The NHL had to be pleased with the participants in the Stanley Cup Final as did NBC. With the Red Wings representing a big market and the Penguins featuring the game’s most recognizable star, not surprisingly ratings for the six-game series which Detroit prevailed in for their fourth Cup in 11 years were way up.

It was the most watched series since Detroit’s five-game Cup victory over Carolina six years prior. But even better, it scored very well overall which is a big step for a league which has been historically disrespected by many outsiders who don’t get how special the sport can be. That means you Tiger “Wuss” Woods. Kudos to NBC’s Mike Milbury for putting that fraud in his place.

 Here’s some more info courtesy of The NHL Today on how well the Cup Final did:

From NBC SPORTS, “Wednesday’s deciding Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC drew an average of 6.8 million viewers making it the most-watched Game 6 since the NHL returned to network television in 1995 and the third most-watched Stanley Cup Final game overall in that same span. The 4.0 national rating and 7 share is a 111% increase over Game 6 in 2006 (Edmonton-Carolina, 1.9/4). NBC’s Stanley Cup average (3.2/6, 4 telecasts) earned the best rating and was the most-viewed series (5.4 million average viewers) since the 2002 Final (Carolina-Detroit, 3.6/7, 5.8 million viewers, 3 telecasts). NBC finished No. 1 for the night in all key adult-male demographics and No. 2 overall for the night. The 2.9 (Adults 18-49) is NBC’s highest Wednesday average in that demo since Jan. 23.”

Mike Milbury just nailed it about Tom Renney’s passive philosophy of sitting back during the NBC intermission segment with mad scientist Pierre McGuire. Totally amazing.

Truthfully, the Rangers aren’t playing poorly and probably deserve to be at least tied but the stupid refs missed a Pen hook and then made a weak slashing call BECAUSE IT WAS CROSBY which hooked them up with a two-man advantage. Not surprisingly, their best player Evgeni Malkin capitalized ripping his 46th past Henrik Lundqvist for a 2-1 lead.

They’ll need to kill off the last 11 seconds of Michal Rozsival’s penalty and continue attacking. They’ve generated some good chances off the cycle. Shoot the puck and go to the net. Good things will happen.

 
Photo Courtesy MSG

I can’t believe a national Emmy committee would recognized the sparse broadcasts that make up the NHL On NBC, but they have.

Congrats to NBC’s and the Devils Mike Emrick for his nomination for “Outstanding Sports Personality - Play-by-Play” for his work with NBC.

It’s awesome whenever someone reiterates that Doc is simply the best our sport has, though I’d say #’s 2 and 3 reside in the New York area as well in Howie Rose and Sam Rosen.Good luck at the Sports Emmys on April 28th Doc!

According to a report, Pittsburgh and Buffalo will take each other on at Ralph Wilson Stadium on New Year’s Day at 1:00 PM on NBC.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/rss/s_523982.html

Neither NBC or NHL officials would confirm, but the announcement is expected on Sept. 10

Here are the games where the NHL has Exclusive Treatment for VERSUS.

Oct. 3, 7:00 - Ducks vs. Red Wings
Oct. 3, 9:30 - Stars vs. Avalanche
Oct. 9, 7:00 - Hurricanes vs. Maple Leafs
Oct. 16, 7:00 - Thrashers vs. Flyers
Oct. 23, 7:00 - Rangers vs. Penguins
Oct. 30, 7:00 - Penguins vs. Wild
Nov. 6, 7:00 - Rangers vs. Islanders
Nov. 13, 8:00 - Red Wings vs. Blues
Nov. 20, 8:00 - Bruins vs. Maple Leafs
Nov. 27, 7:00 - Flames vs. Red Wings
Dec. 4, 7:00 - Red Wings vs. Canadiens
Dec. 11, 7:00 - Penguins vs. Flyers
Dec. 17, 7:00 - Capitals vs. Red Wings
Dec. 31, 7:00 - BLues vs. Red Wings
Jan. 14, 7:00 - Rangers vs. Penguins
Jan. 21, 7:30 - Capitals vs. Penguins
Feb. 4, 7:00 - Penguins vs. Devils
Feb. 11, 7:00 - Coyotes vs. Stars
Feb. 18, 8:00 - Red Wings vs. Avalanche
Feb. 25, 7:00 - Flyers vs. Sabres
Mar. 3, 7:00 - Bruins vs. Capitals
Mar. 10, 7:00 - Rangers vs. Sabres
Mar. 17, 7:00 - Avalanche vs. Wild
Mar. 24, 7:00 - Penguins vs. Islanders
Mar. 31, 7:00 - Penguins vs. Rangers

-Really, Montreal? Well, I guess it’s a start. But I guess their appearence over 8 NHL teams in the US is ok, I suppose.

-The schedule’s fine with me, as long as NBC’s willing to select the right game. I mean there are a few obvious choices (Sid vs. Alex, Rangers-Devs on the season’s last day) but many of the choices WILL likely hinge on the team’s performances this year.

-3 selections for the Philly-Pittsburgh rivalry, 2 Boston-Rangers games, 2 Nashville-Detroit games.

-Carolina, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, the Isles, Phoenix, St. Louis and Tampa Bay will make no appearences on NBC regardless of flex scheduling.

-The Rangers are on the potential schedule 8 times, Detroit and Pittsburgh 7, Boston and Philadelphia 4, Washington and Buffalo 3, Anaheim, Chicago, Dallas and Nashville twice, and Atlanta, Colorado, Columbus, New Jersey and San Jose once.

-The real judgement will have to be made down the road on what games are selected. NBC’s courage to take the better game over the big markets will mean a lot.

Enjoy:

January 20th, 1:30 PM
Boston vs. NY Rangers OR
Anaheim vs. Dallas

February 3rd, 2:00 PM
NY Rangers vs. Montreal

February 10th, 3:30 PM
Anaheim vs. Detroit OR
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh OR
NY Rangers vs. Washington

February 17th, 3:30 PM
Detroit vs. Dallas OR
Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo OR
San Jose vs. NY Rangers OR
Colorado vs. Chicago

March 2nd, 12:30 PM
Detroit vs. Buffalo OR
Philadelphia vs. NY Rangers OR
Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh

March 9th, 12:30 PM
Pittsburgh vs. Washington OR
Boston vs. NY Rangers OR
Nashville vs. Detroit

March 16th, 12:00 PM
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh OR
Detroit vs. Columbus OR
Boston vs. Washington

March 30th, 12:30 PM
NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh OR
Nashville vs. Detroit OR
Boston vs. Buffalo

April 6th, 12:30 PM
Chicago vs. Detroit OR
NY Rangers vs. New Jersey OR
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

We’d like to say we’re sorry for not getting you the TV schedule.

A VERSUS PR rep and The Globe and Mail’s Bill Houston told me in good faith that we would see it today (Wednesday, August 15, 2007).

Besides, we reported it first. So there.

Anyway, we’ll show it to you tomorrow. We promise.

So says the title of the post.

We’ll be here tomorrow to give u the official release before ANYONE ELSE. We promise.

And then, later in the day, check out our analysis of what looks to be an interesting year 3 of The NHL On VERSUS.

The NHL On NBC may be announcing their sked as well tomorrow, so stay tuned to Battle of NY ALL DAY.

VERSUS’ schedule of NHL games, along with likely NBC’s, will be released the week of August 13. Of course, NBC’s games will be flex-scheduled, with the 1 Game of the Week chosen 2 Weeks in advance.

Also, I’m sure many of you would be wondering if VERSUS is going to go to England and cover the two Ducks-Kings games at the 02 Arena in London.

The answer is yes…and no. They will be covering ONE game in England, the Sunday game on 9/30. It is not known yet whether or not they will air the Saturday game.

The thought behind that is that…NBC will air it if the plans for an outdoor game fall through, or VERSUS will move the start time of the TBD Big 12 Football Game from 12:30 to as late as 4:30, since they have less wiggle room than usual because they have a PBR event at 8 and a Mountain West game at 10

Thought you’d all like to know.