Wirtz Blinks! Comcast Sportsnet Will Air ONE Blackhawks' Regular-Season Home Game!

[Joseph_Gallant]

In the recent past, Blackhawks' owner Bill Wirtz has not allowed any locally-produced telecasts of Hawks' home games (There have been a few Hawks' home games over the last few years that were part of national-TV packages that have been locally broadcast in Chicago).

But according to the 2005/2006 season schedule listed on the Blackhawks' website, Comcast Sportsnet-Chicago is broadcasting exactly one regular-season home game this season: Friday, January 13th against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Of course, Pittsburgh features highly-touted rookie Sidney Crosby, who is the most heavily-hyped rookie to have come into the NHL since Bobby Orr arrived in Boston in 1966 (and the most heavily-hyped rookie in any of the big-four professional team sports since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joined the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in 1969). Given the "unbalanced" schedule the NHL drew-up for the 2005/2006 season, the January 13th game at United Center will be the only time during the regular-season the Hawks will play Pittsburgh.

I suspect that CSN pressured Wirtz to make a one-time exception to his policy of no locally-produced telecasts of Hawks' home games. And this game will probably be a sellout anyway.

 

[shadowman]

Re: Wirtz Blinks! Comcast Sportsnet Will Air ONE Blackhawks' Regular-Season Home Game!

> In the recent past, Blackhawks' owner Bill Wirtz has not
> allowed any locally-produced telecasts of Hawks' home games
> (There have been a few Hawks' home games over the last few
> years that were part of national-TV packages that have been
> locally broadcast in Chicago).
>
> But according to the 2005/2006 season schedule listed on the
> Blackhawks' website, Comcast Sportsnet-Chicago is
> broadcasting exactly one regular-season home game this
> season: Friday, January 13th against the Pittsburgh
> Penguins.
>
> Of course, Pittsburgh features highly-touted rookie Sidney
> Crosby, who is the most heavily-hyped rookie to have come
> into the NHL since Bobby Orr arrived in Boston in 1966 (and
> the most heavily-hyped rookie in any of the big-four
> professional team sports since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joined
> the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in 1969). Given the "unbalanced"
> schedule the NHL drew-up for the 2005/2006 season, the
> January 13th game at United Center will be the only time
> during the regular-season the Hawks will play Pittsburgh.
>
> I suspect that CSN pressured Wirtz to make a one-time
> exception to his policy of no locally-produced telecasts of
> Hawks' home games. And this game will probably be a sellout
> anyway.
>

Writz will probably be forced by the NHL to offer all of his home games to CSN. It's a matter of time when he gets stopped on the overuse of the Blackout rule, especially when games are sold out!