Ansar Khan offers his take on what the Wings will look like when they are all healthy. The team’s depth is certainly going to have a problem, if you can call it that, for Mike Babcock, who will have to figure out a way to distribute ice time to 13 forwards, only 12 of which can be dressed at one time, with a full complement of defensemen (I’m assuming Josh Langfeld, the 14th forward, will strictly be held in reserve).
Monthly Archive for March, 2007Page 4 of 6
Joe Conklin of the Grand Rapids Press has the story. Bertuzzi had a good practice, is feeling well, and is hoping to dress next week (looks like March 22nd). (via Snapshots)
The night after winning a wild meeting in Nashville for the first half of the Big Showdown, the Wings won a much tamer game at home, 4-2 over Nashville to take the Central Division lead by a point. Both teams, knowing the potential importance of each play and each goal, put on a bit of a chess match that was certainly wasn’t as exciting as the game the night before, though it was more gratifying as a Wings fan. For one thing, the officiating was much better, if you think fewer calls is a good thing (I do), though there were a couple incidents that had me wondering what was going on. More on those later. Of course, the most gratifying thing about the game was that the Wings won, even with another injury to a player who has been rising in importance over the last couple weeks (Valtteri Filppula).
Dominik Hasek got the start for the Wings and, with the exception of the first goal, put on a stellar performance. He was very sharp and made a lot of big saves at key times, maintaining the score and giving the Wings a chance to put the game away. At the other end, Chris Mason put on a great performance as well, though the first goal he allowed was probably one he’d like back.
Mike Babcock went with the top line to start the game, with Pavel Datsyuk playing between Tomas Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula. Andreas Lilja, of all people, had the biggest scoring chance of the first minute, with a booming shot from the slot. About a minute and a half in, Niklas Kronwall got away with a penalty committed against JP Dumont, obviously not a good precedent. Play was end-to-end for a while, with the two teams running in to each other’s defense as they entered the zone. Robert Lang, Kyle Calder, and Jiri Hudler put on a nice rush that was turned away by the Preds, who took it up ice themselves. A nice backchecking effort by Hudler broke it up, though.
Lang had a big scoring chance down low about two and a half minutes in, getting off a backhand shot from the right side of the goal, but Mason made a good save. On the next shift, Darryl Bootland came over the boards and immediately went for Jordin Tootoo, challenging him to fight. Tootoo decided he wasn’t up to it and when Bootland kept pestering him, throwing off his gloves and holding on to Tootoo’s collar, there refs slapped him with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It was the first of three penalties Tootoo would draw throughout the game. I do think, though, that Tootoo owed Bootland a fight, according to protocol, but maybe that’s not his thing. Bootland did try to make up for his defeat the night before, though, and that was good to see. Babcock obviously didn’t think so, though, because Booter only played one more shift in the game, finishing with a total of 1:25 in ice time.
Anyway, the Preds went on the power play, but the Wings had the better scoring chances during that stretch. Mason was caught in an undesirable position with the puck due to the trapezoid rule and couldn’t play it like he’d have liked. Filppula pounced on it, dished it out front to Datsyuk, who turned and passed it to Nick Lidstrom in the slot without even looking. Mason stopped Nick’s booming shot. The Preds had some trouble setting up for the rest of the power play, as it looked like they were a bit out of sync.
After the penalty was over, Mathieu Schneider turned the puck over in his own end near the blueline and it resulted in a long Tootoo blast which went wide of the net. Tootoo then went after the puck, but Schneider, who was tied up with Jarred Smithson, stepped up and leveled him, earning an unnecessary interference penalty. Two penalties drawn by Tootoo. Much as I hate to admit it, the kid was doing his job.
