NHL Hockey: If the Playoffs Started today (Western Conference)

If the playoffs were to start today here's what it would look like. #NHLonNBC pic.twitter.com/sqWrTTaF4p
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) March 10, 2014

After watching the Blue shred the Wild tonight, I hope they can move up.

Lockout will hurt NBCSN

You have to wonder what NBCSN is going to show if the NHL doesn't start on time - I suppose that some of the sports networks could show AHL games to keep NHL Hockey fans semi-interested until the lockout is ended.

Sept 5, (Reuters) - NBC executives are hoping that the National Hockey League and its players union reach a new labor agreement and avoid a lockout that could leave the network scrambling to find a replacement for one of its sports programming mainstays.

Hockey is a linchpin of NBC Sports programming - the network signed a new $2 billion, 10-year contract with the league last year. A strike or delay in the upcoming NHL season would throw cold water on the momentum it built up from the London Olympics, which nightly averaged 31.3 million viewers for the network.

Labor talks between the NHL and the union representing its players broke down last week over economic issues such as revenue sharing. The league's owners have said they would lock out players if a deal is not reached by a Sept. 15 deadline. As of Wednesday afternoon, talks between the two sides had not yet resumed.

The worst case scenario for Comcast-owned NBC, which holds the exclusive national broadcast rights to NHL games, is for the entire upcoming season to be canceled. That's not without precedent. The NHL and its players union scrapped the entire 2004-05 season after failing to achieve a labor deal.

A better, but not ideal, scenario for NBC would be a delay to the NHL season, similar to what happened to the National Basketball Association last year. The first regular season NHL game is scheduled for Oct. 11, but exhibition games start about two weeks earlier.

I haven't seen anything official, but you have to wonder if there is a alternative plan? I know I enjoyed watching some of the AHL playoff games this past June, when the Stanley Cup games were over and those minor league hockey games did manage to fill the hockey void. Sometimes you wonder if the owners have thought this out.

Bill Daly: "It is obviously becoming increasingly unlikely that NHL training camps will start on time."@sbjlizmullen @sbjsbd
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) September 5, 2012

So you say that there is a chance?

This is an interesting spin and I haven't seen yet - I mean from the NHL labor dispute point of view - I guess this could play out this way… I guess there really isn’t much going on right now during the dog days of summer. I mean the television networks that broadcast the hockey games are going to be one of the parties that has a lot to lose if there is a work stoppage.

I am also hoping that if there is a NHL lockout that NBC Sports Network comes up with a hockey alternative, like broadcasting more games from the AHL, ECHL or CHL hockey and well showing more college hockey games as well. I guess we are jumping the gun but I would hope that there will be something to fill the void that is left if there is a work stoppage.

Bruce Dowbiggin, Globe and Mail --- One broadcast change from the 2004-05 lockout is there is a considerable TV component at play for the NHL if a lockout goes too far. Eight years ago, NBC, which had made no payments to the league for its rights, understood it might have no content and did not pressure the NHL for an early CBA settlement.

This time, the league has much invested in its partnership with HBO on 24/7, a sports-documentary program that leads into the much-ballyhooed Detroit/Toronto Winter Classic on NBC. For that series to go as planned, filming must start in late November or early December. Losing the HBO connection would be a blow to the prestige the NHL has built of late with its new initiatives.

That’s reminiscent of what happened in the 1994-95 lockout when Fox TV had paid a significant rights fee to start carrying games in January of 1995. The obligation to pacify its U.S. TV partner pushed the NHL to settle earlier than it wanted and, in some ways, created the conditions for the disastrous lockout 10 years later.

These are things to consider - the NHL and HBO would lose a lot of money if there wasn't an NHL season this year. I have read where some speculate that he NHL wants to be going by November so they don’t miss out on their money maker. One silver lining is, if there is an NHL lockout, I guess one could always spend more time with our families. Yeah!

Pen's Sidney Crosby to get 10 year deal

The NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is probably doing cartwheels knowing that one of his favorite players is now locked up with a long term deal with his favorite hockey team, it probably also means that the NHL on NBCSN will be all Penguins all of the time. Personally, I think this contract is a bit of a risk – based on Crosby’s concussion issues.

Austin Pollack, NESN --- Sidney Crosby has been one of hockey’s most exciting players since he entered the league as the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. At the same time, he’s been the face of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise.

It looks like Penguins fans have their man for another decade. Crosby is expected to get a 10-year, $90 million con tract extension, according to CBSSports.com. He is lined up to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.

I also wonder, how many of these signing we will see before the current CBA expires? There seems to be a feeling that the NHL is going to definitely have another work stoppage this season. Under the current CBA, the NHL Players currently are taking 57% of the revenues. The NHL owners want a 50-50 split agreement and the players don’t seem to be in a hurry to take another pay cut like they did seven years ago after the 2004-05 lockout so there is a good chance that we could see a second lockout in the last seven years.

NBC & NBC SPORTS NETWORK TO TELEVISE 32 COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES IN 2012

This season the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have been exclusively on NBCSN and NBC… This fall NBC Sports Net has inked a college Football deal. The evolution of Versus to NBCSN is beginning to take shape.

This brings up the question – who needs ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU anymore when you have NBC Sports Networks and NBC? The Peacock is passing ESPN in my opinion and becoming a better option sports as each day passes.

NBC SPORTS GROUP COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (all times ET)

3:30 p.m. Sat, Sept. 8 Purdue at Notre Dame NBC

3:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 8 Delaware State at Delaware NBC Sports Network

7:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 8 Army at San Diego State NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Sept. 15 William & Mary at Towson NBC Sports Network

4:00 p.m. Sat., Sept. 15 Miami (Ohio) at Boise State NBC Sports Network

1:00 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22 Yale at Cornell NBC Sports Network

4:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22 Harvard at Brown NBC Sports Network

7:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22 Michigan at Notre Dame NBC

10:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22 Nevada at Hawaii NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Sept. 29 Penn at Dartmouth NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 29 Atlanta Football Classic: Florida A&M vs. Southern (Georgia Dome) NBC Sports Network

1:00 p.m. Sat., Oct. 6 Towson at James Madison NBC Sports Network

7:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 6 Miami at Notre Dame (Soldier Field) NBC

12:00 p.m. Sat., Oct. 13 Brown at Princeton NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 13 Stanford at Notre Dame NBC

3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 13 Fresno State at Boise State NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Oct. 20 Penn at Yale NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 20 BYU at Notre Dame NBC

3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 20 UNLV at Boise State NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Oct. 27 Delaware at Old Dominion NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Nov. 3 Towson at Delaware NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 3 Pittsburgh at Notre Dame NBC

12:00 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10 Harvard at Penn NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10 Air Force at San Diego State NBC Sports Network

7:00 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10 Boise State at Hawaii NBC Sports Network

10:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10 Fresno State at Nevada NBC Sports Network

12:00 p.m. Sat., Nov. 17 Yale at Harvard NBC Sports Network

3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 17 Wake Forest at Notre Dame NBC

3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 17 Colorado State at Boise State NBC Sports Network

7:00 p.m. Sat., Nov. 17 Old Dominion at James Madison NBC Sports Network

2:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 24 Bayou Classic: Grambling State vs. Southern (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) NBC

3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 24 Air Force at Fresno State NBC Sports Network

--NBC SPORTS GROUP--

Because It's the Cup - Boston Bruins

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here. I have to admit that NBC Sports has come a long ways from the early days of Versus. This is the best time of year in my opinion, there is no other sport like NHL Hockey. Of Course I will be cheering on the defending Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins.