Program Alert for Tonight

Depending, I guess, on whether the Nashville-Phoenix game ends on time or not to far along into overtime, the NBC Sports Channel is scheduled to show the USA-France game that was played earlier today over in Europe on the opening day of the World Championships.

The broadcast is set for 11:30 Eastern. The Americans opened the tournament, which will determine the seeding of teams for the 2014 Olympics on Sochi, Russia, with a 7-2 victory. A recap is here. In other games, Canada defeated Slovakia, 3-2, and Finland outlasted Belarus, 1-0. The Germans were 3-0 winners over Italy and the Czechs came away with a 2-0 victory over Denmark. And Sweden defeated Norway, 3-1.

To follow all the action at the World Championships, which are being played in Helsinki and Stockhoml thorugh May 20, drop in here at the Lounge and also check out the IIHF site for the event.

On Saturday night, the NBC Sports Channel will have the Canada-USA game on at 7:30 Eastern, followed by the documentary "Cold War on Ice: Summit Series 72" at 10 pm.

Plenty of hockey in the Lounge this weekend. Games tonight. On Saturday, games in the afternoon and at night, along with the Kentucky Derby ... and there will be Cinco de Mayo festivities in the Lounge. (Should the Rangers game run into a couple of overtime sessions and into the Kentucky Derby time slot, NBC has this plan, according to Puck Daddy.) I'm working the kitchen and am planning to serve both chicken and blackened mushroom soft tacos along with house-made guacamole, chips, beans, rice. The beer will be very cold and the margaritas -- against my wishes -- will be frozen. But as per my wishes, they will be strong enough to make you wish you had portable hard drive for your brain on Sunday morning.

Sunday will include a little built-in recovery time before the St. Louis-Los Angeles game begins at 3 Eastern. And we should be feeling even better by the time the New Jersey-Philadelphia game begins at 7:30 Eastern.

The Lounge will be jumping. If you are in the area, please wander in.

A Little Help for My Friends

I am a man of few needs.

I need to keep my family happy. I need to watch hockey.

Yep, that's about it. Everything else is pretty much negotiable so long as it pleases my family and can get me clear to watch the day's games on ice.

Working within those boundaries, I am pretty excited about how much hockey I can watch on so many different devices. Last night, the Devils-Flyers game was going long, so the start of the Kings-Blues game was going to be joined in progress rather than shown in full.

That led me to grabbing my iPhone and using the league app to get the Kings radio feed. I used my iPad to display the almost real-time flow of stats on said game (my laptop was in use to keep a steady flow of real-time stats on the Devildogs game).

I'm certain I would have liked watching the Kings open the scoring last night, but Nick Nixon's call was fine. The game in Newark did not last all night and I would soon be watching the Kings-Blues on the Lounge big screen.

As you can see, the Lounge can take care of my needs. But I feel for those hockey fans in other areas. Jeff Hale, who has taken a few shifts behind the bar here in the Lounge, made a recent trip to Boston and could not get the Capitals-Rangers overtime drama at his hotel. No NBC Sports Channel/Versus/OLN in that particular lineup.

And there are fans in Cleveland who will not be able to see the start of the Kings-Blues game on Sunday because of baseball.

Hard times in certain precincts, to be certain. Jeff's problem, if I may offer an opinion, could have been solved with a Slingbox, which I think can cover all sorts of television emergencies on the road. (Or he could have solved it by getting out of that bush league town of Boston; bars there close real early. I rest my case.) I remember once reading a Tweet in real-time from the sports agent Allan Walsh as he was bemoaning the absence of Versus at his hotel.

Now some people might not want to hit the road with a Slingbox, the way some parents might want to scratch the trouble-making child of their litter from their travel party. But if you are a sports agent -- I mean, it's your business -- then a Slingbox has to be considered one of the first things on the to be packed list.

In 2010, trapped in a hotel room without hockey, again in Boston, I worked my laptop until I found a stream of a Memorial Cup game. It may not have been a good night for the Brandon Wheat Kings against the Windsor Spitfires, but I and my collection of chilled Guinness pints had a pleasant evening. (Room service is good, but being in a room a short walk away from the hotel bar is great.)

