Normally I don't go for silly stuff like the Nova Scotia legislature is pulling, but I will definitely make an exception in this case. The playoff schedule is ridiculous. And why? So NBC doesn't have to interrupt their Saturday night lineup.
This kills me. The CBC is actually paying $65 million a year for the games (which NBC is not), and they'd like to have an evening game to show to people who actually care (which the Americans, for the most part, do not). Who does Bettman let decide the schedule? The Americans, obviously! BAH!
The TV schedule garbage is messing up all the teams, I think... The Penguins-Senators matchup is one of the higher-profile ones because (a) there's a Canadian team, and (b) there's the Sidney-Crosby-hometown-hero thing going on. But the rest of the schedules are just as bad. The Flames play at 5 p.m. tonight, when a lot of people are just leaving work. Seriously, would it have killed them to put it an hour later? It's at 7 eastern time, they could have started at 8 instead to give people a chance to catch the first period where they'll actually be watching it. And the weekend games are at like 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Geez!
This is all just a part of the fun pandering-to-Americans thing going on in the league for the past few years. Seriously, when the Stanley Cup finals are in a certain town and they basically have to give away tickets (I'm looking at you, Tampa), is this the market you're looking for? For real? When I know more than a few Canadian cities which would be packed to the rafters and people would buying nosebleed seats for ridiculous prices and buying every team-themed thingamabob they could get their hands on?
Man. It's just unreal. It's time for a Canadian Hockey League. We can have the Flames, the Canucks, Oilers, Senators, and Habs, and Winnipeg can have the Jets back and Quebec can have the Nordiques, plus we'll throw in a few more teams. I'm sure quite a few players would stick around (or come back) for the same money plus playing in front of crowds (not empty stadiums) that actually care. And Bettman can happily continue destroying the NHL. I want our damn Cup back though.
