that it would use Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire to call the action. But this wasn’t entirely accurate because NBC televised the first game in the U.S. and, for whatever reason, whenever NBC televises a game for which TSN holds the Canadian rights, TSN uses the NBC feed. So viewers in Canada got NBC’s Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk for game one, TSN’s Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire for games two and three, and then the series shifted to CBC where Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson called the action for game four. Hughson and Simpson would have continued to work the remainder of the series had it not been a sweep but, with the Blackhawks winning in four straight games, the top duo at Hockey Night in Canada was limited to calling only one game in the third round – and it was an afternoon contest to boot - not exactly a ratings bonanza for CBC.

Speaking of afternoon contests, the Blackhawks-Sharks series had two of them. In fact, the series comprised more afternoon games than prime time telecasts: Game one was on a Sunday afternoon (not good for TSN's ratings), game two a late night Tuesday (not good for TSN's ratings), game three a prime time Friday (much better for TSN's ratings), and game four back to a Sunday afternoon (back to poor ratings - this time for CBC). Throw in another afternoon contest for game four of the Canadiens-Flyers series (again, bad for CBC), juxtaposed against prime time starts for its other four contests (much better for CBC), and everyone had to have been scratching their heads as to why there wasn’t more consistency with start times. In all fairness to the NHL, the remainder of the third round was all scheduled to be played in prime time and promised to deliver a string of large audiences – the only problem was that both series were over too quickly for any of these games to actually get played. And so, don’t be surprised if the ratings we see in a few days aren’t quite as strong as those to which we have grown accustom - they certainly won't be consistent.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Made for (U.S.) TV

It features neither Alex Ovechkin nor Sidney Crosby, but NBC has to be pretty happy nonetheless with the matchup for this year’s Stanley Cup Final. In fact, this year’s confrontation between the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers is the third season in a row in which the final round involves two teams from major U.S. hockey markets. And, unlike the past two seasons in which one of the markets (Detroit) straddled the Canadian border and split the local audience with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, fans in both Chicago and Philadelphia will have no alternative to the U.S. telecasts.

As in past years, however, NBC will only show five of the potential seven games in the series, with the other two contests available to the American audience via cable only. The problem for NBC is that three of its five games will only be played if necessary, meaning that the network would only have two games to air in the event of a sweep. And should a sweep materialize, NBC would not air the clinching game. Of course, considering NBC’s level of “commitment” to hockey in general – particularly in the coveted prime-time spot in which all of the games will now air – the network may very well consider a short series to be a good thing.

In Canada, although CBC would have much preferred to see the Montreal Canadiens representing the Eastern Conference, the Flyers-Blackhawks matchup should still deliver good ratings – most notably for the first game which is scheduled for the public broadcaster’s traditional Saturday evening timeslot. Look for Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy to work this series. The real loser in all of this is French-language RDS, which had benefited from amazing ratings with the Canadiens, but will now have its numbers plummet back to earth. Of note, Jacques Demers, who has been named to the Canadian Senate, saw his broadcasting career end last night with the elimination of the Canadiens. Demers will not work the final round.

STANLEY CUP FINAL - SCHEDULE:
1 - Sat. May 29 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
2 - Mon. May 31 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
3 - Wed. June 2 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
4 - Fri. June 4 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
*5 - Sun. June 6 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
*6 - Wed. June 9 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
*7 - Fri. June 11 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)

*if necessary

Last Hurrah for TSN

After more than a month of furious action on TSN, the curtain closes tonight on the specialty channel’s coverage of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with game three of the third round Blackhawks-Sharks series from Chicago. This spring has seen the network establish a number of hockey milestones and, even though luck sometimes played a part, those involved with the station should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done. In chronological order, the network can report these impressive numbers:

• TSN’s coverage of the first round Canadiens-Capital series ranks as the most-watched playoff series ever on the specialty channel with an average audience of 1.8 million viewers over seven games. Game two of this series earned TSN its highest NHL playoff audience ever at 2.1 million viewers . . . that is until this figure was surpassed in game seven of the same series with an audience of 2.8 million.
• The network ranked first, fourth, fifth, and seventh in APH ratings in the first round, despite the fact that TSN selected its series in the third, fifth, seventh, and eighth draft spots.
• The specialty channel’s game seven coverage of the second round Flyers-Bruins series earned the network its highest audience ever recorded for a game not involving a Canadian-based team at 2.1 million.
• TSN’s game one coverage of the third round Blackhawks-Sharks series, which drew an audience of 1.225 million (not including NBC viewers), earned the highest APH for any afternoon game played throughout this year’s playoffs at 0.136 – beating even CBC’s game two afternoon coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins series (again, not including NBC viewers).