The Wings again had a good chance shorthanded, with Filppula taking advantage of a Jason Arnott giveaway by passing the puck to Datsyuk, who sent it just wide from the slot. Once the Preds got set up, they had a great chance of or two of their own. The first came on a nice setup across the goalmouth to Paul Kariya on the right side, but Hasek stoned him. Soon after that, Hasek stopped a Ryan Suter shot that came through a crowd. That Dom never saw it was evident in his surprised reaction when it hit his glove. JP Dumont pounced on the rebound, but Hasek stopped that as well. The Wings killed off the penalty
The game, at this point, was pretty tentative. Neither team was taking big risks, which meant there was a lot less intensity than the night before. Things heated up a bit around the 9:20 mark when JP Dumont got around Nick Lidstrom and got a shot off. A flurry resulted with players from both teams crashing the net. The puck ended up underneath the pile and the Predators came very close to getting a penalty shot with a Wing or two laying near the puck in the crease.
Not long after that, the Predators generated some pressure in the Wings zone, but the puck was finally carried out by Niklas Kronwall, who ended up chasing it down in the Nashville zone. He was interfered with heavily as he skated in, but there was no call. Jason Arnott, however, was called for an inconsequential interference call seconds later, a penalty that would have ticked me off had it been against a Wing. Why call that but not the interference on Kronwall? It makes no sense. Aside from a booming shot from Schneider which was stopped by a Mason kick save, there wasn’t much to report about this power play.
Around 13:00, Wings fans saw their lives flash before their eyes when a long bomb pass nearly connected with a streaking Paul Kariya. It would have been a clean breakaway. Scary. After that, action was end-to-end as things picked up a bit. At 14:53, Darcy Hortichuk had a glorious scoring chance after he took a pass from Tootoo. Hasek stoned him at the right post, however, thereby bailing out Chris Chelios, who had pinched up just before a turnover at the Nashville blueline.
Brett Lebda got lucky a couple minutes later when he whiffed on the puck just outside the Predator zone. Fortunately for him, the Nashville player over-skated the puck, or else it would have been quite the break for the Preds.
(Note: My apologies to those of you viewing this in a feed reader. I have to break this post up because it’s too long for this site’s homepage and since the new WordPress also applies the break to the feed version, you’ll have to click through to read the rest. This is one of the few times where an OtW post won’t fully display in the site feed. )
Update (12:38 PM): Posted. - Matt
My game summary may be up later in the afternoon/evening, depending on how the breaks in my schedule go. I’m hoping to get it done before then, but no promises. In the meantime, check out Dave’s reaction to the game, as well as The Forechecker’s liveblog.
Update (15. Mar, 12:00 AM): Helene St. James reports that the injury occured when Filppula took a shot off his foot. Mike Babcock assured the media after the game that he’s fine, that it’s not broken, and that he’ll be back in a few days. St. James rightfully points out on her blog that they thought the same thing about Mikael Samuelsson until they found out a few days later that it was broken. He only just recently made it back, after going down in January. So, take Babs’ words with a grain of salt. - Matt
Valtteri Filppula has left the game with a lower body injury and will not return, according to the FSN crew. The Wings’ injury troubles continue to get worse. Fil’s last shift came about midway through the second period.
Jordin Tootoo has always left a bad taste in my mouth, but previously, he was just an annoyance. However, after last night, I see him in a new light. It could be a little bias, as he tried to take out Mathieu Schneider twice. Why does any team feel they need a guy who can go out there and lay on nasty hits and pretty much just put the other team in danger? I’m all for hitting/checking and even fighting–but there’s a right way and a wrong way. Leaving your feet to try to lay a huge hit is not acceptable. I have no doubt that if Schneider had not jumped out of the way, he would have been injured. And when fighting, generally you want to square off first and then fight–which I’m sure is what Bootland would have expected.
The only thing Tootoo brings to his team is this type of rough play. He generally would be put in the same category as a Kirk Maltby or Sean Avery. However, those two players have other benefits. Avery has 32 points this season, including 12 goals. While Maltby has a mere 8 points this season, his defensive game has been valuable to the team for years. You’ll always see Maltby out on the PK. So what does Jordin Tootoo bring along with his antagonistic style? With 2 goals, 6 points, 98 PIM and a +/- of -12, not much. His +/- is the worst on the team by 6. Last night, he had two shots. Most of what he did on the ice was simply going from hit to hit. And his hits are not standard hockey hits–they are risky.
