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Habs, Crosby take over Leafs' national audience

WILLIAM HOUSTON

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 2:46 PM EST 18/01/08

Hockey Night is planning to relegate the Leafs to the Southern Ontario market on Saturday night
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  1. Billy Biroux from Polar Bear Pit, Nunavet, Canada writes: I don't see the big deal here.
    Show the Leafs in southern Ontario, where they still have fans.
    And get the rest of the country used to watching the Habs and Sens again. So that they can build a following into the playoffs.
  2. Frank Roberts from Canada writes: What about the High Def. feed?

    I believe most cables/satetlites use CBC Toronto feed for HD, so we will propoably still get stuck with the Leafs.

    Tonight on NHL Centre Ice pacakge the Leafs are in HD. Both the Flames game and Canuck game is in regular feed only.

    My cable company is western based Shaw. This doesn't make sense.
  3. greg panke from orangeville, Canada writes: It is too bad southern Ontario has to watch the Leafs if they want NHL hockey, the other stations are on cable, but it sounds like they will still be blacked out. Let the viewers decide what game they want to watch.

    As for the CBCs assertion that they watch details like standings to decide what games they show is a lot of BS, it is only the pressure being brought by Mr. Houston and a lot of ticked off hockey fans that has the CBC getting off their fat butts for a change.

    I for one will not be watching NHL hockey if all they show is the Leafs, not that I begrudge Leaf fans watching them, but when there are so many better games going on at the same time it is not reasonable.
  4. Building an Ark from Canada writes: It's about time, the Center of the Universe can watch itself - kind of like looking at your belly-button. Better hockey and better teams in Canada should be available from Canada's network! But watching the Leafs is kind of similar to watching Britt Spears a meltdown right before your eyes...
  5. Kyle H from Ottawa, Canada writes: I don't know why CBC has been reluctant to touch Montreal Canadiens games in recent years. It wasn't all that long ago that CBC used to cover every Saturday night Habs game, like the Leafs, and they would alternate which was the national game based on what the more attractive matchup was and team performance, etc. Seems that when Dick Irvin retired, they saw an opportunity to turn the show into Hockey Night in Toronto and even beam Leafs games into Quebec on most Saturday nights. There's no reason I should see Leafs games on CBC Montreal (CBMT) when there's a Habs game being played. Thank goodness for RDS!
  6. Michael Doyon from Sudbury, Canada writes: Wow! Only about 10 years too late!! Why we have been forced to watch these clowns all these years is beyond me. I gave up watching HNC because it's always the Leafs
  7. Rene L from somewhere, Canada writes: Good news for the rest of the 25 million non-southern Ontario Canadians.
  8. : ) from writes:

    If they're going to give Montreal star treatement, will they give them Greg Millen for colour, too?

    I'd rather the Leafs get secondary status if it means no Greg Millen.

    Is Montreal Canada's team after the Leafs?

    Too bad Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver didn't play 7pm Eastern games.

  9. Leafs Rule from Toronto, Canada writes: When they see their ratings bomb, they will announce that never again will they do such a stupid thing,

    Don Cherry will stick up for all us true hockey fans Saturday!

    GO LEAFS! The Envy of Canada
  10. Montgomery C. Burns from Springfield, Canada writes: It will be a great day when southern Ontario is spared from watching the Leafs on HNIT and when Bob Cole retires.
  11. Pat Billings from CDN, Canada writes: Not doing this would have meant that the CBC was as inept as the leaf organization.
  12. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Rats...I'm stuck in Southern Ontario...It's RDS for me. GO HABS GO
  13. Sens Fan #11 from Kanata, Canada writes: What, no Senators?!

    Is this because no one watched the Senators in last year's finals?

    Why does everyone hate Ottawa?

    Has all those years of playoff choking ruined the Senators franchise for everyone forever?

    And the Senators are again choking. Lost to the Islander, lost to the Capitals !!!

    Sigh ... the Senators will probably lose to the Lightning on Saturday.