The most telling milestone from above was the second bullet point – even though the network selected its first round series from a position of weakness in comparison to rival CBC, the specialty channel was rank ahead of the public broadcaster in many of the APH ratings. In fact, after removing the three first round series in which Canadian teams participated, TSN ranked first, second, and fourth for the remaining all-American matchups with CBC placing third and fifth. So, whereas CBC will always benefit from its near-stranglehold on Canadian teams in the playoffs, viewers appear to prefer TSN when the playing field is levelled and Canadian content is no longer part of the equation. This either means that (a) TSN does a better job than CBC in selecting the all-American series, thereby attracting more viewers than CBC, and/or (b) TSN delivers a better overall broadcast than CBC, thereby attracting more viewers than the public broadcaster. Either way, the NHL on TSN team deserves the credit.

THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
Tonight
Sharks at Blackhawks - Game 3, 8 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Saturday
Flyers at Canadiens - Game 4, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Sunday
Sharks at Blackhawks - Game 4, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Monday (Victoria Day)
Canadiens at Flyers - Game 5, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

A Weekday Afternoon in Europe

Yesterday’s blog took a look at how poorly afternoon hockey games perform on Canadian television in comparison with more traditional evening timeslots. But at least the daytime games we love to hate are weekend games – could you imagine how silly it would be for the NHL to schedule afternoon contests during the work week? And yet, that’s exactly what’s going to happen next season. This time, instead of the villain being U.S. broadcaster NBC, it’s the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Games – otherwise known as the league’s annual trip to Europe to open the regular season.

Some background: In 2007, as a way to test the viability of potential expansion franchises in Europe, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks played a pair of weekend games in London to kick-off the NHL calendar. In 2008, the experiment was expanded to include four games – two in Stockholm between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators, and two in Prague between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The pattern continued in 2009 with another four games on the European slate – two in Stockholm between the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, and two in Helsinki between the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks. To open next season, the NHL has its most ambitious plans yet – a trio of two-game series in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Prague – bringing the total to six games.

The problem with all of this is when to schedule the games in light of significant time zone differences between Europe and each of the team’s fan bases in North America. In past seasons, the league opted to play in Europe on Saturday and Sunday evening, meaning that the games would air live on North American television on weekend afternoons. But with next year’s voyage involving three series instead of two, there isn’t enough time to squeeze all the games into a single weekend of coverage. So, if you’re a fan of the Carolina Hurricanes or Minnesota Wild and want to watch your team on television opening its season in Helskini, you’re going to have to tune-in on a Thursday afternoon in October. Game two of the series will go the next day on Friday. And if you’re a fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets or the San Jose Sharks, your series will start on the same Friday afternoon – of course it will be more like Friday morning in California – before concluding the next day on Saturday. The only European visitors that will be spared weekday afternoon games are the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes (or, as may be the case, Winnipeg Jets), both of which will play in Prague on Saturday and Sunday.

So why should fans of other teams and their broadcasters care about the plight of four teams for one or two days? Because this could easily be your team in a few years – and for more than one or two days per season. If the NHL ever decides to place franchises in European cities, weekend afternoon games for the North American audience would be unavoidable. No matter how great permanent European hockey could be for the NHL (which is something that I seriously dispute), the time zome issue alone would be extremely frustrating and inconvenient for hockey fans on this side of the Atlantic and a complete ratings disaster for North American broadcasters. Let’s hope the NHL arrives at this conclusion while its European adventure is still only in experimentation mode.

