NHL Network: Keeps Ruining Hockey Night in Canada

I agree with you that the NHL network is doing a poor job with the games. However I dont agree that it is their responsability to provide HNIC. It should be on Center Ice, in HD!!! That is where the real problem is.
No matter how good the broadcasters are in HNIC, I will never believe that making good ol America watch the Toronto Leafs or Montreal Canadiens will make new fans. NHL Network US should focus on good US games and sometimes of course US-CA games. My blame for the lack of HNIC HD goes to Center Ice.

 

NO ONE ever said anything about only carrying Leafs or Habs games. And as for HNIC being Leafs centric take a look at their broadcast schedule....

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeynightincanada/broadcast/

A careful read of this shows that many nights this season HNIC is showing ALL of the Canadian Teams which means multiple broadcasts at 7 PM Eastern.

I've heard all the arguments about showing the BEST game on a Saturday night means that it might not be one of the HNIC games but you can't tell me that showing Boston and Tampa on Saturday would have been any less exciting than the Leafs Sens game. As others have said, it's the QUALITY of the HNIC broadcasts that serious fans want to see and casual fans will only have their interest increased if they get to see a well produced hockey package.

Bottom line here is that the NHL Network really is messing up with not showing the full HNIC package and then when they do show games their wretched crawl is distracting and way too big....

By the way, if someone can post an email for the NHL Network I'd love to write them to complain about what they are doing.

 

I follow Canadian hockey - I even had a canadian dish on my roof for several years to watch CBC and RDS so I know all about HNIC, the various games at 7,... I still don't believe you will increase fan base in America at all by showing games involving canadian teams - any canadian teams. Apart from the broadcasting crews, I do believe that showing Boston - Tampa makes more sense on NHL Net US than showing Toronto - Ottawa... Even I can't watch the Senators :nono2:

 

didnt boston and tampa play in the playoffs last year?

didnt toronto and ottawa both miss the playoffs last year?

the NHL (NOT THE CBC) network made the CORRECT call

Your beef is with Directtv for providing SD only feeds in Centre Ice

Somebody in the NHL office told me last year that the CBC feeds are being pushed to the Centre Ice package to increase sales in the package and that it is directtv's call not to carry them. As satelliteracer has stated in the past, the fact that it costs money to provide these feeds and centre ice is probably a money loser to begin with.

That is reality. You guys can bitch about it over and over and over but the days of seeing both games on the nhl network on sat are over and done with and never coming back.

 

All this trying to attract American hockey fans on NHL Network doesn't make sense. NHL Network is for hockey junkies like me. The reason I DROPPED CI is because NHL Network started showing HNIC, and that was one of my main purposes for having CI. Watching hockey from a Canadian perspective is awesome because they just have a passion for the game that no American does. It's like watching the NFL broadcasts or MLB. It probably feels foreign to Canadians watching the Super Bowl as it's not their event. Watching Hockey Night In Canada, knowing that this is THEIR passion is a joy.

 

VERY well said....

 

And don`t forget we in the States miss out on Don Cherry, clothes and all!

 

You can watch each Coach's Corner, albeit well after the broadcast, at the following site:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/CBC's_Hockey_Night_in_Canada/Coach's_Corner

 

Sat Oct 15th HNIC has 4 -7PM games. How does the NHL Network deal with that ?

What ever game they would have picked -someone was going to be disappointed.

Maybe Comcast/NBC/NHL Network doesn't want viewers to see HNIC . Maybe they don't want American viewers to compare CBC HNIC telecasts with their VS telecasts.

 

The NHL can be reached at 212-789-2000

I recommend calling and telling them your opinion on the NHL CI package AND the lack of CBC HD feeds for HNIC and the other Canadian HD feeds the rest of the week.

 

Agreed. I've lived in MN nearly my whole life and, while I support the Wild (they're fun to watch this year with Heatly, Setoguchi, and a bunch of other young talent), one of my favorite teams to watch is the 'nucks.

 

Channel 770-1 sure looks like HNIC in HD.

 

Sorry but the game of the night was the game the NHL Network picked, the two remaining undefeated teams, Detroit at Washington (even if the Wings decided not to show up). I still maintain the US version of NHL Network needs to pick the best matchup, whether or not it's a HNIC game. CI subscribers can watch HNIC on CI, and yes I know it's in SD only. That's a D issue, not an NHL Network issue. The Oilers? Really? I'm guessing that most US viewers that might be interested in that game would be Ranger fans who would preter the Ranger feed anyway.

 

Both CBC games were part of Center Ice tonight. Both were in HD - A first, and hopefully a sign of things to come -

 

I for one will not look a gift horse in the mouth. Last night gets a solid A+!

 

This

 

Well said. I not a big hockey fan, but HNIC is (or used to be) the only hockey event I regularly watched. I used to live near Montreal in Vermont and got it OTA so I didn't care about who had it on satellite (cable in VT has CBC Montreal and other Montreal channels as in the local/broadcast channels, but not in HD). My girlfriend loves the Bruins and we deal with the Bruins in 2 on NESN and the nationally broadcast live games we get since CI is too expensive.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Why can't we have a CBC affiliate on Directv? (or dish? or cable in non-border areas?) Most of the CBC programming is non-USA overlap and unique and interesting. It would be one my most-watched channels. Rant over.