    Gulp ... choke.
  14. Big Bobby Clobber from Dryden, ON, Canada writes: It strikes me that what HNIC is doing is a step in the right direction and moaning about their error of the last ten years, featuring the Maple Buds, is kinda waste of time and effort. Let us just hold their feet to the fire if they slip back to the old, tired ways. More effort could be made to convince the folks at TSN that those letters do not stand for TORONTO SPORTS NETWORK.
    An aside to Sens Fan #11...lighten up, your team is in first place by 8 points, they aren't going to win every game, the way you complain you sound like a Leaf fan...Take that for the lowest blow any hockey fan can take.
  15. Proud Canadian from Canada writes: If the CBC carries the Leafs game, then put Cole, Neale, Millen and Cherry on. If they are doing the Habs, Sens, Western teams, keep those guys off the set. Totally. There is no room for those bafooons on anything but Leaf telecasts. Cole knows no players but Leafs, Millen swallowed a case of blue and white paint, Neale same, Cherry, forget that stooge, he's still showin clips of Bobby Orr scoring a goal on Glenn Hall back in the 60's, and all the fights in the NHL this week. Keep those guys in Toronto, let some 1/2 bright grade 5 kids do the other games. Even if they didnt know a thing about hockey, they would be better than those jerks.
  16. Andrew Stoeten from Toronto, Canada writes: Canadians from outside of Toronto: Please don't hold is against us Torontonians that you have to watch the Leafs! Most of us can't stand being subjected to it either, and we're very, very sorry that the there are so many twits around here with too much money who won't stop going to the games and give these tools in management the financial incentive to actually do something to fix the team!

    I miss brushing up on my French by watching Habs games on Radio-Canada, to be honest. Even when these Leafs were "good" they were bad. How is it fun to watch washed up Ontarians taking bad penalties and getting bailed out by their goaltender night after night like we have for fifteen years.

    Kudos to Bob Gainey (from my hometown of Peterborough!) for what he's done since arriving in Montreal, and, if you'll let me, I'll put in my vote for the Ontario telecasts to feature Montreal, or Ottawa, or Edmonton, or ANYONE BUT THESE SORRY SACKS OF YOU-KNOW-WHAT IN BLUE AND WHITE!
  17. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
  18. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Proud Canadian from Canada:

    I couldn't agree more -- However, we should allow Don Cherry to continue his ranting to both the delusional and the Leafs fans.

    Give the ROC, someone with some intelligent insights on the game that is actually being currently played on the ice... not in Don Cherry's head.

    Outside of the GTA, this might be the best idea that HNIC has had in awhile...
  19. D W from France writes: Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

    .... AMEN !!! to sit in a Montreal tavern on a winter's evening, surrounded by knowledgeable fans, and watch ... the Leafs!?!?, suggests the country is badly out of kilter.

    Then again, maybe it is the universe itself.
  20. Cassandra from Ottawa from Canada writes: Big Bobby Clobber, Sens #1Fan from Kanata is no Sens fan,he is a Leaf fan who hates the Sens, I think he may be the same as :) as they both use bolded caps and write equally inane comments.

    It is long past time for HNIC to rotate both early and late games, the Leafs centric commentary is pretty tired too, Last week when the Sens and Wings met there was no discussion of their game at all, either before the game or between periods, just endless maunderings on about the Leafs.

    Every fan is most interested in talk about their own team,and because all the commentators at HNIC are big Leafs fans, it has not occurred to them that the whole country is not equally rivited by every last detaill about that mediocre and uninteresting team.
  21. Billy Biroux from Polar Bear Pit, Nunavet, Canada writes: To me, its obvious Leaf TV ratings are based mainly in southern Ontario anyways. So not showing them across Canada will only have a mimimal impact on their numbers.

    But what this shows is it makes those who try telling us Toronto teams like the Blue Jays and Raptors are "CAnada's teams" couldn't be more wrong. Because its obvious by reading all these letters the rest of Candaa could care less about Toronto.
  22. Oh Canada from Canada writes: Id still rather watch the Leafs than the Sens or Montreal.

    I love the Toronto haters. Watch the low ratings.

    And Sens fans, watch your team move to Nevada when you aren't in first place.
  23. Scot Loucks from Pickering, Canada writes: This experiment will last about 2 weeks.

    TV and ratings children.. that's what it's all about.