TONIGHT'S GAME:
Flyers at Canadiens - Game 3, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

The "NBC Effect"

It’s long been a running assumption that hockey broadcasters in Canada don’t like having to accommodate U.S. network television with weekend afternoon games in the playoffs – particularly at the expense of the traditional Saturday night timeslot. The numbers through the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs would seem to support this assumption. The below table looks at how each of NBC’s six afternoon games this post-season has performed on Canadian television in comparison with the rest of the respective series:

When the “NBC Effect” is negative, as shown in red, it means that less people were watching the game on CBC or TSN than was the case for the rest of the series. As you can see, there is a lot of red in the table. In fact, of the six broadcasts, five were negative (three significantly so) and only one managed to barely eek out a positive impact of 0.3%. These numbers show that, on average, Canadian broadcasters lose about 15% of their audiences when a game is played on a weekend afternoon. Conversely, the below table shows a sharp increase in viewers when a game is played on a Saturday night:

When the “Saturday Night Effect” is positive, as shown in green, it means that more people were watching the game on CBC or TSN than was the case for the rest of the series. As you can see, there is only green in the table. According to this data, Canadian broadcasters can expect to benefit from double-digit audience growth for Saturday night telecasts. Coupled with the loss from afternoon broadcasts, we can conclude that there is a significant swing when Saturday games are moved around by a few hours.

It looks as if CBC and TSN have an empirical reason to complain when they are asked (read: forced) to accommodate their U.S. broadcasting partner.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Canadiens Drive Second Round Stats

Canadian hockey broadcasters have released their viewership numbers from the second round of the playoffs and, like the first round, the Montreal Canadiens continue to produce the highest ratings. Continuing my practice from an earlier post, I calculated the Audience per Household figure (or “APH”) by dividing the average audience per series by the number of households reached by each network. The results are below, with the second round series in bold:

As was the case with the first round, the two English-language networks were blown-away by French-language specialty channel RDS, which posted an APH of 0.582. This means that, of the approximately 3,000,000 households with access to RDS, 58.2% of them had someone watching the channel’s broadcasts of the Canadiens-Penguins series. This was up from the 0.446 figure for the Canadiens first round series against the Capitals.

Over at the English-language networks, CBC earned the highest APH for the second round at 0.211 – also for its coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins. This comes on the heels of TSN winning the first round with an APH of 0.200 – get this, for the Canadiens-Capitals. In fact, all three second round series not involving the Montreal Canadiens had a worse APH than the Canadiens first round series.

A lot was said during the first round about CBC’s controversial decision to go with the Canucks-Kings and Senators-Penguins instead of the Canadiens-Capitals. Using the APH method, I was able to statistically demonstrate that the Canadiens-Capitals would have done better in the ratings department on CBC than the two series that the network had chosen. But the second round allows the cherry to truly be placed on the sundae – even CBC’s second round Canucks-Blackhawks series did worse than the first round Canadiens-Capitals on an APH basis (0.197 versus 0.200). What does all of this mean? Clearly, CBC should rethink any future plans to ditch the Canadiens because another network’s coverage (i.e. that of RDS) would carve-up the viewership pie. The reality is that the Canadiens viewership pie – even when carved-up – provides much larger slices than that of other teams.

As for TSN, the network was not able to reproduce its magic from the first round, as it no longer had the Montreal Canadiens (or any other Canadian team, for that matter) to drive ratings. Nonetheless, its Flyers-Bruins and Red Wings-Sharks series received higher APHs (0.125 and 0.117) than its three first-round series that involved only U.S.-based teams (0.090, 0.086, and 0.061). With its Stanley Cup Playoff coverage drawing to a close on Friday, TSN should be pretty happy with the numbers its posted this year.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:

Canadiens at Flyers - Game 2, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

Blackhawks at Sharks - Game 2, 10 p.m. (TSN)

Third Round Confirmations

So the third round got underway yesterday and, as expected, broadcasting executives and NHL schedule makers didn’t really throw fans any curve balls (pardon the baseball pun). As anticipated, NBC elected to go with the all-American matchup between San Jose and Chicago twice but was also forced to reluctantly accept one game between Montreal and Philadelphia. CBC, for its part, is covering the entire Canadiens-Flyers series and, as I forecasted, is opting to go with Bob Cole in the booth. As for Jim Hughson, he will work the Sharks-Blackhawks series beginning with game four, after TSN concludes its coverage of the first three games. Now that TSN doesn’t have multiple series to cover, Chris Cuthbert will work alongside Pierre McGuire for the specialty channel’s remaining broadcasts – which just goes to confirm my much earlier belief that it should have been Cuthbert as the network’s top play-by-play man, and not Gord Miller, calling the Canadiens-Capitals in the first round.

