A Free One at the Bar for Bob Cole

It is the final free-standing season of Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC. Next season, Rogers and TVA take over the national NHL rights from the CBC, TSN and RDS.

HNIC will remain on the CBC for the moment, but it will be Rogers producing the show, calling the shots and collecting all the money for the English side of the contract, while TVA takes the keys from RDS on the French side.

So, there had been some question as to which announcers would be with HNIC season with a new landlord. Bob Cole appears to have made the cut, and that is good for anyone who goes to either NHL Game Center Live, NHL Center Ice or the NHL Network to pick up the HNIC feeds on a Saturday night.

If you haven't heard him in a while, he is an old friend waiting at the bar to guide you through a game. Sure, he can get excited, but he keeps it under control and in context, very much unlike the annoying Doc Emrick, who makes you want to switch to another bar to avoid hearing, "she wedges behind the spigots, and OH MY! Fresh peanuts FOR EVERYONE!!!!"

That's a reminder to cut Emrick off at none should he step up to the Lounge.

It's CBC, Before and After the Game

If I've said it a thousand times, well then it deserves to be said one more time.

The CBC understands the attachment that many fans have to the game. Whenever you catch the bug, you're hooked on the game, it's players and how they view the game. You want to see the game through their eyes. I do not care what the talking heads at NBC say most of the time, and this is quite true when the handshake line is going on and NBC interrupts that footage for more replays and much to much yap from Doc and Pierre.

But over at the CBC, they bring the fans closer to the players and their emotions, before and after the game. And with that, it also allows fans to confront their own emotions about the game.



That is good television. I am happy that NBC and the NBC Sports Network have the NHL contract in the United States. The league is in much better hands than Fox Sports or ESPN. But the NBC family would do well to study the production effort at both TSN and CBC before and after the game. Keep this in mind as you watch these videos. Consider how much you remember about the postgame effort by NBC and the NBC Sports Network last night.

What's that? You don't remember it? Exactly.

This effort from CBC is one you will remember.

Returning to the Fray

If that doesn't get you in the mood for watching the great game of hockey, then you had better turn back to watching baseball. Enjoy your long nap.

On Tuesday, I felt the hate for St. Louis deep in my gut. I wanted to toss a bottle across the room when the Blues scored the first goal against the Kings and I slammed down my fist on the table when they won in overtime. Then I watched the Ducks punk the Red Wings and I felt a little bit better.

That's me and the Stanley Cup playoffs. I (as if I could play this game) have a lot of scores to settle and a mountain of debts owed over the games that I have seen or will see before I close my eyes for good. So it is good to feel the blood moving quickly, the passion running high as I watch games each night.

And thanks, CBC, for showing how the game should be presented.

More later.

The Subbans Break the Lockout Gloom

The lockout is goomy enough without the late fall weather turning every afternoon into a gray march into darkness.

Breaking the gloom are the folks at "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight," the nightly talk show on the CBC that is far more informative and worth your time than any Letterman/Leno production.

P.K. Subban, locked out of his job as a defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens, appears to have found some work at a Boston Pizza franchise in Canada.

(Note that my youngest daughter has to laugh every time she hears a mention of Boston Pizza. She went to college in Boston and always came back to New York on break complaining about the Boston weather, the Boston T system and the horrible Boston pizza. So to her, hearing a franchise promote what she considers the worst possible pairing -- Boston and pizza -- is a joke that keeps on giving. To be fair, I have eaten at the U.S. version of the chain, Boston's in Allentown, Pa., and I had no complaints about the restaurant.)

The Strombo people posted the Subban video above, perhaps as a way to help bring the NHL and the NHLPA closer together.

Here is an interview from the Strombo show, where we get to hear from P.K. Subban and his brothers.

Why the CBC Matters to Hockey

It's called production, and the CBC does the best job around, even when it has more that a few goofs working as talking heads between periods on Hockey Night in Canada.

The level of production is high, and you are amazed when you see what the CBC does when you put it alongside the work of NBC and NBC Sports Channel. And I am a firm believer that the NBC/NBC Sports Channel arrangement is far better place for the NHL than ESPN, SportsChannel America or Fox.

But when the little things matter, the CBC gets the job right. The Stanley Cup finals end, and the CBC stays until the first blood alcohol tests from the winning locker room signal a need for designated drivers.

With NBC, Doc Emrick has barely moved the final vowel from "OH NOOOOOOOOOOOH!" before he turns quiet and says with some note of apology that we can get the rest of the story by switching from NBC to NBC Sports Channel. And on the NBC Sports Channel, we get 30 minutes before it's time to switch to the NHL Network.

Weak.

Strong? The CBC. And here is just a small sampling. It's called setting the stage, and HNIC crew has done a fine job (we've agreed to forget about Ron MacLean's first responder poetry slam).

Here, in a string of six, are the opening segments to the six games of the Stanley Cup Finals, along with the salute to the playoffs.

Do you remember what NBC/NBC Sports Channel did for each game? Neither do I anymore.

Enjoy.

GAME 1



GAME 2



GAME 3



GAME 4



GAME 5



GAME 6



CLOSING SALUTE TO PLAYOFFS



CLOSING CREDITS

There's Good Hockey Tonight

Thanks to Nickelback for that cover tune, which has the Lounge fired up for another Saturday night of hockey.

Actually the action in the Lounge has already started with the Vancouver Canucks visiting the Boston Bruins. Our main screen has the game on Center Ice (NESN feed).

At 4 pm Eastern, will have the Detroit Red Wings at the Los Angeles Kings on Center Ice (Fox Sports Detroit feed). At 7 pm, the locals rule with the New Jersey Devils at the New York Rangers on the MSG-Plus channel in HD.

Just when the eyes are ready to roll back a bit, we get another pot of Joe going for the Edmonton Oilers at Colorado Avalanche at 10 pm on Center Ice (CBC feed).

Want to let me know what you are watching or comment on any game tonight. Send the tweets to @denverspurs. The Lounge's owner has the Twitter account and likes to do running commentary on games, that is, when he is not running figure skating fans out of the Lounge and into the cold, cold night.

Have you heard the news? There's good hockey tonight.