    Personally I don't care... I get all the games anyway. But for those of you like Robert Miller... enjoy your two weeks in the sun :)
  24. Swifty J from Mariposa, Canada writes: There is one reason this Habs-Pens matchup might not post great numbers for the CBC: about 900K viewers will watch it on RDS. So the total audience for this game will be higher (probably much higher) than that for a typical Leafs debacle, yet the CBC's ratings will likely be mediocre. Competition's a drag, eh Corpse?
  25. keith smith from Toronto, Canada writes: I hope Hockey Night ratings shoot through the roof for CBC on this call. It is long overdue.
    It would also be nice to see companies pass on seasons tickets and boxes. How is taking a client to a lousy Leaf game good for business?
  26. Wing Nut from Waterloo, Canada writes: Show the Sens in southern Ontario, too...

    As a lifelong Leaf fan, I declare myself to have already suffered enough this year!
  27. Cassandra from Ottawa from Canada writes: No Sens games have been added nationally yet and I doubt any will be in the future this season. The only priime time 7 PM games that the Sens were slotted for nationally this season were against the Leafs (of course), and the Hockey Day in Canada game with Montreal and the Detroit game, which was on because the Leafs played a late game that day,not becuase the Sens and Wings lead their conferences. Those games were to be broadcast nationally from the start, no change there. The other games that were always slated to go national were afternoon games that would not compete against the all important prime time Leafs broadcast. These games,against the Penguins and Habs and the Rangers were national games from the beginning of the season. Thre are a couple of regional 7PM games scheduled (this Saturdays game will not be broadcast at all, not even regionally.), against Phoenix and New Jersey. There may not be a clamour for either,though New Jersey is second to the Sens in the east, so that one might be added. Its too bad that the CBC didnt think it worth showing the game the Sens played in New Jersey at the grand opening of the Prudential centre earlier this season. I suppose whoever planned that game complete with Devils Stars past and present and league officials, thought they would get some Canadian media coverage as it was a Saturday night, but as it wasnt on HNIC that night, and the Leafs were playing, it was scarcely even mentioned. But then if HNIC doesnt deem it worthwhile to cover the raising of Geoffreion's sweater for example, but reserves its broadcasts for such important occassions as Tie Domi's 1000 game,no one should really be surprised.
  28. Frank Godfrey from Canada writes: I hope MLSE feels the pinch in some way. I look forward to seeing all the Canadian teams featured on HNIC, ( even the smug Habs, as hard as that is to say coming from a Toronto supporter ).
  29. S.U. Vee from HockeyTown, Canada writes: Yeaaaaaaaa. Does that mean no more Bob Cole?? Let him go to whoever else. Let him stay with his hometown Sens. Take that Millen with him too. They both suck.
  30. Jude Hannaford from Canada writes: Frank, I have shaw as well, and was very dissapointed on sat when I hooked up my new plasma to find out RDS is not broadcast in HD. No HD notwithstanding I will continue to watch the games on RDS and not the CBC for reasons which have already been mentioned above, unless of coarse Hughson is making the call. I do have the advantage of understanding french but I will add the frenchie commentators cadences while calling the game are fantastic. I will be anxioulsy waiting to see what game we get on CBCHD out west.
  31. Richard McAdam from Halifax, Canada writes: SwiftyJ is dead right. I've become accustomed to watching the Habs on RDS, so much so that even on most nights that they're on TSN or available on Centre Ice, I'll still watch the RDS broadcast. My French is admittedly rusty, but I'd still prefer to half-comprehend the announcers than listen to Bob Cole's homerism. Unless Jim Hughson is covering Habs/Pens on Saturday, I won't be watching CBC.
  32. Jude Hannaford from Canada writes: Richard

    I doubt very much that Hughson will be making the call, so here are a few key phrases,

    Ratte son coup; fanned it, screwed up

    Busqule; bumped, body check

    Hors jeu; off side

    Anyhow all you need is to be a competent hockey fan and you'll learn quick.

    Vive Les Canadiens
  33. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: So everyone around the country outside the GTA needs to spread the word to actually watch this game on the CBC to prove those people from the GTA wrong that this move would kill the CBC's ratings...

    The league's leading scorer and Nova Scotia's own, Sidney Crosby, versus the Habs, the most winning franchise in the history of hockey... What a match-up!!

    US Primaries?? Who cares -- That's a hockey game that most Canadians could, at least, get excited about!!

    Scot Loucks... Marketing being what it is -- I agree with you, and also suspect that this will be just a temporary respite, however, it is the marketers that have also destroyed the Laffs...