The Montreal Canadiens have heavily impacted TSN’s playoff coverage this year. In the first round, it was the presence of the Canadiens on TSN that gave the specialty channel its highest hockey ratings in the network’s history. But the continued presence of the Canadiens – now on CBC – has since had the opposite effect for TSN. The specialty channel has not yet released its ratings for the second round, but one can only imagine that they won’t come close to what CBC has been reporting: A whopping 4.239 million watched game seven between the Canadiens-Penguins on CBC alone, with another 2.417 million watching on French-language RDS – that means there weren’t too many people left to watch game six between the Flyers-Bruins on TSN, which aired at the same time as game seven of the Canadiens-Penguins series on the other networks.

And the news doesn’t get better for TSN. The Canadiens are still alive in the third round and will still continue to rack-up ratings for TSN’s competitors. Even more frustrating for the specialty channel, two of the three games it does get to broadcast in the third round start at non-peak times – a Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock and a Tuesday night beginning afterhours at 10 o’clock. CBC, on the other hand, will have the Canadiens at 7 o’clock each night – except for Saturday, when the game will be played in the afternoon to accommodate U.S. television. Notwithstanding the bad foot on which the playoffs started for CBC, the public broadcaster has to be pretty happy with how things have since turned around.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

The Business of Hockey

Hockey isn’t a game anymore – it’s a business – and today’s brand of hockey journalism extends well beyond the arena all the way to the boardroom. The Hot Stove League, which ran on Hockey Night in Canada from 1939 to 1957 (first on radio and then on television), brought together well-known hockey writers to gab about the evening’s game. Today’s version, renamed The Hotstove, has nothing to do with the game itself and everything to do with the business behind it. Despite valiant efforts, the show’s participants aren’t always up to the task of truly understanding the business behind their sport.

The typical panel consists of Ron MacLean (long-time junior hockey referee and host of Hockey Night in Canada), Glenn Healy (former NHL goaltender and current colour commentator), Mike Milbury (former NHL defenseman and head coach), and Pierre Lebrun (sports reporter with the Canadian Press). Although each of these four gentlemen has secondary experience in the business world, such as Healy’s involvement with the NHL Players Association and Milbury’s time as General Manager of the New York Islanders, their collective background is clearly sports first and business second. Their business knowledge is adequate, but not extensive enough to truly understand the intricate nuances being debated in the boardroom. Why? The boardroom isn’t filled with hockey people who dab in business from time-to-time. Rather, it’s filled with business people who dab in hockey from time-to-time. Let’s take a look at the principal players in the Phoenix Coyotes saga as a typical example:

Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL, is the highest ranking executive in the league. But he didn’t get the job because he was a former player. Bettman’s background includes his study of Industrial and Labour Relations at Cornell University and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. He practised at the New York law firm of Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn before serving in the legal and marketing departments of the National Basketball Association. Since joining the NHL in 1993, Bettman expanded the league by four teams, relocated four other teams, and broke the player’s union during the 2004-2005 lockout. He may not be a popular figure in Canada, but Bettman’s business acumen ranks above that of the Hockey Night in Canada panel.

So does that of Jerry M. Reinsdorf, Certified Public Accountant, lawyer, real estate tycoon, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, and, if you believe rumours, possible future owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Then there’s Canadian billionaire David Thomson – as in the Thomson Reuters business information empire kingpin – who, if you believe rumours, could eventually be responsible for landing an NHL team in Winnipeg. Finally, there’s the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative think-tank whose policies of lower taxes, limited government spending, and a reduction in government management of the economy could, if you believe rumours, serve as the catalyst for the Coyotes deserting Arizona for the Manitoba capital.

Now I won’t pretend to be in the same league as these esteemed business veterans and organizations, but my background is very much business-oriented and I can tell you that the Hockey Night in Canada panel – like all the other sports shows heavy on athletic glory but a little low on business savvy – has it wrong when it comes to the Phoenix Coyotes current ownership situation. Specifically, this week’s vote by city council to guarantee a payment of up to $25 million to the NHL does not – I repeat - does not mean the team is safe in Phoenix for at least another year.

To make a fortune – and continue to hold on to that fortune – business people have to adapt to the changing environment in which they find themselves. A few years ago, having a $25 million insurance policy underwritten by a large U.S. municipality would have probably been sufficient for Gary Bettman and the NHL. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? If Reinsdorf walks away and no one else (i.e. Ice Edge Holdings) expresses interest in purchasing the Coyotes for retention in Phoenix, the NHL would just pocket its $25 million and move the team the following year. Right? Wrong!