The way that Tootoo plays seems to be evidence of something very disturbing going on in the NHL today. There is a lack of respect among opposing players. There was the Bertuzzi attack on Moore, the McSorley incident, the McLaren hit on Zednik, the cheap shot Janssen laid on Kaberle, and most recently, the Simon incident. These are the most wide-known of the past few years. But there are also a lot of hits that go unpenalized and unpunished. Take, for instance, the Raffi Torres hit on Jason Williams earlier this season. It was obvious charging on a guy with his head down, but there was no call made and no action taken by the NHL. The League is more interested in making the game exciting than protecting its players. If these types of hits continue to go unpunished, they will not stop. Even when the NHL does hand out suspensions, they are almost laughable. A 20-game suspension for Bertuzzi when Moore will never play again? A 25 game suspension for Simon when, had his stick been 1 inch or so lower, he could’ve easily killed Ryan Hollweg? No penalty, fine or suspension for Torres, when Williams had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher? Here’s a reminder of what Bobby Orr said after the hit on Williams:
“I don’t want to see hitting taken out of the game, I love hitting in hockey, but if someone puts his shoulder into a player’s face, if he puts anything — an arm, an elbow, a glove — I think that player should get a penalty. Definitely, it should be a penalty. We are having players getting knocked unconscious before they even hit the ice and carried off on stretchers. How can that be legal? When did hitting someone in the head with your shoulder or any part of your body become part of the rules? Anything above the neck, it’s wrong.
“Hey, I got hit a lot when I played and I didn’t get hit in the head with checks. Players didn’t always hit like that. To me, that’s not part of bodychecking. I mean, don’t you have to be responsible for your actions? If you hit a guy in the face with your stick by accident, you’re going to get a penalty. Two minutes, four minutes, five minutes, something. If you go to bodycheck a guy and you hit him in the face or head, and injure him, that’s legal? That’s fair? That’s not a penalty? I’m sorry, I don’t think that is right. It should be a penalty.”
The high-stick penalty has forced players to always be aware of where their stick is and what it is hitting. Why do they not have to have the same responsibility for their shoulders? In the NFL, if you hit a player in the head, it’s a penalty. It doesn’t matter if it was on purpose or not, it’s a penalty.
The NHL needs to take a serious look at what’s going on in the League and do something about it. This means harsher punishments for these types of hits. With some of these hits, the officials did not see it. Perhaps they need to be able to go to a replay every time something like this happens, and if they see it there, to be able to asses a penalty. Maybe it would help to institute post-game handshakes after every game.
The general population already has the Slapshot view of hockey. Incidents like Bertuzzi-Moore and Simon-Hollweg just increase this perception, especially when the NHL doesn’t do much about it. We all know that is not the image the league wants. But as long as there are guys like Tootoo, whose sole purpose is to run around and hit as many people as hard as possible, that is the image the NHL will have.
Update (7:08 PM): I see from FSN’s preview that the Wings have handed out towels for the game tonight. I hope the fans there will put them to good use. I’m anxious about this game in a similar way to how I’d be on edge before a playoff game. Will the fans at JLA provide the right atmosphere? Please do. - Matt
Update (4:12 PM): The Tennessean reports that Martin Erat will be out four weeks with a sprained right knee. The Preds will have 11 forwards tonight rather than 12, but will carry 7 defensemen instead of the usual 6. - Matt
The Wings won the first installment of the Big Showdown last night, posting a 5-2 victory over Nashville and moving within one point of the Preds for the Central Division lead. It was a bit of a wild game at times and the Wings found out pretty early they were also playing against the officials, but they fought through it and earned a solid win.