    Now CBC to make the outside-GTA Canadian dream complete, put Jim Highson on the broadcast and give us Kelly Hrudey -- not Don Cherry!
  34. Neil T from Toronto, Canada writes:
    Sounds great! Although I too am stuck in Toronto watching the abominable Leafs.

    Anybody know why the Southern Ontario SRC stopped showing Habs games? Cause man, me and my girlfriend loved that.

    Advantage Numerique is so much cooler than Power Play. And remember how back in the 90s they'd insist on calling him Jean-Jacques Daigneault EVERY time? That killed me.

    cheers
  35. Super Troll from Canada writes: Love Leaf fans coming on here trashing the Sens. Shows 1) what boneheads they are, and 2) how insecure they are when it comes to the Sens.

    Feeling irrelevant and insecure again trying to justify the existence of their team of women just down the 401 from hockey's greatest powerhouse.

    I long for the day when HNIC is on TSN.

    Watters and Kypreos battle it out every night for who has the louder, stupider voice.
  36. Jim Staios from Hamilton, Canada writes: As a Habs fan, I have been e-mailing the CBC (Can't Broadcast Canadiens) since the fall about having the Toronto Maple Laffs shoved down our throats on Hockey Night in Toronto. This is great for the rest of Canada but being in Southern Ontario it does not help.....I am forced to watch it from their website......how about the Can't Broadcast Canadiens show the Laffs games on their website and have the Habs broadcast into Southern Ontario..........and you can be that if Buffalo is clobbering the Laffs, they won't switch to another game.
  37. Fire Every Sports Journalist Who Doesn't Agree With Me from Canada writes: This makes sense for a change. Leafs vs. Sabres are two teams rapidly going nowhere. Less than zero interest for anyone who is a hockey fan as opposed to a Leafs fan. Montreal vs. Sid the Kid is bound to provide better, more exciting hockey.
  38. JIm Smith from writes: Regardless of the playoff stature of the Leafs or Sabres this is something that should have been done ages ago.

    I don't know how many times people outside of the GTA have had to sit through Leaf games when there was a much better Ottawa or Montreal game on. Earlier this year we had to suffer through a Toronto vs who cares when a Ottawa Pens games was on

    This Scott Moore seems to have his act together, it's about time.
  39. tex frezell from vernon, Canada writes: It is about time we get to see the Habs, we get Toronto shoved down our throat baseball, basketball and especially hockey. As a lifetime Habs fan living in BC I cannot even get RDS, which I used to get, to watch the game (and I can't speak French). The Habs are young and exciting and the Saturday night games should go back to being split.
  40. Neil no more last name from Canada writes: It wasn't all that long ago that CBC used to cover every Saturday night Habs game, like the Leafs, and they would alternate which was the national game based on what the more attractive matchup was and team performance, etc.

    RDS bought most, if not all rights to Habs games a few years back. That's why you don't see them on CBC anymore. Unfortunate, but I think RDS does a better job of covering the games anyways
  41. David McDougall from writes: Good Idea, but it won't last because as mentionned the ratings will be split because all HABS fans that can get RDS are accustomed to watching the games on RDS(which is great coverage) and won't switch to CBC because that would mean having to listen to Bob Cole use his famous "CANADIENS are moving the puck now" and Crosby passes to that other Penguin, and Harry Neale would be slightly above sleep in his delivery of a useless tidbit as he knows nothing about any of the players on either team other than Crosby. It would also mean watching the dumb and dumber duo of McLean and Cherry tell the whole world what is wrong in Leaf Nation and why they can't hire or fire anyone without committee approval. I switched off HNIC forever the day they picked the Tie Domi fete over the raising of Geoffrion's sweater to the rafters on the day the man died. Tells you where HNIC's priorities are, and they are the TML's. Well they can have them ad nauseaum. Should be interesting when the playoffs roll around...oh wait a minute that will give HNIC 4 weeks to discuss the Leafs failed season every 2nd night while the games are on.
  42. Neil no more last name from Canada writes: Yeah as a Leaf fan from the GTA, I gotta say - the rest of Canada teams up on us like its our fault.

    Hell Yeah I watch my favourite team play when they're on TV. I been following them since I was 5, long before I had a clue what "politics" and "business" meant. Old Habits die hard, can't help it.

    but...