The 2008 financial meltdown was all about credit and defaulting on that credit. Institutions thought they were adequately protected against nightmare scenarios because they had taken out the appropriate “insurance policies” – both literally and figuratively – only to find out at their time of need that underwriters weren’t liquid enough to pay. The lesson? A guarantee may not be worth the paper on which it’s written. I believe that’s the case with the so-called $25-million “guarantee” made to the NHL this week - and not just because the municipality is in dire financial straits - and I’m pretty sure that Gary Bettman does too.

This week’s financial “commitment” to the Phoenix Coyotes was nothing more than a political stunt – both by city council and the NHL – because neither party wants to be held directly responsible for the team’s potential departure. Yes, there is always a chance that the $25 million could be paid out, but in the absence of finding a credible buyer committed to keeping the team in Phoenix, it is far more likely that one of two scenarios will emerge: Either the Goldwater Institute will file a lawsuit to block payment to the NHL, claiming the move is illegal under state law – an argument that doesn’t need to be won but just needs to take months to resolve – or the city will refuse to pay outright, once it realizes that the team’s relocation is inevitable.

Let’s do a little situation analysis. Let’s say that, before the start of next season, Reinsdorf agrees to buy the team and keep it in Phoenix. Under such a situation, activation of the $25 million insurance policy wouldn’t be requested by the NHL. It’s only if a buyer isn’t found by then that the NHL would want council to pay. But if council knows there aren’t any buyers, it also knows that the team won’t stay in Phoenix, so why would it pay the NHL and commit political suicide – particularly if the Goldwater Institute’s argument provides an easy way out?

I find it hard to believe that a business person like Gary Bettman hasn’t thought this through and realized there is no probable outcome under which the insurance policy could be practically put into play. I find it equally sad that Hockey Night in Canada – or any sports show for that matter – can’t find the right business people to see three or four moves ahead and give viewers a more thorough understanding of what is going on behind closed doors. Far from guaranteeing the Coyotes presence in Phoenix next season, all the insurance policy does is buy the NHL more time to discuss relocation plans with Thomson for the Winnipeg option and, potentially, have the same discussion with other business moguls representing the Kansas City and Las Vegas markets (uggh!). But make no mistake - the NHL isn't interested in paper contracts - it wants its money. So if Reinsdorf doesn’t buy the team, Phoenix can kiss the Coyotes goodbye – at least that’s my “guarantee”.

THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
Tonight
Flyers at Bruins – Game 7, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Saturday
No game scheduled
Sunday
Blackhawks at Sharks – Game 1, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(TSN)/(RDS)
Canadiens at Flyers/Bruins – Game 1, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

Fog Clears on Third Round

Last night’s stunning Canadiens victory in game seven over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins confirms the third of four participants in the next round of the playoffs. Although the NHL schedule makers will have to wait until Friday night’s game seven between Philadelphia and Boston before publishing the dates and start times for the third round games, we already have a pretty good idea of what the schedule will look like and what the implications will be for the various broadcasters.

Obviously, CBC will be showing the entire Canadiens series – regardless which team they face – and the ratings promise to be huge. However, because game 7 of the Flyers-Bruins series goes Friday night, the eventual winner of that tilt will not be able to begin the next series against Montreal until at least Sunday, meaning CBC won’t get the Habs for the traditional Saturday night timeslot. The other series between Chicago and San Jose – which will be split between CBC and TSN – also can’t get underway until at least Sunday because the San Jose arena has a prior commitment on Saturday. Thus, there will be no Saturday night hockey this weekend.

NBC resumes its playoff coverage on Sunday afternoon after a long hiatus and then continues coverage the following weekend with games on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. So, unless the NHL schedules the Blackhawks-Sharks on back-to-back afternoons (which is highly unlikely given the travel distance between the two cities), there won’t be any Saturday night hockey next weekend either. Of the three NBC telecasts, the U.S. network will probably have to take the Canadiens series at least once because of the back-to-back phenomenon, meaning that CBC will have to cope with a minimum of one afternoon game for the marquee series.

