Oh, hello! I didn’t see you there. Do you come here often? I do. Every week, in fact. That’s why it’s called “Weekly One-Timers” and not “Occasional One-Timers.”
As is the case seemingly every week, we have plenty to chat about, and it’s another beautiful Friday in the Emerald City, so let’s be sure to enjoy our time together.
Seattle Kraken news
Last week was slightly more active than most for Seattle, but we were back to things being pretty quiet on the Kraken front this week.
The team is being sued by the Kraken Bar & Lounge, a punk rock bar in the University District, for $3.5 million, as first reported by Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The lawsuit states that the team’s name and new Kraken Bar & Grill, expected to open at the Kraken Training Center at Northgate in the fall, will harm the existing bar’s brand.
So, that’s interesting.
Friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Everett Fitzhugh, released his second installment of “Sightseaing with Fitz,” which is absolutely worth the price of admission.
What does hockey look like in the Pacific Northwest?
Also, Kraken fans will likely have to wait just a little longer for opening night, as the start date for the 2021-22 season appears to be getting shoved back a bit.
The NHL on the GMs' call today shared its hopeful target date for puck drop next fall: Oct. 12. Which is about a week or so later than normal. Training camps hopefully opening Sept. 22. Again, that Oct. 12 start date is if there are no delays. @TSNHockey@TheAthletic
It has been a really tough year in a lot of ways for women’s hockey. Yet another blow was sustained on Wednesday when the IIHF Women’s World Championship was canceled for the second consecutive year. The tournament was slated to be played in Nova Scotia May 6 through 16, but provincial Premier Iain Rankin made the decision this week that the tournament should not go on, citing Covid-19 variants and rising case numbers.
There is still hope that a tournament can be played later in the summer, but even so, it’s another damaging development. Adding insult to injury, the Men’s Under-18 World Championship starts April 26 in Texas, and if we were a betting website (which we are not), we would bet that that tournament is going to be played out in its entirety.
Texas and Nova Scotia are two very different places in terms of how Covid is being handled, but it really does feel unfair that yet another international men’s tournament is set to get underway, while yet another women’s tournament gets canceled.
Robin Lehner calls out the NHL
Vegas Golden Knights netminder Robin Lehner—always outspoken on mental-health-related issues—claimed this week that the NHL lied to players about how it would proceed once players and team employees received their Covid vaccines.
In an impassioned press conference, he inferred that players, coaches, and staff were expecting to see their restrictions loosened a bit for the betterment of their lifestyles and mental health, but that has not happened. Instead, he says they won’t change the rules until all the teams in the league have the same opportunity to get the vaccine to eliminate competitive advantages.
Lehner’s comments on the topic begin around the five-minute mark of the below video.
— x-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 21, 2021
I’m all for taking every precaution against Covid, but if what he’s saying is true (it has been disputed by the league), then he has a very good point here.
I’ve always admired Lehner’s willingness to speak publicly on the societal topics about which he is most impassioned and would love to see more NHL players use their platforms in this way.
Around the boards
Spencer Knight made his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers this week and looked great in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, making 34 of 35 saves. The 20-year-old World Junior Championship hero was playing for Boston College in the NCAA Tournament just a couple weeks ago, so his quick ascension into an NHL start was a bit surprising. Knight is a highly touted prospect, selected No. 13 overall at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. In his debut, Knight was wearing the same pads, glove, and blocker that he wore for the WJC along with his BC Eagles mask. Let’s get the guy some fresh gear, eh? I wrote about Knight way back in the NHLtoSeattle days of yore. They grow up so fast.
In that game between the Panthers and the Blue Jackets, Columbus coach John Tortorella healthy scratched Max Domi for the second consecutive game. Domi hasn’t had a great season by any stretch of the imagination, but it really is fascinating how Tortorella uses healthy scratches and benchings on his star players to try to get their attention. Domi—acquired in a trade with the Canadiens in October—returned to action on Thursday and registered 15:48 of ice time. The last-place Blue Jackets have also now been officially eliminated from playoff contention, so one has to wonder about the future of Torts in Columbus.
