NHL Network should have world championships games

[stars33]

The NHL network should carry all the World championships games. They can use the TSN feed like NBCSN (NBCSN is currently only carrying USA games and final). They show the IIHF junior world championships. The games are in the day and do not conflict with the NHL playoffs.

It is terrible that Russia vs USA will not be on regular TV. Only NBCSN live stream.
Ovechkin, Malkin, Jagr and Crosby in a great tournament and we as fans who would watch are being shut out. Unless you want to watch it on your computer.

Czech rep. v Finland game was fantastic. I never seen Jagr so emotional after scoring.

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[Lemonlimey]

When Crosby signed on I was sure it would turn enough heads to put the World Championship on daytime cable television. I guess US hockey fans just can't have nice thing. If only I enjoyed NASCAR or the NCAA i'd probably find peace in this backwards country.

 

[Sentinel]

I never seen Jagr so emotional after scoring.

You haven't seen him in the 90s?

 

[FanHabtic*]

The NHL network should carry all the World championships games. They can use the TSN feed like NBCSN (NBCSN is currently only carrying USA games and final). They show the IIHF junior world championships. The games are in the day and do not conflict with the NHL playoffs.

It is terrible that Russia vs USA will not be on regular TV. Only NBCSN live stream.
Ovechkin, Malkin, Jagr and Crosby in a great tournament and we as fans who would watch are being shut out. Unless you want to watch it on your computer.

Czech rep. v Finland game was fantastic. I never seen Jagr so emotional after scoring.

NBCSN is showing Canada's games. At least the last 2 games.

 

[JA]

I think he was pretty excited about his first ever playoff goal as well.

 

[talkinaway]

I agree - but there are lots of reasons why they're not likely to do this. The NHL network is owned mostly by the NHL. They love advertising their own product. That means replaying last night's West Coast SCP games at 4 or 5 PM ET is more aligned to their interests than showing IIHF hockey.

Yes, they could probably do both, particularly when the IIHF tourney goes into playoff mode and the SCP gets to late second/early third round, where there's only 1 game (possibly 2) each day.

And, yeah, there's obviously some NHL talent in the IIHF tourney - particularly in Canada and the US, and some big NHL stars like Ovi playing for Russia. But particularly with the current SCP matchups (each matchup is Original 6 vs non-traditional that's near a good tipping point), I think they want to stick with their own production.

Of course, this isn't the only big mistake networks covering the NHL have made. I'm still mildly annoyed that a BOS@WSH preseason game wasn't covered by NESN (Boston's regional sports network that covers all Boston games not on NBC), but was supposedly on NHLN. For some reason, the Boston area was blocked from the NHLN feed (which showed whichever regional network covers the Caps), and we got a lovely documentary about Jacques Plante and his damn mask. I get NHLN being blocked locally when NESN shows a broadcast of the same game, but when there's no local broadcast, IMO, it should go through - NESN loses nothing.

 

[kingsholygrail]

There's a lot of things the NHL Network should have including more games during the season..but NBC considers its own channel a rival.

 

[tony d]

They should especially in the us. Be a good way to grow this tournament down there.

 

[Scotty B]

They should especially in the us. Be a good way to grow this tournament down there.

Yup it's pretty shortsighted by both NHL and NBC brass, especially with a very, VERY young Team USA punching WAY above its class, and with emerging stars like Eichel and Larkin both 18 along with Jones at 19, already looking like locks for their A team in the not too distant future.

Think back to Lake Placid 1980, now seen as America's most memorable sporting moment...those young Yankee giant killers turned so-ooooo many Americans into ardent hockey fans, with no-name kids ( kids like Mike Eruzione ) becoming coast to coast icons overnight. This wasn't the Olympics, still this years WC was very nearly 1980-lite, replete with those Yankee upstarts meeting , and very nearly beating, a star laden Russian squad, led by the likes of Ovi, Malkin, Kovalchuk , Tarasenko...AND with the Gold Medal still up for grabs!

Such a compelling story line, such a great opportunity to etch the names of a few of USA Hockey's and the NHL's emerging stars into the hearts and minds of American sports fans, who might then be motivated to follow their careers going forwards. Geez Luise, these are just fresh faced kids, still eligible for the US junior team, in the case of the aforementioned 3, ..and many others, eg Vesey aged 21, aren't much older-- look what they almost did, on one of international hockey's biggest stages?

Some overpaid and small minded suits BLEW IT BIG-TIME! If I was a network exec, I'd call them out on the carpet, saying : Why the %$@!! didn't u jump all over this??? .