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