Patrick Marleau’s record-setting 1,768th NHL game received plenty of attention this week, including on Sound Of Hockey, so we don’t really need to talk about that here. But we do want to make sure you saw this great congratulatory video from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
In this week’s Data Dump Saturday, I dig into the playoff races in the Central and West Divisions by looking beyond the points in the standings to get an idea of who might claim the fourth playoff spot in each division.
Earlier this week we did a round of Buy, Sell, or Hold on the Sound Of Hockey podcast where we discussed if Nashville or the San Jose Sharks were playoff bound teams. We talked about ‘games at hand’, ‘goal differential,’ and who is ‘hot’ right now as justification for our picks in qualifying for the playoffs.
Let us take a current and data-focused look at these two divisions with interesting playoff races.
For the more casual fans:
GP is games played.
PTS is the points earned (teams are awarded two points for a win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, zero for a regulation loss).
P% is percentage of points earned versus what is possible.
GF is goals for goals for.
GA is goals against.
I am focusing on Arizona, St. Louis, and San Jose in the West and Nashville, Chicago, and Dallas in the Central. In my opinion, these are the only teams vying for the fourth and final playoff spots in their respective divisions.
Points percentage
Both San Jose and Nashville have made recent surges in the standings which have launched them into contention over the last few weeks. I want to see how these teams are trending by looking at their five-game moving average of point percentage.
In the chart below, you can see that Nashville has been outperforming Dallas and Chicago lately. Additionally, Chicago has been underperforming with a point percentage lower than 50 percent over the last 10 games.
In the West, you can see St. Louis underperforming has provided Arizona and San Jose the opportunity to be in contention in the playoff race.
It should be noted that we cannot assume that these trends will continue. There could be underlying conditions that are driving performance such as injuries, hot goalies, or coaching/strategy changes, but that is beyond the scope of this post.
Goal differential
Another stat to look at is goal differential which is the sum of goals scored minus the sum of goals scored against.
Nashville appears to be reaching another level in goal differential, scoring 18 more goals than it has allowed over the last 10 games. If you look at the goals for and goals against numbers you can see Nashville is doing it with a combination of higher-than-normal goal scoring and being stingy with the goals allowed.
Shot differential
One of the first things I look at when trying to understand how well a team is playing is shot differential. It does not account for everything, but in general, if a team is producing more shots than the opposing team, then they are getting more opportunities to score. From a statistical perspective, it is a way to broaden the sample size instead of simply looking at the number of goals in a game.
It is a little surprising to see Nashville with a negative 18 shot differential because in goal differential they were (coincidentally) a plus 18. This would imply a heavy reliance on goaltending. A quick look at Juuse Saros’ stats and it shows that he is averaging less than 1.25 goals against average and a save percentage of .965 over his last 10 starts.
Chicago’s shot differential has correlated with their points percentage obtained over the last 10 games.
As we stated earlier, Arizona and San Jose have been playing better over the last 10 games that has created the opportunity to get back in this playoff race, but the shot differential of -31 and -27 respectively is a bit surprising. This would imply that they have been more effective with their shots (i.e. scoring at a higher rate) or that they are relying on their goaltending as well.
I focused on the last 10 games for these teams, but again, there is no guarantee that their trends will continue over the remaining ~16 games of the season. The next 10 games facing these teams will be critical considering several of them will play each other and the stakes will be that much more significant as they jockey for position in the playoff hunt.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments or how you would evaluate a team’s performance in the playoff race.
If hockey is what you seek, then the past week should have been quite fulfilling for you, because there was a LOT of it to be found. What’s more, much of the hockey that was played was quite entertaining, with each game across the various elite leagues seemingly more exciting than the previous. If this past week of hockey were a GIF, it would certainly be the Vince McMahon GIF seen below.
