WJC on tv

[Melissa\'01]

Big personal fan? Nah. No more than I am of any member of the Red (except the McRae's which are a definite favorite) but thanks all the same. It was truly amazing to see one of our very own dressed in the Canadian jersey surrounded by the excitement that the WJC generates in Canada. Not wanting to go against my country or anything but I really hope that Fleury falters - not necessarily losing but coming close - so that we all can maybe get a chance to see a member of the Big Red play in the WJC - maybe against the USA. hmmm. now that would be interesting - as long as Canada won! ;-)

[crodger1]

I think REDhead may have actually scooped Melissa on something about the Canadian WJC team!

Anyway, as both have pointed out (REDhead here, Melissa on another thread), Lenny is expected to play tonight.

[melissa\'01]

ahhh. wow. you are right. chalk it up to jet lag but i completely missed that part of his post. think i read something along the lines of "enjoy watching canada play". completely missed the fact that it said that lenny would be playing in net. hmmm. yup. was totally beat to that one. hmmmm. now my comments about lenny probably not playing again look really stupid. oh well. i'm tired and i guess a bit ditzy too - but since i'm a cornell hockey fan i hope that it more or less is all excused. happy new year all and hope that a lot of you can catch the game.

[cbuckser]

NHL Center Ice subcribers who have Dish Network can watch the Canada-Finland game on channel 549.  TSN's tv coverage begins at 7:00 EST.  The game should start ten minutes later.

[ugarte]

No worries, Melissa.  I think that the oddsmakers had it at only .05% that Fleury would come down with a stomach ailment.

[cbuckser]

An NHL Center Ice contact person responded to my complaints this morning.  The reason why the Canada-USA semifinal game and the bronze and gold medal games were not televised on the Center Ice package was that the YES network had national rights to the games.

Perhaps the YES network forked over more money for exclusive rights than the YES network and Center Ice package would have spent for shared broadcasting rights.  If all things were equal, I think it was unwise to give exclusive rights to the YES network to broadcast a few games on tape delay and not show the gold-medal game.  The IIHF, or whoever is in charge of broadcasting, should have insisted on retaining rights for the NHL Center Ice package, which has a more targeted hockey-fan audience, to show all the games live.  Giving exclusive rights to a regional sports network that most Americans, including many people in the New York area for whom Cablevision is their cable television carrier, cannot watch is an awful way to cultivate Americans' interest in the tournament.