First, this is a day old, but the CHL and Canadian cable channel Rogers Sportsnet announced their 2009-10 broadcast schedule on Sportsnet the other day. You can see the seven WHL games they're showing here. There will also be some CHL playoff games shown (based on past years, those will be OHL games....I'd take that to the bank) and of course they also show the entire Memorial Cup tournament.
I don't understand why a Canadian all-sports network wouldn't want to show MORE of the CHL than just a paltry few games, especially when they're going to show the big finale in May. But I guess they wouldn't want to pre-empt their exciting hits like strongman competitions, poker, darts, or the world snooker tour for some boring hockey.
Secondly, as always happens after Canada announces their WJC invites, there's been a lot of "oh my god I can't believe XXXX didn't get invited" out there......and a lot of WHL fans wondering why only 10 WHLers were invited to the camp this year when last year there were 12 WHLer just on the final team itself.
Well, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the entire team made up of WHLers and nothing else - in fact, I think all three CHL leagues could put a team into this tournament that would have a good chance of winning. But look at the makeup of the 36 players who were invited: there are 14 NHL first round picks on that roster, and four more 2010-eligible players (Gormley, Hall, McFarland, and Seguin) who are all bet-the-farm locks to be first rounders this year. That is potentially as many as 18 NHL first round picks on a 22 man roster.....most countries would love to have that "problem". There are six more 2nd round picks and another six more 3rd round picks. That's 30 of the 36 players who were (or will be) picked in the first three rounds of the NHL draft. They can only take 22 players.....some very good players and very good future NHLers are going to be left off this team.
And yes, some very good players and very good future NHLers didn't even get invited. But it's not like they got left home in favour of some schmucks. It's a tough job sorting through this much talent and maybe this year the OHL and the QMJHL just have a little bit stronger groups. I'm not going to worry about the WHL being underrepresented....the OHL and QMJHL guys who beat our western kids out all have pretty good credentials too.
Oh, and one other thing to think about - there are still eight players in the NHL who are eligible to play for Canada but who aren't being released to play by their NHL clubs:
Michael del Zotto (D) - NY Rangers (27gp-5g-12a-17pts-16pim)
Tyler Myers (D) - Buffalo (24-3-10-13-10)
Matt Duchene (F) - Colorado (29-8-9-17-4)
Evander Kane (F) - Atlanta (24-8-5-13-19)
Ryan O'Reilly (F) - Colorado (29-4-13-17-10)
Steven Stamkos (F) - Tampa Bay (26-17-12-29-14)
John Tavares (F) - NY Islanders (27-10-11-21-4)
James Wright (F) - Tampa Bay (26-2-3-5-6)
Imagine if those guys, who are posting those kind of numbers in the best hockey league in the world, all came and played at the WJCs. No, seriously.....
5 comments:
funny thought to have more canadian hockey on TV...but as an ad executive...the only hockey that sells on TV is NHL and WJ's.
No one wants to buy the CHL regular season games...
So you're saying that CHL games couldn't outdraw poker or darts or any of the other stupid stuff that Sportsnet shows?
I'm not an "ad executive" but I think it's kind of common sense that Sportsnet would want to show the things that the most people will want to watch, because advertisers want to advertise on shows people watch. And the more people that watch, the more the advertisers will pay to advertise on those shows. And the more they pay, the more money Sportsnet makes.
As long as the CHL is willing to sell the rights to Sportsnet at a price that Sportsnet can make money at, why would they choose to air their low-eyeball-count shows instead of something like hockey, which will always have an audience in Canada?
Hey Alan, do you have any idea if FSN is going to pick up any games for us fans down here in the States? I made a post about this earlier in the year and there were several responses stating that FSN was going to show a lot of games. At this point it looks like they were just blowing hot air out of their arses. I'd like to be wrong about that, but so far I've heard nothing about the prospect of FSN televising games this year.
Ironically guys...the CHL can't sell its own product to the major networks...POKER and DARTS...buy the rights to showcase their products on TSN and Sportsnet...the CHL can't compete with that...funny hah...Canada's National sport (no offense Lacrosse) can't buy its way onto the sports channels in Canada...has nothing to do with outdrawing other programing...money talks...and if you got lots of it...then even you can be on TV...its all paid programing!...Funny part...we are all proud supporters by purchasing our basic cable....but I like your comments...would be nice to see more junior hockey on tv...
Pretty sad indeed!
But... a person kind of expects Ontario hockey to get the main attention after all - Toronto Sports Network, CBC showing Leafs game only almost every weekend (and no other Eastern Cdn teams expect when they play the Leafs or once maybe a month or two if not)... etc
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