Chris Osgood was strong in net, with the exception of the first goal, and came up huge a number of times. He had some key saves in the third period that held the Preds at two goals and was definitely one of the stars of the game.
The Predators came out of the gate charging and ended up holding the Wings in their zone for the first minute. Detroit finally got the puck out and were carrying it down the ice, but the play was stopped when they went off-sides. Following the faceoff, they quickly took it right back in and before long, they had scored to take the one-goal lead. Kyle Calder led the rush, skating down the right side boards and around the back of the net. He tried a wraparound shot, but Tomas Vokoun stuffed that and the puck ended up squirting into the slot. Robert Lang pounced on it and put it past Vokoun at 1:39.
Not long after the goal, Jordin Tootoo showed up on the radar. He started taking runs at the Wings in their zone, but ended up getting knocked on his can by Brett Lebda at one point. Still, he was able to get in a big hit or two, the most noticeable being a high elbow shot to Mathieu Schneider’s head. No call. The Predators were getting sustained pressure and creating problems for the Wings, who didn’t seem able to clear the puck for the longest time. They finally did and got a chance or two in the Nashville end before the puck came back the other way. Schneider, obviously upset that the Tootoo hit went uncalled, stepped up and took the punk out as he skated up ice. Obvious penalty, but it was nonetheless infuriating that the officials called it after letting Tootoo get away with his attempted decapitation of Schneider. As a result, Babcock went berserk, which was unusual, to say the least, but to no avail.
The Predators scored on the power play, with a long shot by Alexander Radulov that may or may not have been deflected by a kneeling Andreas Lilja, at 7:02. It seemed a little soft at the time, that’s for sure. Radulov celebrated as though he’d scored a playoff series-clinching goal (something no one wearing a Predators jersey has ever done, by the way).
About a minute later, the Predators carried the puck out of their zone on a broad-front rush. Chris Chelios chose this time to step up and nail Jordin Tootoo, which left his partner, Brett Lebda, defending a 2-on-1 rush. Brett was called for the tiniest of hooks while Osgood was occupied with the business of making a big stop.
On the power play, the Wings had a nice shorthanded break with Pavel Datsyuk and Valtteri Filppula skating in, but Shea Weber took the puck away on a nice defensive play. JP Dumont had a big shot at the other end, but Osgood made the save.
The game settled down a bit after that. Chris Osgood was called for delay of game when he played the puck just over the line outside the trapezoid, at 12:04. It was a bad mental mistake by Ozzie, who had Nick Lidstrom right there and didn’t need to touch the puck at all. Fortunately, the Predators’ power play was uneventful.
At 17:48, Darryl Bootland laid a big hit on Ryan Suter along the near side boards. Josh Langfeld was right there, but I guess Darryl thought he could use some help. Not long after that, Filppula carried the puck in on a rush and skated on the net, with Martin Erat slashing and hooking him, but not getting called for it. The play ended when Kimmo Timonen fell on the puck just above the crease. He just lay there until the official blew the whistle. Later on in the game, a Wings player would try the same thing, but he was told to keep the puck moving.
At 19:10, the Wings missed connecting on a breakout pass, and it ended up going down the ice along the endboards in the Nashville end. The linesman used his discretion to call it an icing, which I didn’t understand because I thought icings on attempted passes were supposed to be waived off.
As hard as it is to believe, it’s true that the Nashville Predators somehow played a full period of hockey against the Detroit Red Wings and did not take a single penalty. I know I saw them commit more than a few, but the refs must not have been watching the same game.