Yes, it has been a fun week, and we at Sound Of Hockey endeavor to continue satiating your appetite for hockey enjoyment with this latest installment of Weekly One-Timers.
Is Ron Francis wheeling and dealing?
It makes sense that Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis would be talking to his counterparts across the NHL to gauge their varying levels of interest in consummating side deals in the lead-up to the Expansion Draft this summer. But we’ve never officially seen or heard it reported that this was happening. Well, until now, that is.
The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun wrote this week that Francis has been fielding calls from fellow general managers in advance of the April 12 trade deadline, as they try to get a better feel for what it will cost to keep the Kraken’s tentacles off of any newly acquired players. Lebrun also reported that according to his source, Francis is asking for “a first-round pick and a prospect and maybe another piece.”
Lebrun also discusses this starting at the 3:04 mark of the below video.
So, that’s fun.
THE KRAKEN ARE WHEELIN’ AND DEALIN’! LET’S GO!
The real March Madness
Marathon game
You saw the marathon game between North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth, right? Or at least part of it? Because it went on for six hours and 12 minutes, so you had to have at least stumbled upon it while scrolling through channels at some point in your Saturday evening. In the end, it was UMD — for the fourth consecutive time — punching its ticket to the Frozen Four, while UND players looked sad.
It was just an incredible contest in every aspect with bizarre things happening throughout. Case in point, UMD’s starting goalie, Zach Stejskal, was forced out in the fifth overtime due to cramps. He was replaced by Ryan Fanti, who came in and made several huge saves after sitting on the bench for five hours. In total, 119 shots were taken, 142 minutes and 13 seconds ticked off the clock, and one record was set for the longest game in NCAA history on either the men’s or women’s side.
UMD now has a shot at its third straight NCAA title in a year that was supposed to be transitional for the Bulldogs.
Frozen Four field set
UMD will be joined in Pittsburgh by UMass, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State.
UMass reached the final in 2019, but at that time, they had the likes of Cale Makar, John Leonard, and Mario Ferraro, all of whom are now well on their way to successful NHL careers. This is another team that largely flew under the radar this season, but got hot at the right time, earning a Hockey East postseason championship along the way. Zac Jones, a New York Rangers draft pick, and Matt Kessel, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, make up the top defense pairing, and together they are quite exceptional.
St. Cloud lost one of its best offensive players in Easton Brodzinski in the team’s regional championship against Boston College. Brodzinski broke his leg on a nasty (but clean) hit when he cut to the middle of the offensive zone. The Huskies really aren’t built around their stars, though, as they’re an experienced team that has been through the wringer.
Minnesota State may be the most intriguing story of the Frozen Four field. The Mavericks hadn’t won a single NCAA Tournament game in their history before defeating Quinnipiac in the opening round, then following that up with a convincing victory over a favored Minnesota Gophers team.
Ryan Sandelin, son of UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, scored the overtime game-winner against Quinnipiac to keep hopes alive for a father-son showdown in the NCAA title game. Goaltender Dryden McKay has had dizzying numbers over three collegiate seasons and earned a 22-save shutout over the Gophers to send his team through. He was named a Hobey Baker finalist, along with Wisconsin’s Cole Caufield and North Dakota’s Shane Pinto. Shockingly, McKay is undrafted.
The NCAA semifinals will take place on Thursday, April 8, and the final will be on Saturday, April 10.
Signing frenzy
With so many NCAA teams seeing their seasons come to crashing halts, there was a flurry of signings of high-end NHL prospects this week.
Player
Age
Old Team
New Team
Cole Caufield
19
University of Wisconsin
Montreal Canadiens
David Farrance
21
Boston University
Nashville Predators
Alex Steeves
21
Notre Dame
Toronto Maple Leafs
Matthew Boldy
19
Boston College
Minnesota Wild
Alex Newhook
19
Boston College
Colorado Avalanche
Spencer Knight
19
Boston College
Florida Panthers
Shane Pinto
19
University of North Dakota
Ottawa Senators
Cam York
19
University of Michigan
Philadelphia Flyers
Most of these players will need some seasoning in the AHL, but there’s some serious talent in the aforementioned group, so you should see at least some of them at the top level soon.
