Hank 0 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/10/15/kelly_qa/ Hockeycentral: You met with the folks at ESPN about getting hockey back on ESPN in the United States. How did that meeting go? KELLY: It went very well. That meeting took place with the full knowledge and awareness of the NHL. You know my players have a very strong view of the fact that we need to be on television in a much larger degree in the United States then we are at the present time. We have this national TV deal with Versus. They do a terrific job of the broadcasts but they still have limitations in terms of finding them on the dial and their availabilities in hotels and sports bars of that nature. The players, particularly the veteran players who have been around for a long time, they long for the days when you could find hockey on ESPN and ESPN2 and ESPN frankly wants the NHL back on their network. You know they are very eager and interested putting us on. They would like to have a designated game of the week… They would like to do a large chunk of the playoffs as they did in the past. They would love to participate in broadcasting some of the special events, season openings, Winter Classics, things of that nature that have been done presently on NBC down in the States. So it was a very healthy dialogue with the top people at ESPN. The league is involved with that discussion as well and again there are a lot of moving parts here. There are complicated transactions and agreements that have been put in place but the parties are all talking in a very healthy way and I am hoping for the benefit of the sport we will be able to bring ESPN back into the mix within the next year or so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maltbymaniac 13 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 and this whole time i thought they went to vs because they canceled espn..show's how much i know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ben_usmc 253 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 HAHAHA, I guess bowling, cards, and spelling bee's aren't selling to well. ESPN has been become the equivalent to sports as to what MTV is to music. They have a new person in charge who actually said he wanted to get back to the roots, they will no longer produce stupid movies and put more sports back on one of major importance to the guy was hockey. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shaman 713 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 <3 it would be great for a game to be on ESPN once in awhile...it blows that its hard to find anything but local coverage (though since im from MI it is the wings) I would love to see a game from the east or west coasts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManLuv4Clears 7 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 HAHAHA, I guess bowling, cards, and spelling bee's aren't selling to well. ESPN has been become the equivalent to sports as to what MTV is to music. They have a new person in charge who actually said he wanted to get back to the roots, they will no longer produce stupid movies and put more sports back on one of major importance to the guy was hockey. Good analogy. The NHL needs ESPN and being broadcast with that network will do nothing but help the sport grow. Interesting enough I have seen a lot more NHL coverage as of late on espn.com than has been covered in the past couple years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hank 0 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 <3 it would be great for a game to be on ESPN once in awhile...it blows that its hard to find anything but local coverage (though since im from MI it is the wings) I would love to see a game from the east or west coasts. I agree. Just having a weekly game on a Wednesday night, or weekend night would be great. And make sure to get good match-ups too. I'm actually addicted to the Southeast division right now. When two teams from that division square off it's awesome hockey. Every team plays an aggressive style and you always see a lot of goals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeytown Red Wings 245 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 As bad as ESPN is at covering and analyzing hockey, it's still ten times better than Vs. Plus, I need Gary Thorne back in my life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
06TJSport 0 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 As bad as ESPN is at covering and analyzing hockey, it's still ten times better than Vs. Plus, I need Gary Thorne back in my life. Gary Thorne is one of the worst hockey announcers I have ever heard, I'd love to have some Dave Strader though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shaman 713 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 im thinking of growing a mullet in honor of this.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FinRedWing 172 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 I guess I could watch NHL 2Night again... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robat 13 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 Gary Thorne is one of the worst hockey announcers I have ever heard, I'd love to have some Dave Strader though... I agree. Gary Thorne is bad at announcing anything, whether it's hockey or baseball. I turn down my TV when I play NHL 09 so I don't have to hear him. I guess I could watch NHL 2Night again... That'd be great. Bucci and Levy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dano33 41 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 Good analogy. The NHL needs ESPN and being broadcast with that network will do nothing but help the sport grow. Interesting enough I have seen a lot more NHL coverage as of late on espn.com than has been covered in the past couple years. Its really not that great of an analogy, but it does get a point across. MTV (MUSIC television) has 1 hour devoted to music when the sun is up. When does ESPN not show sports (or at least some sort of game even if it isn't a sport)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeymom1960 5,107 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 Steve Levy right now on NHL Live!