The Wings opened the second period strong, generating some solid pressure. Finally, some Predator committed a penal infraction and Detroit got their first power play. Unfortunately, the didn’t do much with it, though after the penalty expired, Kyle Calder had a glorious chance to score. The puck was passed to his feet, however, and he was essentially handcuffed, despite the wide open net in front of him. Correction (9:08 PM): The puck came to Calder off a rebound, not a pass, and he definitely wasn’t expecting it. - Matt
At 4:30, the Wings took the lead following a couple great plays by Valtteri Filppula. He took a cross ice pass from a teammate, kicked it skate to stick and carried it into the Nashville zone. He took a shot and, when it was blocked, he kept going, picking it up off the deflection, and then he dished it to Kris Draper down low. Draper banked it off Vokoun’s pad and it ended up out front, where Kirk Maltby was standing. He roofed it from 12 feet out to make it 2-1.
The Wings followed up the goal with an energetic shift by Robert Lang’s line. A shift or two later, Darryl Bootland got into it with Tootoo and before Darryl had a chance to get set, Tootoo threw his gloves off and starting swinging. Bootland, caught by surprise, only managed to get one glove off as he fell down, resolutely holding on to the front of Tootoo’s jersey. Tootoo got an odd sort of two-minute double-minor roughing penalty, which was served by him and JP Dumont, while Bootland got a single roughing penalty. The Wings, unfortunately, could not take advantage of the power play.
After that, the game settled down a little. Both teams had a couple chances, but they were unable to finish on them. The Predators put on some sustained pressure from the 12:00 mark on, but Osgood and the defense held them off. Kirk Maltby was called for slashing at 13:09 and tried to argue it despite the fact that the players’ stick was broken in half. At 15:55, the Preds took a bench minor penalty when Tootoo played the puck after stepping on the ice before his teammate stepped off. He served the penalty and watched the Wings put on a good show on the power play. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the puck past Vokoun.
Toward the end of the period, the Preds really swarmed the Wings’ zone and the final minute of the period was pretty hectic and stressful, which is why I don’t have much detail on it!
At about the 1:00 mark of the third period, Pavel Datsyuk tried a nice sneaky play by going behind the net, ostensibly for a wrap-around attempt, but at the last second, he brought the puck back and tried to stuff it in where he hoped Vokoun had vacated the post. Unfortunately, Vokoun hadn’t taken the bait.
The Wings did score not long after that, though, when Kyle Calder’s nice hustle along the boards resulted in a centering pass to Jiri Hudler, whose one-timer beat Vokoun glove side. 3-1 at 1:24.
About a minute later, Darcy Hordichuk decked Niklas Kronwall along the boards in the Detroit end on a bit of a dangerous play. Seconds later, Jordin Tootoo had Mathieu Schneider lined up, but he missed and hit the endboards at what looked like 100 mph. Scary to think what would have happened had he connected, especially given the fact that he left his feet on the play.
With the Wings leading 3-1, some yahoos in the crowd decided the time was right to throw five catfish on the ice. Note to Predators “fans”: in the places where it is a tradition to throw things on the ice (i.e. Detroit), it generally happens when the team it’s for is winning. If you’re going to try to copy a tradition, at least get it right.
Around the 3:50 mark, Pavel Datsyuk took the puck in on a fast break down the right wing, cutting across and getting a great chance on Vokoun. A flurry resulted, with Filppula and Tomas Holmstrom taking swings at the puck. Holmstrom was roughed up by the Predator defensemen, one of whom cross-checked the heck out of his lower back twice, but no call was made.
Not long after that, Paul Kariya took matters into his own hands and split the Red Wings defense as skated in on Osgood. He cut across the net, but Osgood stacked the pads and stoned him. One of the saves of the game, for sure. Unfortunately for the Wings, Hudler had taken a holding penalty on the backcheck, so the Predators got a power play.
Osgood made a big save at the start and Chris Chelios cleared it with gusto after that. The Predators then set up and Chelios was called for holding the stick, a bit of a BS call that could have easily been hooking on Jason Arnott. The Preds wasted little time scoring on the 5-on-3, with Shea Weber taking the initial shot and Martin Erat putting it in the net on the rebound to make it 3-2 at 5:07. The Wings killed the rest of Chelios’ penalty off.