On the topic of signings, Thatcher Demko agreed to a five-year extension with the Vancouver Canucks worth $25 million, so apparently he isn’t a future Seattle Kraken after all. Bummer!
The #Canucks signed 25 y/o G Demko to 5 yr $5M Cap Hit extension:
Yr 1: $2.5M Base Yr 2: $3.5M Base, $1M Signing Bonus Yr 3: $6M Base, $1M Signing Bonus Yr 4: $6M Base Yr 5: $5M Base
The fine system is absurd. $5,000 is the most the NHL can fine a player based on the collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA. McDavid makes $12.5 million per year. Do you know what $5,000 is to somebody who makes $12.5 million? Well, the median salary for all Americans is $31,133 according to the US Census Bureau. Fining somebody $5,000 when they have a $12.5 million salary is the same—in terms of percentage of income—as fining somebody who makes the median American salary exactly $12.44.
That oughta show ’em!
Around the boards
USA Hockey named Chicago general manager Stan Bowman and Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin as its GM and AGM respectively for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The appointments come with a caveat that if NHL players do not end up participating, Bowman and Guerin will not lead the brain trust.
The “Fox Sports [insert your region here]” network of… networks… is no more, instead replaced by something called Bally Sports. Bally’s owns and operates casinos across the nation, so you can bet your bottom dollar (get it?) that there will be some sort of wagering-related programming and promotions coming soon to a Bally network near you. The scorebug on the newly re-branded Bally networks is obnoxiously large, so there is already plenty of space for live betting odds in regions where sports gambling is legal.
Shayne Gostisbehere was put on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers this week. All 30 other teams passed on claiming the puck-moving defenseman, so he was assigned to the taxi squad. There was a time when we at Sound Of Hockey thought Gostisbehere could be a good fit for the Kraken. We still kind of think that, but we’re a tad more apprehensive now.
The University of St. Thomas has hired Rico Blasi as its head coach to lead the team’s transition from Division III to Division I next season, when the Tommies will join the newly re-formed CCHA. Blasi previously coached Miami University (Ohio), where he spent twenty seasons behind the bench and posted an overall record of 398–311–76.
The Canucks have Covid, and it sounds like this could be a lengthy shutdown for the team. It is not a good situation, as at least eight players have tested positive as well as at least one member of Vancouver’s staff. Here’s hoping for quick recoveries for all involved in this latest outbreak.
Yes, the 18-game winless streak is finally over after a 6-1 drubbing of the Gostisbehere-less Flyers on Wednesday.
The very next night, Jeff Skinner had a stickless breakaway. The Rangers scored shortly after the below fiasco and ultimately won this one 3-2 in overtime to sum up Buffalo’s season quite nicely.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Halfway through the first period of the Everett Silvertips’ game against the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday, Olen Zellweger walked the offensive blue line, dragging the puck with him. With power play traffic gathered in front of Tri’s goal crease, he snapped a low shot that found its way through the mass of humanity and made netminder Talyn Boyko reach to his right. Boyko was out of position after the first save and never stood a chance on the rebound, as Jacob Wright tapped it home for the first goal of the game and the eventual game winner.
Walking the line and getting the puck through traffic is an artform, and one at which Zellweger excels. If you watch him closely, you will get a sense that almost every time he puts the puck toward the net, some level of chaos ensues shortly after.
Zellweger, a shifty 17-year-old draft-eligible defenseman who hails from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, is off to a great start offensively with a goal and four assists in five games on Everett’s blue line this season. He has picked up nicely after a solid 16-year-old campaign, in which he registered two goals and 10 assists in 58 games.