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zion 93 Report post Posted October 16, 2008 I'm actually a bit surprised by this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DyingAlive 27 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 I've been saying this was going to happen for the past 2 years. It was going to happen, and even with the contract they have with Versus, ESPN will start showing hockey again with the next year. Also, it's whats best for the league. Love or hate ESPN, it's what the NHL needs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 Wherever the NHL is on works for me. It could be on the Weather Channel or Cartoon Network for all I care, just be on somewhere to watch. I'm not one that goes bonkers with the perception that ESPN doesn't give a damn about hockey or constantly makes fun of it. Whether we like the network or not, their reach across the country is very large. If more popularity is the goal, get it back on ESPN then. I do like the NHL on VS. I never even knew the channel existed when it was formerly Outdoor Life Network then switched, but I don't mind games on their at all. VS also broadcasts college football games from time to time as well which has gotten me to like the network more (my school played tonight actually on VS at the same time of the Wings game). VS also opened me up to watching fighting/cage fighting as well as I barely watched that at all before seeing it on VS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soultrain 43 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 monkeys are flying out of my ass. hi monkeys! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AtomicPunk 296 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 It's not just games on ESPN. They don't even show NHL highlights on SportsCenter. The more eyes on the game, the better. If Bill Clement does the games and calls them "tilts", I might throw up all over my plasma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dobbles 252 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 Its really not that great of an analogy, but it does get a point across. MTV (MUSIC television) has 1 hour devoted to music when the sun is up. When does ESPN not show sports (or at least some sort of game even if it isn't a sport)? maybe their never ending coverage of poker? (which is entertaining, but not a sport) maybe when they are showing all those dumb movies they made. maybe when instead of showing actual live sports, they instead show has been athletes talking about sports. i guess they have an advantage that they do sports related programming, but they still do MUCH less actual sports than they used to. i remember when they used to have several games of mlb on a week and several hockey games on espn2. now we get 1 baseball game a week, 1 football game a week, and an overload of college basketball when winter comes... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auxlepli 17 Report post Posted October 17, 2008 ESPN's past record speaks for itself. The four-letter treated the League like s***. Yes, the League needs more exposure, but it won't get it from the Mickey Mouse networks. The players, fans, others who do think that are wrong. Bars, hotels, cable companies, etc. that don't have Versus are in the dark ages. The pressure needs to be put on them to get Versus. A personal example: I stayed at a hotel recently and they didn't have Versus nor Fox Sports. I told hotel management they need to get it. It'll affect my future decisions in staying with that chain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2probert4 8 Report post Posted October 19, 2008 maybe their never ending coverage of poker? (which is entertaining, but not a sport) maybe when they are showing all those dumb movies they made. maybe when instead of showing actual live sports, they instead show has been athletes talking about sports. i guess they have an advantage that they do sports related programming, but they still do MUCH less actual sports than they used to. i remember when they used to have several games of mlb on a week and several hockey games on espn2. now we get 1 baseball game a week, 1 football game a week, and an overload of college basketball when winter comes... dont forget the insane number of NBA games that they force down everyones throat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auxlepli 17 Report post Posted October 19, 2008 (edited) Check out this. ESPN posted no NHL photos from Saturday's games. There were 13 games Saturday, yet ESPN didn't post even one photo from any of the 13. Not one! This is more proof the four-letter hates the League. More proof the NHL shouldn't go back to the Mickey Mouse networks. Edited October 19, 2008 by auxlepli Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stinkyness 10 Report post Posted October 19, 2008 ESPN is a joke. They are lazy and they suck. Let them spell, scrabble, and poker into obscurity. And good riddance. The NHL network, Center Ice, and yes, even VS have it under control. Local markets have the FSN's for coverage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878 Report post Posted October 19, 2008 I am seeing ESPN start to show some games late in the season this year and then next year BAM ESPN will take over VS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DyingAlive 27 Report post Posted October 20, 2008 What you don't understand is that the reason that ESPN doesn't pay as much attention to the NHL is because ESPN has no contract with the NHL. They are not required to have great coverage of the league. When you turn on SportsCenter you get tons of coverage from the NBA (way too much in my opinion), NASCAR, and every other sport. But the reason you don't see the NHL is because these other leagues are paying them to get coverage. While the NHL is not. Can you blame ESPN for having more coverage of the leagues that they have contracts with? No, that's business. Period. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
