NHL Releases National Television Schedules

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Aug 14, 11:27 PM | Hype this story!

The NHL today released the national television coverage schedules, featuring the 2009 Winter Classic to kick off NBC’s coverage January 1.

Also of note, eight Pittsburgh Penguins games will be aired on the Versus network and one game on NBC.

Nationally-Televised Penguins Games:

  • October 5 vs. Senators on Versus
  • October 14 vs. Flyers on Versus
  • November 11 at Red Wings on Versus
  • November 18 vs. WIld on Versus
  • December 8 vs. Sabres on Versus
  • December 22 at Sabres on Versus
  • January 5 at Rangers on Versus
  • January 18 vs. Rangers on NBC
  • March 3 at Lightning on Versus

Of note, the Penguins will duke it out with the Detroit Red Wings early in the season with a national audience in a re-match of the ’08 Stanley Cup Finals and a potential preview of the ’09 Finals. Also, the Penguins will round out their national TV schedule with a game against the “Penguins South” as the face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Comments

  1. Brandon

    Aug 14, 11:47 PM

    It seemed surprising that only 8 games were going to be televised on Versus, almost to the point where it could have made me mad. Then I remembered I have FSN and I hate Versus, now I’m mad that they get to cover as many games as they have. I am not looking forward to Versus at all.

  2. Jon

    Aug 15, 09:26 AM

    I’m certainly glad there aren’t many games on Vs. I hate those announcers, and their camera work sucks, too!

    I wish it was Mike Lange, but I’ll take Steigy & Bobby!

  3. Matt Bodenschatz

    Aug 15, 10:05 AM

    Brandon, actually, eight games on Versus is a decent amount. By my count, there are 58 scheduled televised games on the network. If you multiply that by two to account for both teams involved in each game, you get 116 options. Now, divide that by 30, for the number of teams in the NHL, and you get an average of just below four games per team. The Penguins have doubled that, so they’re getting plenty of exposure. Like you, though, I think I’d just prefer the local announcers and local coverage.

    Jon, I haven’t heard any word — is Errey returning? I was under the impression that, like Steigy, his contract was up, but, unlike Steigy, he has not yet been retained.

  4. Pens1967

    Aug 15, 12:34 PM

    Matt, I read that Errey is signed to a multi-year contract that is still in effect.

    Also, doesn’t NBC have a “flex scheduling” option for late season games?

  5. Ben Schmidt

    Aug 15, 03:06 PM

    Brandon – don’t worry, while Vs has 8 games, only 5 of them are “exclusive” – the other three will still be carried by FSN Pittsburgh as well:
    “(Please note that Versus has selected three additional Penguins games for “non-exclusive” broadcasts – meaning that FSN Pittsburgh will carry those games locally and Versus will broadcast them to the rest of the nation. They are: Sunday, Oct. 5 vs. Ottawa from Stockholm at 2:30 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 8 vs. Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, March 3 at Tampa Bay at 7:30 p.m.)”
    http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=379709

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