Zellweger has been playing with Gianni Fairbrother, a veteran in the WHL and a 2019 draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens. Zellweger credits his defensive partner with “making it easy” on him by really talking on the ice. The two are building chemistry as the season goes along, and Zellweger fits naturally alongside the older, more developed Fairbrother.
Playing on the top pairing, on the power play, and even occasionally on the penalty kill as a 17-year-old shows the level of trust that the Silvertips coaching staff has in Zellweger. He’s even playing the right side, despite being a left-shot defenseman. Zellweger doesn’t think it’s a big deal to play the offside, noting, “There’s pros and cons, but there’s pros and cons to playing on your strongside too.”
Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams put a little more thought into playing Zellweger on the right, though. “This is what we think of Olen as a player is we move him to his offside, which is not easy for a defenseman to do, especially in the Western League at that age.” The Silvertips have a glut of left-shot defensemen in Fairbrother, Zellweger, Ronan Seeley, and Aidan Sutter. “On the right side we needed to move one of those guys over, and we thought Olen, with his feet and his hockey sense and his ability to retrieve pucks and escape pressure because of his skating that he would be the best, so we were able to put him with a guy like Gianni Fairbrother and use them as shutdown D as well.”
Olen Zellweger makes a pass against the Tri-City Americans. (Chris Mast, Everett Silvertips)
For a young player like Zellweger to accept such a huge role—particularly playing the right side—and to shine is a credit to his abilities and his drive as a player. “It’s been working so far, I think he’s done a really good job with [Fairbrother], but again, it’s not easy,” Williams says. “Our forwards sometimes will fling a puck up the wall and forget he’s on his offhand. That’s tough to collect on your backhand as a guy’s coming out at you on the point, you know, to not bobble it, try to get it back deep. But, he’s done a really good job of trying to get his feet around it, have composure, absorb a hit, and get it back behind the goaltender.”
While his ability to create offense from the blue line is apparent, Zellweger’s skating is undoubtedly his greatest strength. He’s slick and deceptive and appears to move effortlessly on the ice. Despite being on the small side at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, Zellweger never seems to get squared up for big hits. Instead, he lets his feet deliver him out of trouble in his own end, often spinning away from attacking forwards and even jumping up to lead the rush offensively.
He’s the true modern-day defenseman, who Williams calls a “relentless worker” who “lives and breathes the game of hockey.”
“There’s nobody on our team that works harder than Zell,” Williams adds. “And if you were to ask all 25 guys, they’d all give you the same answer. He wants to do everything in his power to be a hockey player and he gives himself the best opportunity, whether it’s eating properly, resting properly, his preparation for practice and games. He’s just a pleasure to coach, and to see him from last year to this year, you know, the strides… He’s definitely going to have an opportunity, I believe, to be a pro hockey player and an opportunity to be drafted in the upcoming draft.”
Williams is not the only one who believes that Zellweger will hear his name called by an NHL franchise in July. In fact, Zellweger landed on NHL Central Scouting’s “Players to Watch” list with a ‘C’ rating, making him likely to be selected in the fourth through sixth rounds. “It was pretty cool to be named to that list,” Zellweger says. “Obviously, I want to move up to whatever I can, so I think I just gotta go up from here.”
Zellweger isn’t embarking on this journey alone, though. “We have quite a few signed players on our team so they kind of know what it takes and they know what you gotta do. You gotta be focused and be prepared every day to play because somebody’s always watching.”
The Everett Silvertips are in the early stages of a shortened 24-game WHL season. There has been plenty of concern expressed around the hockey world for how young players could continue their development, especially when play was halted due to the pandemic. Zellweger took everything in stride, though, and saw it as a chance to augment his already impressive skillset. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t get the full season, but this will be a good opportunity for us, and I look at the shortened season and extra training time as a really good opportunity to improve upon weaknesses and stuff like that. So for me, it was good time and used well, so I think it was good for me.”