    Hell Yeah Cherry's losing his mind, and Cole has blue & white goggles.

    Hell Yeah I watch other hockey games whenever I can - especially the Habs

    Hell yeah I know a lot about hockey -

    I'll put together the best possible hockey team I can, comprised of only Leaf fans, whichever keyboard tough guy wants to put together A hockey team of non-Leaf fans can...and I guarantee we will win.
  43. Neil no more last name from Canada writes: Also,

    Leafs tickets are almost impossible to come by for the average shmoe.

    So all this stop going to games crap, man - we haven't been going to games for years

    scalpers have buying the tickets out for years (whatever's left after the corporate and high society types get their hands on their "buisness expense")

    Not many of us will pay the add $200 for tickets from scalpers.

    Those who do, well that's their decision. My old man brought me to a few games when I was kid, during the Ballard Years.

    I was dying to see live hockey, what was he going to do - drive to Montreal to bring me to a game???? How is going to explain that to a kid.

    Funny, the rest of Canada always complains - Torontonians are so naive about the rest of Canada

    And likewise the Rest of Canada is very Naive about Toronto
  44. Channel 29 from Canada writes: As a Leaf fan, I agree 100% that CURRENTLY it makes no sense for the Leafs to be broadcast nationally, they are horrible, and have no chance to make the playoffs at all, however, some of you dumba$$es suggesting this should have been the case for the last 10 YEARS??!! have lost your minds a little. Lets see, the Leafs go to the final 4 in the 98/99 season, and again in 2001/2002. In the years in between, and up until the lockout, they are a solid if not 100 point, regular season team, and capable of contending for at least couple of playoff rounds. Even last year and the year before, they finish above .500 both years, and are in contention up until the final weekend for a playoff spot, with among others MONTREAL in both years, so at least in the final month or 2, the games are meaningful. Being a bad team now does not suddenly alter history.
  45. Ian m from New York (via Vancouver), United States writes: Finally, I can honestly say I miss Hockey Night in Canada. Didn't bother me before now...
  46. Super Troll from Canada writes: Neil no more- dying to see live hockey- how about the Marlies and Majors? Toronto's not a hockey town- it's a Leaf town. Marlies are tops in their division- nobody in Toronto knows this, let alone goes to the games. Majors couldn't even sell out a 300-seat arena. Pathetic. Toronto's the black hole of hockey.
  47. Silver Dart from Canada writes: Toronto's a wonderful city. It's also Canada's biggest city, so of course it's going to have bigger numbers fan-wise for its hockey team. Still, the rest of us like our teams too, and it does get a little wearing when TO gets the spotlight constantly. If you're a Leafs fan, try putting yourself in any other team's shoes for a while, always left to the outside even when your team's performance is among the best. Whoever commented earlier about the Leaf bias of most sports commentators - Cherry, Neale, Cole, Watters, Healey, (it's not only CBC) - was bang-on, and it's gone to the point of being ridiculous. SENS/WINGS matchup was a great game, but the duds on TV talked non-stop during every break about the Leafs. Please, couldn't that have waited until later, when the Leafs were actually playing? (btw I stayed up and watched that game, and rooted for the Leafs but it didn't help). I'm a SENS fan, but I don't begrudge the HABS their Saturday night. I completely understand that there are always more Habs and Buds fans around, if only because those teams have been around a lot longer, but let's get a bit of respect back into hockey and some fairness in the broadcasting.
  48. Canuck No longer an Expat from Canada writes: Good news for hockey fans but irrelevant for me because I get all the CBC feeds and can usually switch between three Saturday night games. People forget though that up until 10-12 years ago when the CBC started the double header every Saturday, the Leafs weren't the regular early game. In fact, growing up in W. Canada in the 80's and early 90's we would either get a W. team or Montreal as often or more the the Leafs. The CBC is actually partly responsible for growing the Leafs popularity across the country because they started showing them every Saturday during the 90's when the Leafs were occassionally mediocre. Should they take a stance and start showing good teams such as the Sens or Habs regularly you will ultimately see more people following these teams.
  49. W R from Stratford, PE, Canada writes: Kyle H from Ottawa, Canada writes: I don't know why CBC has been reluctant to touch Montreal Canadiens games in recent years....Thank goodness for RDS!