It could go either way – but look for Bob Cole to call the Canadiens series for the public broadcaster with Jim Hughson working the Blackhawks-Sharks. Cole, who rarely travels to the west coast, has done a great job covering the Canadiens – particularly the games in Montreal – and it would certainly make financial sense for him to stay out east, given that he lives in Newfoundland. Jim Hughson calls British Columbia home – only a short distance from San Jose.

Meanwhile, before TSN gets to its limited third round coverage, it has the privilege of televising game seven between the Flyers and Bruins. With the Flyers looking to win the series after trailing 3-0, the specialty network may very well be in for another ratings bonanza . . . but nothing like what the network's sister station RDS is going to attract for the Canadiens third round presence.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

CBC Grills Bettman . . . Well, Not Really

Last night’s second intermission between the Canucks and Blackhawks provided the perfect stage for a dramatic interview with Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL. The topic of the interview was the future of the Phoenix Coyotes and the team’s potential relocation from Glendale, Arizona to its original home in Winnipeg. As luck would have it, the man conducting the interview for Hockey Night in Canada was none other than Winnipeg resident Scott Oake.

Now a little background is needed here. As rumours of the Jets return to the Manitoba capital have intensified over the past few months and weeks, Oake said on one broadcast that he, like countless Winnipeggers, had been hurt before when rumours of the team’s return surfaced in the past and that he didn’t think it was wise to get too emotionally attached this time around until it was a done deal. He also didn’t appreciate the league using Winnipeggers as bargaining chips. So when news came last night that the Winnipeg name may have been used only to leverage a deal with Glendale’s City Council, Oake’s segment with Bettman promised to be juicy.

The interview begins at the 3:00 mark of the below video clip. When Oake starts to talk about Winnipeg’s arena and proposed ownership structure at the 4:43 mark, only to have Bettman interrupt with “you say that’s true, but nobody has confirmed that in Winnipeg for sure,” Oake gave such an emotional facial expression at 5:00 that I was sure fireworks were going to explode between the two. Unfortunately for those of us wanting to watch Bettman squirm for a bit, Oake quickly regained his composure and an explosion was averted.



Instead, Bettman playfully adds at 5:25 “you’re from Winnipeg?” (as if he didn’t know this ahead of time) and then, my personal favourite at 5:45, “you are a very good journalist the way you phrase that,” to which Oake turns to the camera and grins. It took about one minute for Oake to transform from Bettman’s inquisitor to his patsy – even less time than it took for the City of Winnipeg to have its hopes of an NHL team dashed – at least for now.

I’m still betting the Jets will be in Winnipeg next year.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Canadiens at Penguins – Game 7, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Bruins at Flyers – Game 6, 8 p.m. (TSN)

Networks Hold Their Breath

Will Canadian television see the return of the Jets next season? Will CBC get Canadian content in the third round of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs? Will TSN get any content? Will NBC be shutout from its marquee player? Answers to these and other questions could begin to appear as early as tonight.

On the ice, the Vancouver Canucks host Chicago in game six of their second round playoff series. A win by the Blackhawks would eliminate Vancouver and produce an all-American Western Conference Final between Chicago and San Jose. Under such a scenario, TSN would be contractually permitted to air a handful of third round games and NBC would have the luxury of not having a Canadian team drain ratings – at least for one series. But should the Canucks force and eventually win game seven, and should the Canadiens win the game seven they’ve already forced in their series against Pittsburgh, both Conference Finals would involve Canadian teams. Under this scenario, CBC would have exclusive coverage of both third round series, TSN’s playoff coverage would be over for the year, and NBC would have to choose between two series it doesn’t want – both absent of star players Sidney Crosby and previously eliminated Alex Ovechkin – before having to possibly consider the network’s worst nightmare: An all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final. This evening’s action will go a long way in determining if such a scenario could ultimately prevail.

But the action is not only limited to the rink. About 30 minutes after tonight’s opening faceoff between Chicago and Vancouver, another high drama event is scheduled to get underway in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. On the agenda at tonight’s city council meeting is the NHL’s demand that the municipality cover the Coyotes operating losses for next season. Should the city refuse, a likely albeit not guaranteed outcome, the stage would be set for the return of the Winnipeg Jets. Montreal and Vancouver may be the only Canadian teams still alive in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the biggest street party of all may be elsewhere in the Great White North.

Whatever the results of this year’s playoff bracket, both this country and its broadcasters have reason to be optimistic about the future.

TONIGHT'S GAME:
Blackhawks at Canucks - Game 6, 9:30 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)