That extra training time shows, as Zellweger looks like the real deal. If he keeps scoring, he could hear his name called at the NHL Draft a lot earlier than his ‘C’ rating suggests.
Olen Zellweger and the Everett Silvertips are a perfect 5-0-0 this season and lead the U.S. Division with 10 points.
Featured image taken by Chris Mast, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
We are still six months away from the Seattle Kraken’s inaugural season, but that time is going to fly by. Those of you who are lucky enough to have season tickets will soon need to start planning your calendars for the 2021-22 NHL season.
To help you plan, I look how a typical NHL schedule would shake out for the Seattle Kraken.
NHL schedule basics
Let us start off with some basic information about a traditional (non-COVID impacted) NHL schedule. A typical schedule will have six preseason and 82 regular-season games that are split evenly with home and away games. The preseason starts in mid-September, regular season kicks off about a week into October, and the regular season ends in the second week of April. That gives us a typical home schedule of three preseason games and 41 regular-season games that runs from mid-September to early April.
NHL schedule by month
If you spread the schedule out by month, NHL teams have about 6 home games a month. Here is a look at that seasonality.
NHL schedule by weekday
As we slowly return to normal, you are likely to start re-committing to beer league hockey, book club, date nights, pick-up hockey, trivia night, hockey tournaments, etc. You might want to avoid conflicts in your schedule by looking at the most common NHL nights of the week.
You might want to avoid scheduling activities on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
NHL schedule wild cards
This data is based on the NHL schedules over the last four fully completed seasons (2015-16 through 2018-19). This does not mean it will stay consistent over the next season. There are few things that could factor into the schedule format next year.
Media partners
ESPN might have plans that could alter the schedule a bit. The ESPN deal has 25 regular-season games on the ESPN TV network (75 on ESPN+). All you mathematicians out there probably estimated that 25 games work out to be about one game a week. It is a best practice to establish a cadence for the games so people do not have to check their local listings every week to determine when hockey will be on ESPN. An example of this is how NBCSN branded Wednesday night as “Rivalry Night” on their network to create some buzz and awareness about their NHL nationally televised games. This has an interesting impact on the rest of the schedule where the league tries to clear out certain days to turn the focus onto the nationally televised game.
Back to backs
The league has made it perfectly clear that they will be returning to our normally scheduled divisions once we get through this 2020-21 temporary alignment. One thing that may stick around is the two-game series scenario. For those unfamiliar with this 2020-21 phenomenon, the NHL strategically scheduled several teams with back-to-back games in the same city to limit travel and potential COVID-19 exposure. Based on some reports, this back-to-back scenario might have some legs for sticking around and could impact the distribution of games in a week. For example, instead of a Thursday in one city, and Saturday in another, teams might play Thursday and Friday in the same city.
I hope this gives you some insight into a typical NHL schedule and what we might expect for the 2021-22 season. There has been no announcement on when that 2021-22 NHL schedule will be released, but we at SOH anticipate its release sometime in August.
Last week, the NHL and ESPN announced a seven-year television, streaming, and media rights deal that kicks off at the beginning of the 2021-22 season and runs through the 2027-28 season. Here are the main bullet points:
25 exclusive national regular-season games on ABC or ESPN.
75 national regular-season games per season produced by ESPN that will stream exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu.
Half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ABC and ESPN each season.
Exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for four out of the seven seasons.
NHL’s out-of-market streaming package, currently known as NHL.tv, will be available exclusively through the ESPN+ subscription.
Most people in the industry see this as a huge win for ESPN, the NHL, and most importantly the fans. Here is a list of 10 reasons why this NHL/ESPN partnership is a big deal for hockey fans:
1. Streaming focus. The Walt Disney company, the owner of ESPN, reached a tipping point for their direct-to-consumer streaming distribution with their big launch of Disney+. The 75 national regular-season games that are slated for ESPN+ are a clear signal that Disney is planning a big push for direct-to-consumer sports products without the burden of a complete cable package that consumers have been forced to purchase for years to access ESPN content.