    Kyle H, you've got it backwards. RDS won the rights to the Habs over the protests of the CBC at the time. Up to then CBC featured the Leafs and Habs on a kind of rotating basis across the country. Fans in the prime Leafs and Habs regions always saw their team. When RDS took over the CBC was left with only the Leafs. Ottawa didn't figure because of an agreement with the NHL/Leafs that Ottawa could not be featured on HNIC for the first 5 years. With no other teams in the Eastern time zone the CBC had no choice but to make the Leafs the prime property each week. RDS is actually the problem.

    To all Leaf complainers: OK you've got your chance to show the CBC that you are willing to watch teams other than the Leafs and still keep the ratings up. I'm sceptical about it but good luck!
  50. dan vanman from vancouver, Canada writes: Scot...usually I reds your posts avidly, as I like to get a T.O perspective, and you seem to have some knowledge of the game. But your post above shows what most of us Westerners can't stand.

    "Enjoy our time in the sun"..."two weeks and it'll be over" ??? Come on Scot. Most of the country outside of the GTA is screaming for this. We are sick of watching your precious team stumble and fall, blowing late lead after late lead.

    Toronto is NOT the only city in Canada. We have teams in other cities. Some of them are actually more successful than the Laffs these days. CBC has finally woken up to the fact that a mediocre product is NOT better than the alternative.

    Toronto sports fans should wake up to the same.

    The only way to get consistent good ratings for CBC is to shuffle up the product. Not to blindly cowtow to the GTA market.

    When the Laffs start winning , and have a team worth watching, maybe we can talk. Until then, get used to the Laffs in the S. Ontario region only.

    Its about time.
  51. Channel 29 from Canada writes: Canuck No longer an Expat from Canada writes: .....The CBC is actually partly responsible for growing the Leafs popularity across the country because they started showing them every Saturday during the 90's when the Leafs were occassionally mediocre......

    By mediocre, would that include, the 3 times in the 90's they went to the final 4? Might want to research your facts a little.
  52. ray ittac from Canada writes: Getting a headache here...I think it's from the unrelenting pressure of being right so often! Leafs ditched on CBC and who do they got to???? Ottawa....No! Vancouver....No! Montreal...of course!!! Numbers talk...not passion. Qualitatively too bad but come on....it's a money driven industry and really very easy to understand. If Montreal sucks (hope they don't) CBC will have to figure out a way to get the numbers they want out of Ottawa probably, although it has been suggested that Iginla has good national appeal and might pull some Ottawa numbers but I doubt that.
  53. Robert Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: OK, I've e-mailed a gazillion people to watch Crosby versus the Habs this Saturday on CBC at 7:00 EDT And 8:00 ADT.

    8:30 in Newfoundland for those fans of the Habs' Michael Ryder...

    Make sure you also pass the info on this game to everyone so the CBC's rating skyrocket and we will be free of the Make Beleafs for as long as possible outside the GTA...
  54. Birdy Num, Num from Canada writes: Does anyone remember those days when HNIC alternated between Montreal and Toronto games on Saturday night? Those were the golden days of hockey: beer in stubby bottles, Murray Westgate and Danny Gallivan. At any rate despite growing up in Hamilton and despite the "peer pressure" from friends who were all Leafs fans, I grew up to admire and respect the Canadiens and became a dedicated Habs fan. My choice was based on the quality of the teams not where I was from. I would think that giving the Sens more TV exposure to a national audience would create a new generation of fans who will grow to admire a team like the Sens that's well managed, skilled and exciting to watch just as it did for a previous generation when the Habs were in their glory days. The reason why the Leafs have had a large fan base across Canada is not because of the quality of their product but because they have been for the last 20 years or so the only CDN NHL team receiving national exposure. There comes a point however when the quality of that product deteriorates so badly that its time to grow a new fan base for one of the CDN teams that stands out from the rest. Right now the conditions are right for Ottawa to replace the Leafs to become Canada's national team. The regional flex approach also has merit. By showing the best game for that night, interest in hockey could increase overall and the audience numbers would improve.
  55. Janis Miller from Canada writes: YES!!!! I am happy, just for the principle of it because I have been watching the games at cbc.ca anyway. Now I won't have to turn on my computer on Saturday night.
  56. Cassandra from Ottawa from Canada writes: I wonder if the reason the Leafs are on so often and the fact that the CBC/HNIC has had the biggest hand in growing their popularity, has to do with a business understanding between TML and the CBC.