Nashville continued to pressure after the penalty was over and ended up getting another power play when Niklas Kronwall was called for holding. Osgood came up huge again, this time robbing Jason Arnott at the right post with his glove.
Later in the period, Martin Erat went down in an ugly collision with Arnott. It looked like he twisted his knee on the play. The Tennessean reports that he will not be in the lineup tonight.
The Wings had to kill off another penalty at 15:27. Not long after it expired, Kyle Calder gave the Wings a two-goal lead when his centering pass went in off a lucky bounce off a defenseman’s skate. He showed great hustle on the play, so it was nice to see it pay off for him.
Less than a minute later, Valtteri Filppula put the game out of reach when he got a breakaway starting from the Detroit blueline following a miscue by Nashville. He skated in on Vokoun, deked a little with his stick, went forehand to backhand to forehand and put it over Vokoun’s right pad, gloveside. 5-2 Wings at 18:39. It was a nice finish for the player the Wings drafted 2003 after trading for the pick from the Predators in 2002.
The rematch is tonight in Detroit and it should be a good game. The Predators will play hard to try and keep face after last night and the Wings will need to match their intensity. Hopefully the officiating will be a bit more even tonight, as it was truly awful in this game.
Dominik Hasek will get the start for the Wings and may or may not face his countryman Tomas Vokoun in the other net. Barry Trotz hasn’t yet told the media what he’s decided.
There shouldn’t be any changes to the lineup for either team.
Dave at Gorilla Crouch has a game reaction posted, as do IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman and The Forechecker.
Christy Hammond has the details, as does James Gunner. Apparently, the Wings lobbied for the new system, which would help them get higher picks if they do end up getting eliminated in the first round. However, the condition that says regular season division title winners won’t get low placement kind of negates any advantage the team might have, if their history is any indication. Maybe they see a change in fortunes coming.
Update (4:45 PM): George Sipple reports that Peter Forsberg is doubtful for tonight, which is not a surprise given the Tennessean report earlier today. - Matt
Tonight is the sixth of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season and the first of a back-to-back home-and-home series. The Wings lead the season series 3-2, having won November 10th (3-0), January 17th (5-3), and March 6th (4-3 SO). The Preds won the November 25th (6-2) and February 24th (4-3 OT) meetings. The two teams will travel to Detroit to play tomorrow night and will finish up the season series on March 29th at Joe Louis Arena.
Since losing to the Wings on the 6th, Nashville has won two games, both of which came at home. First, they hosted the Calgary Flames on the 8th and ended up with a 6-3 win. Two nights later, they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1. They lead the Western Conference with 98 points, three points more than the nearest contenders, Anaheim and Detroit. They’ll clinch a playoff spot with three more points or if Colorado doesn’t get any points in a game.
So, they’ve kept up their winning ways, despite the continuing absence of Peter Forsberg (upper body), Steve Sullivan (back spasms), Scott Hartnell (broken foot), Scott Nichol (broken hand). There was a report on Sunday that Forsberg and Sullivan may be ready to return tonight, but the Tennessean now tells Preds fans not to get their hopes up. Forsberg practiced yesterday, but told the paper, “I don’t know for (Tuesday) yet. We’ll see.” Sullivan also skated yesterday, but the paper says he likely won’t be ready.
One thing that does not bode well for the game tonight, given the Wings’ tendency toward especially slow starts lately, is the Predators penchant for first period goals. Nashville leads the league, with 86 of their 236 goals coming in the opening 20 minutes. They’ve allowed only 51. The Wings are 20th with 54 scored in the first.
Team scoring leader Paul Kariya has 7 points in his last five games, including a goal Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
Expect Tomas Vokoun to be in net tonight, with Chris Mason perhaps seeing duty tomorrow night. Apparently, Barry Trotz hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll use both goalies.
The Wings have also played two games since the 6th, but they’ve split them, winning 3-2 in OT over LA on the 9th, but falling 6-3 to Boston on the 11th. They are 4th in the Conference with 95 points, being second in the Division, and have a game in hand on the Preds.