The best solution is for the NHL to work with their rights holders to provide live streams available to all who pay for an app, for example. A few months back, NBC the mothership broadcast one game and offered a Web stream of a game it was showing in another part of the country. The reception was far from HD, but I am of an age where I can remember when getting a few pixels on a battered black-and-white TV to resemble SMU's Jerry LeVias, running every which way to snare passes against Oklahoma in the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl, was a thrill to this child in single digits. (Hate the Sooners. Always will.) Another solution is for NBC the mothership to strong arm those hotel cable package providers to squeeze NBC Sports Channel into the mix. Hey, Comcast, don't you and your friends have any pull in this arena? Come on.

So how about it NHL, NBC, NBC Sports Channel, CNBC and NHL Network? How about a little love for my friends? As for me, I am fine right now. But if I need something, I'll let you know. Count on it.

Thursday's Playoff Tab

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
At New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 3 OT
(Devils lead series, 2-1)
At Los Angeles 4, St. Louis 2
(Kings lead series, 3-0)
Summaries are here.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
At Toronto 5, Abbotsford 1
(Series is tied, 1-1)
San Antonio 6, at Oklahoma City 4
(Rampage leads series, 1-0)
Summaries are here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Third Round
At Florida 7, Kalamazoo 3
(Everblades lead series, 3-1)
Summary is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chynoweth Cup Finals
At Edmonton 3, Portland 2
(Oil Kings lead series, 1-0)
Summary is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
Robertson Cup Finals
Niagara 3, at London 2 OT(2)
(IceDogs lead series, 1-0)
Summary is here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
President's Cup Finals
Saint John vs. Rimouski
Series starts Friday.
A preview is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
Third Round
At Green Bay 6, Indiana 2
(Gamblers lead series, 1-0)
Summary is here.

Free Drinks After Deadline

I'm going to hand out two awards, one for best quote of the day and one for best lead of the day.

The award for best lead of the day goes out to Todd Venezia of the New York Post for his story of the mother accused of child abuse involving a tanning bed.

The lead?

She's taken tanning too far -- even for New Jersey.

Get that man a cold one and a shot on the house for that lead.

The quote is from the Capitals' Brooks Laich, who was talking to the Washington Post's Tracee Hamilton after a triple-overtime loss to the Rangers Thursday morning when he said:

Half the players on the ice had blood on their uniforms before it was over. It’s a grinding game.

Laich said more about the game than anyone assigned to offer 700 words or more on it. He summed it up perfectly and not a single indeed, of course, know this or punctuation trick that are often employed by today's mainstream dead-tree edition writers. Good thing he isn't working one of those publications.

I've seen layout editors go crazy when a writer came up 40 words short of 1,000 on a topic. Laich filed only 19. Time to redraw the page.

Laich, you stretched deadline a bit, but it was worth the effort. Have a free cold one on the Lounge.

And after hearing this tune on the Marek vs. Wyshynski radio show, I say Jess Goldey is worthy of being sponsored for an evening of refreshments in the Lounge. Here is "Orange G-Sus, I'd Cook You Grilled Cheeses." She shoots and scores.

Wednesday's Playoff Tab

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
New York 2, at Washington 1 OT(3)
(Rangers lead series, 2-1)
At Nashville 2, Phoenix 0
(Coyotes lead series, 2-1)
Summaries are here.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
Connecticut 3, at Norfolk 2 OT
(Whale leads series, 1-0)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3, at St. John's 1
(Series is tied, 1-1)
Summaries are here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Third Round
At Florida 7, Kalamazoo 0
(Everblades lead series, 2-1)
Las Vegas 3, at Alaska 1
(Wranglers win series, 4-1)
Summaries are here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chynoweth Cup Finals
Edmonton Oil Kings vs. Portland Winterhawks
Series begins Thursday
A preview is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
Robertson Cup Finals
Niagara IceDogs vs. London Knights
Series begins Thursday
A preview is here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
President's Cup Finals
Saint John Sea Dogs vs. Rimouski Oceanic
Series begins Friday

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
Third Round
Waterloo 5, at Lincoln 2
(Black Hawks lead series, 1-0)
Summary is here.

Tuesday's Playoff Tab

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
New Jersey 4, at Philadelphia 1
(Series is tied, 1-1)
Summary is here.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
St. John's 3, at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1
(IceCaps lead series, 1-0)
Abbotsford 3, at Toronto 1
(Heat leads series, 1-0)
Summaries are here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Third Round
Las Vegas 3, at Alaska 2
(Wranglers lead series, 3-1)
Summary is here.

Monday's Playoff Tab

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Second Round
Washington 3, at New York 2
(Series is tied, 1-1)
Los Angeles 5, at St. Louis 2
(Kings lead series, 2-0)
Summaries are here.