    WHen Leafs TV was started up, I believe the executives were ex-HNIC.

    Even non hockey TML teams such as Toronto FC seem to have priority over non Leaf hockey teams.

    For example,after a signifigant playoff win by the Sens last spring, the CBC went immediately post game to a prerecorded tape of the Toronto FC, no post game interviews nothing. You could try to get something from their internet stream if it was working, but it wasnt deemed mportant enough to delay the tape of the FC for even a few minutes.

    Whereas if the Leafs are playing, take last Saturday as an example,all postgame intreviews were extensively covered, the coaches reactious ,even Mats Sundin talking on a cell phone and the team getting on the bus were considered vital to the evenings bradcast,not to mention minute analysis from every talking head the CBC could round up.
  57. Tom Henderson from Canada writes: The ratings drop when the leafs are not on the tube.

    is that so hard to understand?

    CBC shows HNIC for the revenue. It's not about anything else. If the ratings/revenue stays up when they show non-leaf games theis wll continue.

    Me - I'll watch the leafs on Centre Ice. If I'm lucky cole will be sent to cover the habs - permanently.
  58. Birdy Num, Num from Canada writes: Tom Henderson from Canada writes: The ratings drop when the leafs are not on the tube.

    Just because this is the case now does not mean it has to be this way forever. See my above points. The ascendant Sens could skew the ratings away from the Leafs if given more national exposure. By the same token a regional flex schedule could increase the total number of people interested in and watching hockey.
  59. Len (Sens fan) from Kingston, Canada writes: For those who say that HNIC/CBC is motivated by financial considerations, if your business model consists of showing games between crappy teams that will not make the playoffs (eg Leafs - Panthers) as the national game, week after week after week, then you really suck as business people.

    For those who say that the HNIC analysts and commentators are unbiased and not focussed on the Leafs, you just are not paying attention, your brain has become numbed by years of drivel.

    For those who say "Let's see some Sens and Habs games in HD", I say "Enough Hockey Night in Toronto!!!!!!"
  60. Shoot and Score More and More from ottawa, Kazakhstan writes: I hear the Laffs games will be permanently broadcast on the Comedy Network from now on .....

    GO SENS GO!!!!!
  61. Tom Henderson from Canada writes: HNIC is a business. While there might be a business case for showing some national games with less popular teams occassionally when their opposition might attract an audience, only a risk taker would deviate from a proven success just to satisfy the desires of a few underserved potenial viewers.

    I would agree that all games should be on HD. There should be more HD channels to allow for this to happen. The teams should be broadcasting all of their home games in HD and should be requiring that level of service for their fans. That they do not do so speaks volumes about thier concern for their fans. A HD broadcast might have been expensive 5 years ago but withthe current financial situation (aka Profits in all 6 Canadian NHL teams) there is no excuse for not requiring HD broadcasts of all games. It would take another 4 HD units (there are already at least 2) - shouldn't cost more than $10 - $20 mill - a worthy expenditure for the CBC in Pre-Olympic infrastructure buildup . They can cover part of the cost by letting Cherry and his goof buddy leave. (of course, then HNIC would have to come up with another money making intermission feature...)
  62. Jude Hannaford from Canada writes: It appears that for all of us HD subscribers out west we still get stuck with the Leafs. I'm quite torn, should we watch RDS who have been showing us the games all year? or should we watch the regular feed in hopes that the ratings justify the move on the HD side as well? Is it even possible for the CBC to use another feed for HD other than Toronto? I guess we'll see.

    Vive Les Canadiens
  63. kyle blais from Prince George, Canada writes: Its bad enough that the leafs get every 7ET spot. Its even worse when they travel to San Jose and I have to watch them in the 10ET spot where the flames, oilers and/or canucks should be playing. It was sad seeing them ripped apart by the bottom feeders of the Western Confernce (phoenix/LA). Imagine if they had to play anyone from the Northwest Conference this year. The leafs would not survive in the western confernce, its too rough and fast for them. Anyways, Thankfully I wont have to watch them for the rest ofthe year now. Oh, and thanks Paul for guaranteeing to make the playoffs this year. Better luck with your guarantee next year, if your around.
  64. Channel 29 from Canada writes: Listen all Leaf haters, here is a simple fact...the Leafs will NEVER, and I mean NEVER be replaced for any length of time as the feature 7pm game on CBC, period. You know it, and Leaf fans know it, so best to devote your time to a more worthwhile cause.
  65. Super Troll from Canada writes: Haha- a little bitter, Channel 29? Here are some more simple facts:

    1) Leafs will never win a fight.