The team’s play over the past few games has been a cause for concern as we go down the stretch, but they’ve still managed to pull out wins after slow starts. Their past two Sunday afternoon games have been disasters, but they were playing against teams trying to keep their playoffs hopes alive.
They have also been missing a number of key players, with three players returning to the ice and two going down with injuries over the past week. Mikael Samuelsson (foot) and Dominik Hasek (thigh) played key roles in the Wings’ overtime win on Friday, but the team lost Johan Franzen (upper body) in the second period, and Danny Markov (upper body) before the game, to aggravated injuries. Tomas Holmstrom returned from an upper body injury of his own on Sunday, but the team effort was so bad that he didn’t have much impact. None of the Wings’ injured players will be returning this week.
Despite their recent troubles, the Wings’ remain the team with the most goals in the third period, having scored 86 of their 216 goals in the final twenty minutes. They’ve allowed only 56. Nashville is 24th with 60 scored in the third. (Since we have the best first and third period teams here, I thought I’d mention the team with the most second period goals: Buffalo, with 103 scored and 72 allowed.)
The team points leader, Pavel Datsyuk, has 8 points in his last 5, including a nice assist on the game winner Friday night.
Chris Osgood is slated to be the starter tonight, with Dominik Hasek getting the nod tomorrow in Detroit.
This is a very important game for the Wings, who need to show up to play or else there will be trouble. They said all the right things after the game Sunday and need to put it into practice tonight against the Predators. They’ve talked about it being more important to go into the postseason playing well than to win the Conference title, and tonight is a good time to start heading toward that goal. It should be an exciting game, as the Predators are making a push from the top down for favorable playoff conditions and home ice is key. They want the Central Division title and will play hard to keep their lead.
Update (5:50 PM): The press release:
NEW YORK (March 12, 2007)—The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced that NHL Center Ice, the League’s out-of-market subscription package, will now be available to fans in the U.S. and Canada on NHL.com. NHL Center Ice Online provides fans the opportunity to watch up to 40 games per week through a broadband connection on their personal computer or laptop.
NHL Center Ice Online features comprehensive game coverage through the regular-season finale on April 8, plus select games from the Stanley Cup Quarterfinal and Semifinal Rounds (all games subject to local blackout). Current NHL Center Ice television subscribers can purchase NHL Center Ice Online for half price with proof of television package purchase.
“This is another step in the League’s effort to make its content available, across multiple platforms and screens, while preserving the critical relationships between our clubs and local rights-holders,” said Keith Ritter, President, NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises. “Other than being at the game, there is nothing of greater interest to our fans than seeing broadcasts of live game action.”
Fans wishing to purchase NHL Center Ice Online can log on to NHL.com or CenterIce.NHL.tv to register. NHL Center Ice Online is a portable service; once registered from a home location, the service can be accessed remotely throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The NHL has chosen Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online, to be the technology provider for its NHL Center ICE online service.
“We are excited to support the NHL’s launch of its first Internet TV experience to hockey fans in the U.S. and Canada,” said Bill Wheaton, Vice President, Digital Media Solutions, Akamai. “For a growing number of consumers, the Internet is becoming their main source for the most up-to-date content on sports, news and music programming. Akamai provides sophisticated online media delivery solutions, enabling forward-thinking companies such as the NHL to address the increasing interest in Internet TV content and programming.”
NHL Center Ice is currently available in the U.S. and Canada on the following League cable and satellite distributors: DirecTV, Dish Network, iNDEMAND, Bell Express Vu, Rogers, Cogeco, Access, Eastlink and others.
- Matt
The package is $119. Just go to centerice.nhl.tv to sign up to watch up to 40 games a week online, if you have broadband internet.
With the NHL Network’s “NHL On the Fly” also now available online, that’s two big video announcements today by the League.
