CBC: 5pm. I haven't seen it there in ages (Comedy midnight for me), but it's been there for a looong time. As long as CF--er, Omni One's 6pm slot and Fox's 11pm. As for the "MegaStars", it's too bad that it was only a 30 minute game as they really started going at it in the second half -- after the really slooooow start. Ranford and Fuhr looked like they wouldn't be out-of-place on a current roster!
I half-wonder whether this has something to do with ESPN's pathetic 'Hockey - Made In America' commercial angle, with its attempt to try and make hockey more attractive to audiences by making it less obviously... well, Canadian, whereas the Heritage Classic is about as Canadian as it gets. My GOD, that pisses me off! Fuck you, ESPN! Hockey WAS not made in America, IS not made in America, and if you insist on showing Alabama/Auburn, it never WILL be made in America! Funny how even just dating a Canadian girl makes you fiercely protective, huh? /rant I went to Buffalo Wild Wings, a sports bar in northern Kentucky last night, and bribed the bartender (with a Forsberg rookie) to put the Edmonton game on one TV. While all the other rubes are watching Auburn pummel the Tide in the early going, I'm screaming and yelling at the Oilers to pinch in. Everyone there thought I was nuts ... but I sure enjoyed the game. Btw, my brother said he heard the Heritage Game will air on ESPN Classic next week. I went to the web site, where I found no TV schedules of note, a nice listing of obits for recently deceased athletes (Ken Brett, George's brother, died!) and a banner ad that said, "Genital Itching?!?" I won't be back.
I agree that not showing the game on American television was a huge mistake on the part of the NHL. ESPN, ABC, Fox and the like can be excused as I'm sure Montreal vs. Oilers wouldn't have amounted to much on the ratings sheet. Plus, the fact is that an American hockey fan like myself did have the means to view the game. I watched as part of my cable package's InDemand hockey service (a $150 gift from Heaven). I was impressed by the old-timers game, though having my favorite team's leading scorer playing in an old-timers game didn't make me confident about the remainder of the season. The main event was solid, but the heated Oilers/Canadiens rivalry was a little before my time so the match-up left something to be desired. Overall, I think this huge mistake on the part of Bettman & Co. is another in a ever-growing list of eff-ups on the part of a supposed marketing genius. Something needs to be done to pull their collective heads from out of their collective asses. I miss Mike York. Stephan Quintal? I don't have the same affection for him, that's for sure. The "Made in America" campaign is ridiculous. For a network that has done a wonderful job with commercials, those are terrible. Both Don Cherry and John Davidson seem to think that a 2004/05 season is possible. What's with that sudden shift in thought? wfrazierjr was watching hockey in a sports bar in northern Kentucky. I think that needed repeating.
I'm a ringer, 86. I used to live in St. Louis, which is a pretty hot hockey town for the US.
Canada means nothing, the money is in The United States Nice one.
garfield, WTF do you expect from a group named the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad? Puh-leeze! Not that I'm against the idea, in the least, but that's not a particularly credible source.
I think if hockey was in the top four sports, it was fourth, and in the top four only by default. But I could be wrong: I always thought baseball/football then basketball then, distantly, hockey. >I'm pretty sure that CBC Newsworld is available, somehow, in the States... is it not? Yes, I think it is available. Mr. Ghomeshi from play regularly addresses/welcomes viewers from the south. >And I think the "megastars" title might have been a bit much. Gaston Gingras? J.J. Daigneault? Charlie Huddy? I remember Gingras as a fluid skater, though. But I do agree with you. No one cheered when Lucien Deblois was announced. Many former Habs are in management positions and (I heard someone say) could not take time from their jobs. Bob Gainey and Jacques Lemaire, say. I guess Patrick Roy is in a management position of sorts, but there were probably other reasons for him not showing.
I doubt that they even sent an invitation to Patrick Roy.
Roy would have mopped the floor with Fuhr's cocaine-addled arse. That's why they didn't invite him. On another note, they got over a million ticket requests for this game, which means they could have filled Inianapolis Motor Speedway three times over. Don't tell me there's no money in hockey in Canada.
Oh that was quintessentially Canadian on Saturday. It was so Canadian I kinda tuned out, because being from Toronto, most of the rest of Canada thinks I'm some kind of American anyway. Fluxcore - dude that's a crazy generalization. Canada matters in hockey, for hockey and all that. I don't think that I'm going to qualify that with any evidence - it's damn obvious. Far as I'm concerned if people in the US don't want to watch it for whatever reason then don't - the game will not die. NASCAR gets on my TV every weekend and I can't figure out at all what the attraction is of a bunch of multi-coloured, mustache-fueled cars only turning left. That
Hey, cool - it looks like I was shot in mid-post. That (BLAM!).
Btw, my brother said he heard the Heritage Game will air on ESPN Classic next week Saturday, November 29 at 5pm (ET)
i say goddam! thanks for risking the genital itching!
And I think the "megastars" title might have been a bit much. Gaston Gingras? J.J. Daigneault? Charlie Huddy? Hey, not everyone on every team can be a stinking superstar, you know. Still, I think Charlie Huddy deserves a fat pile of respect. Check out these stats and tell me this guy didn't earn those rings and at least a "star" title.
SpoFi: We risk the genital itching.
The best season that Huddy ever had was 57 points, and that was in the middle of the point-a-riffic 1980's. I don't think "star" even qualifies. I'll grant him "respected journeyman" and that's about it. That said, he was a favourite of mine as a #2/#3 defenceman in "Hockey League Simulator" (or it's sequel), so I'm no ogre.
most of the rest of Canada thinks I'm some kind of American anyway. take that you wannabe American...... *blows smoke from barrel*
I think my "huh?" filter is set off more by Ron Chipperfield(Ron Whoperwhat? 2 seasons, 0 cups, 83 GP) and Cam Connor (5 seasons, 1 Cup, 89 GP) than Charlie Huddy. I mean Charlie Huddy played over 1000 games and won 5 Cups.
Here here, damn it! Charlie Huddy for the Hall! /sarcasm
Chipperfield was always the great stumper trivia question for "Name the captain of the Edmonton Oilers in their first NHL game." Everyone guesses Lee Fogolin (or Gretzky if they don't know much about hockey).
Ah, so there is some quirk that means there is a place for him in the lineup. though, fraze, i wasn't trying to actually say huddy was a star, just that there were other guys on the rosters that I would have picked on before huddy.
Interested parties can watch (I haven't done so, I am just assuming the video links do what they say) the Megastars exhibition via two Windows media video files on the NHL website. I love the NHL website. Constantly up to date video highlights, links to free radio play by play feeds... it frustrates me going to the websites of the other big three leagues in the States when the video either costs (c'mon, this is the internet!) or is realplayer format (I don't dig that, could be the way my computer is set up) and you have to subscribe to radio coverage (c'mon, radio is FREE in the home market).
