Changes for NHL on NBC?

by Jes

So, I go away for a week with little internet access and day-old newspapers (delivery is slow in Tofino) and expect to have to spend hours catching up on hockey news that I missed.

Fortunately, the rest of the NHL seems to have taken a vacation, since I can count the amount of noteworthy stories on one hand: Yashin goes back to Russia (ha ha!), Nedved signs with $parta Prague, Palffy confirms his signing with HC Skalica, Ray Emery breaks the bank, and not much else of note.

It was strange reading the daily newspapers and seeing ZERO inches dedicated to hockey coverage. For Canadian newspapers, this seemed like an impossible feat.

Some scuttlebutt today is surfacing over what NBC plans to do with their hockey coverage.

In the United States, changes are in the works for NBC's hockey telecasts. Sources say the studio show will be scrapped now that Brett Hull has left to take a front-office job with the Dallas Stars.

Replacing Hull will be Mike Milbury, the former NHL player and general manager. He is likely to work on-site as a commentator.

NBC is expected to drop Bill Clement as the host of the NHL broadcasts. The status of analyst Ray Ferraro isn't clear.

If this is true, then this means even less hockey coverage for poor American fans. We've already seen NBC treat the NHL like a poor third cousin, and now it's getting even worse for our favourite league-that-could.

Clement? What was he ever doing as a studio host in the first place? He's a good colour guy, but not a trained studio host, and it showed.

As for Ferraro, he's rather hit-and-miss with me. We get his stuff on the radio here in Vancouver, and he seems like a good guy to listen to. Unfortunately, he can revert back to the 'old boys club' mentality a bit too often for my liking.