    2) Paula Maurice will cry again.

    3) Leafs will start permanently using pink sticks.

    4) The whole team will grow handlebar moustaches and start kissing other men.

    5) Mark Bell will go drinking with Rob Ramage.
  66. Channel 29 from Canada writes: Ah, finally a response!! Thank you so much Super Troll, and REAL intelligent comeback by the way. Oh well, if all you say is true, iguess we'll all be able to see it live nationally on every 7pm HNIC broadcast.
  67. Super Troll from Canada writes: Save yourself your Saturday nights, Channel 29. Just go see the Leafs live at the Pride Parade every June. Hey- at least Toronto's guaranteed SOME kind of parade every late June!
  68. Kyle Blais from Prince George, Canada writes: Super Troll thats not necessary. People should not be unfairly compared to the Toronto Maple Leafs like that.
  69. Neil no more last name from Canada writes: Super Troll from Canada writes: Neil no more- dying to see live hockey- how about the Marlies and Majors? Toronto's not a hockey town- it's a Leaf town. Marlies are tops in their division- nobody in Toronto knows this, let alone goes to the games. Majors couldn't even sell out a 300-seat arena. Pathetic. Toronto's the black hole of hockey.

    You're a f##$in turd nugget.

    The Marlies were a GTHL team when i was growing up, not the Leafs farm team. That happened a few seasons ago, after the Roadrunners collapsed (after replacing the St. John's Leafs)

    I actually played with your beloved Jason Spezza on the Marlies when I was 16 - he wasn't a team player then either.

    Me and my buddies have been to more than a few Marlies games - guaranteed tickets - watch Pogge. I was wathcing the Majors live before you knew what the Majors were.

    Did you know, they moved to Mississauga you smug idiot.

    Please, don't flap your gums about things you know nothing about. Act like you know my city better than me, please.

    As I said - Naive
  70. ray ittac from Canada writes: Len from Kingston: Man, you just don't get it. Let's put aside whether or not the Leafs are crap or worse. Let's put aside who is better or not. Economics 101 --- more viewers equals more money. Can't really be more clear than that. CBC is supposed to try to make max dollars on hockey to compensate for some of the ton of dollars they lose elsewhere --- some teams generate that and some teams do not. Whether or not the CBC should be in the sports market at all is another concern and probably a more valid debate than whether or not they should pursue more profitable telecasts.
  71. Super Troll from Canada writes: Neil this is too easy- you're making my points for me. Roadrunners collapse- because Toronto's not a hockey market. Majors move to Miserysauga- because Toronto's not a hockey market.

    You sound a bit jaded- probably because Spezza's a superstar and you're the kid in the Amex commercial driving the zamboni.
  72. Swifty J from Mariposa, Canada writes: Wait! I've deciphered the CBC's evil plot! By appearing to throw in the towel on the Leafs, they're trying to kickstart the team so there'll be an exciting stretch run to show! 24-11-0, here we come!
  73. Andrew Perry from Halifax, Canada writes: This scares me, the last time Leafs Night in Canada carried the Habs Sens, they both went in the toilet for several games and the Fleas went on a tear. If it happen agains, we have to wonder if the Fleas problems involve LNIC coverage rather than any inherent problems with the team . Is there a LNIC curse akin to the SI cover curse that has dogged the NFL for years? It kind of explains the Sens Cup final collapse as well, since it was only then that LNIC brought their full attention to the games.
    Nahhhh.
    For myself, next year I'm getting RDS right from the start, I can always watch the game and listen to the English radio feed from NHL.com, it works pretty well with only a few lags, and the commentators actually bother to learn the players names.
    Hockey Night in Canada, motto " Sometimes we even know who the other teams players are."
  74. garlick toast from Canada writes: i only wish the habs had a better home record.carbo should make the team stay in a hotel.

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