J
Joseph_Gallant
Guest
A year late (thanks to the lockout that cancelled the entire 2004/2005 season), the first telecasts of NHL games on NBC under the new contract took place today (January 14th).
There were three regional telecasts. Being near Boston, the game in our area was between the Boston Bruins and the Dallas Stars (based on what play-by-play man Chris Cuthburt said during the overtime period, the viewers of the other two regional telecasts had been switched to Boston for the end of the game).
Based on the game I saw and the between-periods segments (which were likely seen network-wide), here are my thoughts.
If you were looking for NBC to re-invent the wheel as regards coverage of hockey on television, you didn't get it. In the game at Boston, the play-by-play of Chris Cuthbert (former #2 play-by-play man at "Hockey Night In Canada" and now at TSN) was solid, and the analysis of Peter McNab (a former Boston Bruins' player who is also an analyst on Colorado Avalanche telecasts) was also solid.
You could tell Cuthbert's Canadian background for he often pronounced the word "against" as "a-GAINst", emphasizing he "A". I think a couple of times, he pronounced "again" as "A-Gain", but also used the American pronounciation of the word.
Working as rinkside reporter (or "Inside The Glass" as NBC calls it, referring to the reporter's position at ice level in-between the two benches) during the Boston/Dallas game was Cammi Grannato who wasn't bad (By the way, her husband is former NHL star Ray Ferraro, who was part of the between-periods studio show).
Between periods, intermission host Bill Clement, Ferraro, and guest analyst Mark Messier were seated at a desk next to the skating rink outside NBC's New York studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Although the rink is smaller than the 200-feet-by-85-feet rink used in hockey, Clement, Ferraro and Messier during the second intermission demonstrated how Pittsburgh rookie Sidney Crosby scored one of the biggest goals of his still-young pro career (next Saturday, January 21st, Crosby and his Penguins will face Philadelphia in what will be NBC's lead regional telecast).
During the first intermission, Clement, Ferraro and Messier ended their betwen-periods segment by going to the rink, where a New York youth hockey team was practicing for an upcoming youth hockey tournament in Quebec City (the youth hockey team wore New York Rangers' jerseys and uniforms; but it's my understanding that at the Quebec City youth hockey tournament each year, participating youth hockey teams based in NHL cities will often wear jerseys of their city's local NHL team while participating in the tournament. For years, the Boston entry has worn Boston Bruins' jerseys at that tourney).
Based on Week One, the use of the Rink At 30 Rock seemed more like a gimmick.
Although Dallas is one of the best teams in the NHL at the moment, given that Boston is a major disapointment (expected before the season to run away from the rest of their and have a real chance at winning the Stanley Cup, the Bruins are instead in last place in their division), the game was probably only broadcast in New England (although WVIT-30 Hartford showed the New York Rangers/Detroit Red Wings game) and Texas.
My own verdict: NBC's coverage (at least of the game carried in Boston) was solid, but not spectacular. I'd suspect the "A" team (who was in Detroit today) was even better.
I'm interested in reading responses from people who watched one of NBC's two other regional telecasts and for general comments.
There were three regional telecasts. Being near Boston, the game in our area was between the Boston Bruins and the Dallas Stars (based on what play-by-play man Chris Cuthburt said during the overtime period, the viewers of the other two regional telecasts had been switched to Boston for the end of the game).
Based on the game I saw and the between-periods segments (which were likely seen network-wide), here are my thoughts.
If you were looking for NBC to re-invent the wheel as regards coverage of hockey on television, you didn't get it. In the game at Boston, the play-by-play of Chris Cuthbert (former #2 play-by-play man at "Hockey Night In Canada" and now at TSN) was solid, and the analysis of Peter McNab (a former Boston Bruins' player who is also an analyst on Colorado Avalanche telecasts) was also solid.
You could tell Cuthbert's Canadian background for he often pronounced the word "against" as "a-GAINst", emphasizing he "A". I think a couple of times, he pronounced "again" as "A-Gain", but also used the American pronounciation of the word.
Working as rinkside reporter (or "Inside The Glass" as NBC calls it, referring to the reporter's position at ice level in-between the two benches) during the Boston/Dallas game was Cammi Grannato who wasn't bad (By the way, her husband is former NHL star Ray Ferraro, who was part of the between-periods studio show).
Between periods, intermission host Bill Clement, Ferraro, and guest analyst Mark Messier were seated at a desk next to the skating rink outside NBC's New York studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Although the rink is smaller than the 200-feet-by-85-feet rink used in hockey, Clement, Ferraro and Messier during the second intermission demonstrated how Pittsburgh rookie Sidney Crosby scored one of the biggest goals of his still-young pro career (next Saturday, January 21st, Crosby and his Penguins will face Philadelphia in what will be NBC's lead regional telecast).
During the first intermission, Clement, Ferraro and Messier ended their betwen-periods segment by going to the rink, where a New York youth hockey team was practicing for an upcoming youth hockey tournament in Quebec City (the youth hockey team wore New York Rangers' jerseys and uniforms; but it's my understanding that at the Quebec City youth hockey tournament each year, participating youth hockey teams based in NHL cities will often wear jerseys of their city's local NHL team while participating in the tournament. For years, the Boston entry has worn Boston Bruins' jerseys at that tourney).
Based on Week One, the use of the Rink At 30 Rock seemed more like a gimmick.
Although Dallas is one of the best teams in the NHL at the moment, given that Boston is a major disapointment (expected before the season to run away from the rest of their and have a real chance at winning the Stanley Cup, the Bruins are instead in last place in their division), the game was probably only broadcast in New England (although WVIT-30 Hartford showed the New York Rangers/Detroit Red Wings game) and Texas.
My own verdict: NBC's coverage (at least of the game carried in Boston) was solid, but not spectacular. I'd suspect the "A" team (who was in Detroit today) was even better.
I'm interested in reading responses from people who watched one of NBC's two other regional telecasts and for general comments.
