Comments on: NHL AND NBC ON VERGE OF NEW DEALPartnership to be extended for two seasons

By: The PolishPrince

The PolishPrince — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:38:36 +0000

Aww Chris now you jinxed us “John Tavares led Islanders”? They’ll draft Hedman for sure now…

By: joe in alberta

joe in alberta — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:35:42 +0000

jason, please truckers rule, ice road truckers are the baddest.

(jt) breaker 9-1
(bg)breaker goring here
(jt)breaker can i use 91
(bg)breaker that a big 10 – 4, copy
(jt)breaker that a big 10-4, copy

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:09:00 +0000

CB, “I dropped this on twitter”? C’mon now no need to start talking like a teenager, you’re not from that stupid “dropped” this or that generation. Hearing someone our age use that phrase is almost as bad as seeing a 40 something year old white guy try to rap. Ever see Bullworth? Yikes! Also those hats are the dumbest hats I’ve ever seen. What’s with the netting in the back?! It looks like a 70′s style truckers hat. All it needs now is the John Deere logo on it.

By: Deadhead654

Deadhead654 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:58:40 +0000

Honestly, this deal sounds optimistic for some Islanders coverage but if you go back previous schedules, the majority of games on NBC are Pitts, Detroit and Boston.

By: Netminder39

Netminder39 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:52:39 +0000

I would like to see more coverage of other teams from Versus, including the Islanders. If the NHL is growing then more needs to be seen on that station. NBC has the weekend games and playoffs on the weekends, so for now the NHL is getting the exposure, but Versus needs to step up more on the weekdays.

By: Jim Clark

Jim Clark — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:52:23 +0000

Game 3 had the highest rating of any cable hockey game since 2002. So maybe it’s okay to be on a network that is growing. I always wonder why no one has ever been able to challenge ESPN..CBS or NBC setting up a sports network. Like in my youth Playboy was the dominant “men’s magazine” with 3 million sold, the number two had 100,000. Then “Penthouse” came along and challenged them closely for about 15 years before video tapes/internet took much of their business.

NBC doesn’t pay any money but Hockey has always been a hard sell to American audiences. There was a time in the 1970s of three networks when none of them would broadcast it, save the occasional Flyers vs Soviet Red Army game on Wide World of Sports.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:40:18 +0000

I love watching Milbury, he is hilarious.

By: D-man

D-man — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:28:14 +0000

Cincy: I disagree… do you remember the last few years on ESPN… or really ESPN2? it was embarrassing. remember NHL tonight? it was every day then it dropped and dropped… was down to 1 day a week i think. and that was hidden somewhere on ESPN 2… they had very few games… they didn’t want us and we took the back seat. As versus has grown so has the NHL from their low point. I understand being on a more accessible channel is better but let the sport continue to grow on versus and maybe a few years from now if ESPN comes a calling then you consider it… but the NHL should no longer be begging to be on that channel.

By: Chris Mc

Chris Mc — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:19:15 +0000

I agree, the NHL needs to get off of Versus. The station is a joke and like Cincy said, buried in the dregs of the channel lineup.

Congrats to former Isle Joe Sacco for landing the Colorado job. Wish him the best of luck with Matt Duchesne.

By: Cincy

Cincy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:46:38 +0000

D-man (#10),

I couldn’t disagree more. I’d much rather be included in the ESPN ocean than the Versus puddle. Ask yourself, when the average person is channel surfing and wants to check to see what sports are on, are they gonna look for Versus? No way. All the standard tier stations on my cable are in a row from 2 until about 87. Then you have stuff like the Knitting channel and Math Xtra-help station from 90 until the movie premiums kick in around 200. Versus is tucked in at 162.

That contract Bettman signed was a complete mistake. If you want hockey to be a top-tier sport, it needs to be covered by a top-tier network.

By: -Big Van Vader

-Big Van Vader — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:21:42 +0000

(16) And we have an nearby existing railroad spur that Garden City shut down a few years ago that we should be able to utilize. (If not for the damn NIMBY’S giving us BS)

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:18:59 +0000

NBC should have a game every week starting in October. I wish Thursday Night hockey on ESPN would come back also. Get the game back where it belongs.