NHL on Outdoor Life Channel

[imported_The Vibesman]

I didn't see another NHL thread on the last three pages, except the Bertuzzi one, and this is different. The NHL has come to an agreement with Comcast to have their games shown on the Outdoor Life Channel this season and next, up to games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, after which the finals move to NBC.
Story Link

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
I didn't see another NHL thread on the last three pages, except the Bertuzzi one, and this is different. The NHL has come to an agreement with Comcast to have their games shown on the Outdoor Life Channel this season and next, up to games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, after which the finals move to NBC.
Story Link

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll say this - thank god I get CBC.

[imported_The Vibesman]

Lucky. I'm in Boston, so I'll have to put up with OLC when the Bruins aren't playing. I can't imagine who they are going to get to announce the games, hopefully they go with some of the better known guys, but really, you've got to think the production values aren't going to be great. There are going to be a good amount of games on, so that's one positive.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Lucky. I'm in Boston, so I'll have to put up with OLC when the Bruins aren't playing. I can't imagine who they are going to get to announce the games, hopefully they go with some of the better known guys, but really, you've got to think the production values aren't going to be great. There are going to be a good amount of games on, so that's one positive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, what else do they have to show? The Tour de France is over for the year. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I'll say this, you know your league is in trouble when ESPN passes on airing it, since it'll cut into things like WNBA, and millions of WSOP reruns.

[imported_The Vibesman]

Maybe the funniest thing about this is it's the Outdoor Life Channel, and NHL hockey takes place indoors.

[DocMartin]

CBC, some MN FSN, and now OLN. Sweet. ESPN's coverage was just random filler anyway.

[woodguy]

I was listening to Bettman spin this on the radio and he said that this was a key:

[ QUOTE ]
The deal with Comcast goes beyond just television rights. Comcast will bring the NHL Network to cable systems in the United States, and provide on-demand game broadcasts and computer streaming of live games.

[/ QUOTE ]

In Canada PPV hockey games are good business for the league and they want to do that in the States as well.

That, and ESPN stated publically they wouldn't pay more than $30MIllion for the rights.

If you have a satellite, Roger's Sportnet in Canada carries a ton of games. They have 4 different viewing regions up here and are the rights holders for local broadcasts, so if you get all 4 channels you can often have 3 different games in the same night.

Regards,
Woodguy

[Triumph36]

Good and bad .. I think Comcast will be changing the name of the network, as it looks like they are trying to build a competitor to ESPN..

One problem is that there will be a game on every Monday night, but that game will be exclusive to OLN. This means if your team is playing, and it's not on OLN, it will not be shown anywhere. Now this is great for years to come, since what the NHL always lacked was an exclusive game - who was going to watch the national game on ESPN when there's your own team playing as well? But there are several games scheduled for Monday night this season.

ESPN's coverage was never great, and NHL fans really despised it. I didn't think it was *that* bad, but I just hated the blatant homerism of Bill Clement, Gary Thorne, and Steve Levy. From what I hear, Clement will unfortunately be a part of the new broadcast - no surprise, since OLN is owned by Comcast, the Flyers are owned by Comcast, and it seems like Bill is owned by the Flyers. Hopefully Thorne is not part of it - his outright butchering of European names and complete mis-calls (his famous "No goal!" on Friesen's Game 7 winner) just aren't needed.

So where exactly where I be able to watch my Pens win the cup?

OCW

[Triumph36]

[ QUOTE ]
So where exactly where I be able to watch my Pens win the cup?

OCW

[/ QUOTE ]

ESPN Classic.