Wash, Rinse, Repeat: NBC Releases TV Schedule For NHL Games, People Unhappy

Rear Admiral12/30/2020 9:40 PM

Shot...

annnnnd chaser...

We can count on certain things every (non-pandemic) year. Gary Bettman gets booed when handing off the Cup. The salmon return to Capistrano. And people get pissed when a team gets too many or too few NBC/NBCSN appearances.

I like to see the Bruins on NBC/NBCSN if only because it means that I won't have to see that godforsaken screen crawl that NESN fucking insists on using in 2020, when scores are easier to find than dog shit on a Boston sidewalk (seriously, clean up after your mutts, you friggin' slobs). But I'm not gonna bellyache or gloat one way or the other. I just want the goddamn game on TV.

With regional telecasts in each NHL city thus ensuring fans in each home market can watch their local team*, national TV games basically become a (small) dick-measuring contest on Twitter. Obviously, the pandemic and resulting border shutdowns have a huge effect a network's ability to air games in the traditional manner. Getting just two games from the North (Canadian) Division is a huge bummer for those without the NHL package yet still want to watch the best player in the world more than once during the regular season. But hey, at least they'll get Detroit @ Chicago twice.

*---sorry, Avs fans.

I like the triple-header to kick off the season. Pitt vs. Philly at dinnertime, Tampa raising their 2nd banner vs. the Hawks in primetime, then a battle of stacked contenders in Colorado and St. Louis for a nightcap.

How much longer until the NHL is back?