When it comes to televising a hockey game, NBC can't match the experience and reputation of the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.
But the U.S. network compensates with a big effort and an aggressive up-close approach.
It paid off handsomely on Saturday. NBC, producing its first Stanley Cup final telecast of the postseason, equalled and, at few key points, bettered the CBC.
The big miss for the Canadian network was failing to note that the Anaheim Ducks had been caught on a late line change and had only four skaters on the ice when Anton Volchenkov scored the Ottawa Senators' second goal.
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NBC game analyst Ed Olczyk spotted it immediately and used a telestrator to check off the four Ducks on the ice, making note of the missing fifth.
It was never reported by the CBC.
On Anaheim's first goal, NBC noted that Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery had lost his stick after being brushed by his own defenceman. The CBC didn't report that until Don Cherry brought it up in the first intermission show.
NBC's third man, Pierre McGuire, who sets up at ice level between the benches, brings the viewers about as close to the action as possible. His interview with Senators coach Bryan Murray at the bench during a stoppage in the first period helped advance the main story, which was the Senators' mood after losing two games in Anaheim.
At the end of the second period, McGuire grabbed Ottawa's Mike Fisher on the ice before he left for the dressing room. The CBC's rinkside reporter, Elliotte Friedman, gets good interviews and provides strong information, but McGuire's location gives him the advantage.
CBC announcer Bob Cole had a poor night. He was behind the play, was spotty in identifying Ducks players and got a few wrong. The most obvious misidentification was his referring in the first period to the Senators' Joe Corvo as Dany Heatley.
Both networks delivered some strong commentary. NBC's Ray Ferraro didn't hold back when asked about the work of Ottawa's Jason Spezza in the first two games. He said Spezza had been "jittery, confused and intimidated."
The CBC's Kelly Hrudey came down hard on Emery, who has allowed soft goals and big rebounds. Hrudey suggested the radical move of pulling him for Martin Gerber, despite Gerber's inactivity for most of the regular season and playoffs.
The CBC's camera work continues to be first-rate. The picture was often ahead of the commentary. After the Volchenkov goal, the camera found Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle barking at one of his players, a signal that something had gone wrong.
When game analyst Harry Neale was telling us that Spezza had gone to the dressing room for repairs, the camera showed him standing behind the bench waiting for a jersey.
The verdict on Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson's disputed goal, which was waved off by the referee but then deemed good by the video reviewers, split along network lines.
The CBC broadcasters believed it had not been deliberately kicked in and, therefore, was correctly called a goal. NBC's analysts thought otherwise, although Olczyk, like his CBC counterpart, Greg Millen, wondered whether Alfredsson's follow-through made it appear as though he had directed the puck.
The CBC's pregame show contained plenty of good content, most notably the piece on Murray and his family's roots in Shawville, Que.
But Hockey Night should stop inflicting us with setups involving fans outside the arena, the ones in which adults wearing Senators jerseys bellow into the camera: "Stay tuned when the Ducks take on the Senators in our house," followed by the inevitable "On Hockey Night in Canada - woooo."
When Hockey Night does that sort of opener with minor-hockey players during the regular season, it has a certain amount of appeal and charm because, after all, they are kids.
But watching this from loud, middle-aged people, not once but twice in the pregame show, is not amusing or appealing. It's just stupid and irritating.
Hull and Cherry
NBC's Brett Hull joined Don Cherry on Coach's Corner on Saturday, but the two high-profile commentators didn't produce much that was interesting or entertaining.
Part of the problem was the setup. Hull took Cherry's spot beside host Ron MacLean, with Cherry standing behind them. But how can you carry on a conversation with somebody you can't see? The three should have sitting together in front of the camera.
And more effort was needed from MacLean to get Cherry and Hull engaged. The two will try again tonight when they team up during NBC's telecast of the fourth game.
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