2. Change agent for ROOT sports. The biggest complaint we heard from fans after the Root Sports/Kraken announcement was the lack of streaming options that came with that deal. With Disney taking an aggressive approach and making a huge investment in the NHL with streaming rights on ESPN+, this could influence regional sports networks, like Root Sports, to create streaming options sooner rather than later. I do not anticipate changes any time soon, but this will put pressure on the RSN’s.
3. Multi-network. There will be an additional TV partner here. NBC is still in the running, as is Fox Sports. So if you do not want to splurge on the $5 a month to get ESPN+ and the additional 75 games, you will be able to get more nationally televised games on the additional network. Having exposure on both networks creates more visibility for the NHL and will add to the growth opportunities of the sport.
4. Network competition. Between ESPN and the other eventual NHL network partner, there will be a healthy rivalry to outdo each other in coverage and innovation. Expect both networks to push each other for better coverage and content that will ultimately benefit the networks themselves as well as the fans.
5. NHL headed back to the worldwide leader in sports. It has been 17 years since the NHL last appeared on ESPN, and hockey fans have been bitter about the lack of coverage on the network since it left. I have fallen in that trap as well, but as the great Linda Cohn implied on our podcast, the network is not going to heavily promote a sport for which they do not own the television rights. This all changes that. We have already seen Steven A. Smith hyping the Kraken. Haters are going to hate, but having ESPN personalities talking about hockey is great for the sport.
Aaawwwwwww Sugar Crackers! Your Boy’s about to get into Hockey. Yes! HOCKEY!!! Check me out! pic.twitter.com/8Sr4ERzTjS
6. Shoulder content. There have been no commitments around additional programming, but one should expect something like NHL 2Night to go back to ESPN on game nights or move NHL In the Crease onto one of the ESPN linear channels, meaning ESPN or ESPN2. This will draw in more eyeballs from a broad group of sports fans that have ESPN on by default.
Yes, hockey fans, the iconic ESPN @NHL theme music will be back!
Composer Bob Christianson shares more on the musical piece first introduced to viewers in 1992, that still resonates with hockey fans after nearly 30 yearshttps://t.co/PvcI2nDuHupic.twitter.com/hOdPaXAeXg
7. ESPN.com. I have appreciated NBC Sports’ coverage over the years, but rarely have I felt the need to go to NBCsports.com for hockey content. I do like Sean Leahy, but I feel NBC never prioritizes its .com coverage. I find myself going to tsn.ca, sportsnet.ca, or ESPN.com instead. With the media partnership and platform of ESPN.com, I expect coverage should grow and landing on espn.com/nhl will become part of my regular routine. I should call out that friends of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan have done a great job with their coverage over the last few years. If you have not checked out their content, you should, as it is consistently fresh and innovative.
8. Getting the gang back together. I know I am not alone here, but I became a fan of hockey watching the NHL on ESPN. There is already some excitement building for the return of the gang on ESPN, and I am on board. Gary Thorne has already commented on his interest in rejoining ESPN. The fans are clamoring for Steve Levy and the elevated presence of hockey with Linda Cohn and Barry Melrose. I also hope the US hockey market can get more exposure to the great Ray Ferraro and Gord Miller from time to time.
9. NHL out-of-market streaming package just got cheaper. It did not get any headlines, but by moving the NHL.tv subscription over to ESPN+, the package apparently just got cheaper. There could be some price changes coming up for ESPN+, but the NHL.tv subscription usually costs about $159 per season and ESPN+ costs $5 per month, or $50 for a full year.
10. ESPN commercials. I still love these. It should be fun to see Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, and Mathew Barzal involved in some ESPN commercials of their own.
The old “This is SportsCenter” hockey commercials are great 🤣
The NHL on ESPN will be great for hockey. The exposure and innovation this deal will have on hockey will be incredible and I cannot wait for Seattle to be along for this ride.
