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NHL 2014-15


Viper550

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Yes, hockey fans, the NHL is back. The regular season begins tonight with national games on both sides of the border.

 

NBC isn't doing anything groundbreaking beyond hiring TSN's Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger as contributors. Meanwhile, expect the world's blandest scoreboard from FSN this year too (yes, as I mentioned before, even the NFL version, despite how odd it is, would have worked just as well than trying to put small, three-letter names on the college version).

 

Meanwhile, in Canada we have a completely new rightsholder in the form of Rogers and Sportsnet. We know they paid $5 billion, and that they have a $4.5 million dollar set for us to drool over too. We also have what may be the first ever attempt to directly counterprogram Sunday Night Football as well, in the form of Citytv's new Hometown Hockey. NBC would never be able to do this (well, mainly because they sorta air Sunday Night Football already).

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So this is the new face of the NHL in Canada ... scoreboard wise

nqviBwF.jpg

 

(Faguy's screencap is a little dark. I can tell you one thing; the actual feed is much brighter.)

 

It's an evolution of their previous one, except with a brighter color scheme, and no curvy stuff (I kinda liked the curvy stuff)

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So this is the new face of the NHL in Canada ... scoreboard wise

nqviBwF.jpg

 

(Faguy's screencap is a little dark. I can tell you one thing; the actual feed is much brighter.)

 

It's an evolution of their previous one, except with a brighter color scheme, and no curvy stuff (I kinda liked the curvy stuff)

 

The clean edges and blue background kind of remind me of the current Fox package. Not saying it's a knockoff but I do think it was part of what inspired this package.

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The clean edges and blue background kind of remind me of the current Fox package. Not saying it's a knockoff but I do think it was part of what inspired this package.

 

I actually think the update has shades of the current Golf Channel look (itself a variation of the current NBC look), primarily due to its matte gloss and reliance on horizontal "shines"

 

E5srZwO.jpg

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I actually think the update has shades of the current Golf Channel look (itself a variation of the current NBC look), primarily due to its matte gloss and reliance on horizontal "shines"

 

E5srZwO.jpg

 

That's what I've also thought too. I also see a little hint of CBC Sports' former graphics. Eh, let's just admit it's a mix of everything.
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Matte gloss? Wut?

Yes it sounds like an oxymoron but after looking at it again I can see where Viper would get that. There are certain elements that are glossy like the PGA and Golf Channel logos and the background of the players name. While the elements of the score are more matte in appearance.

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Well, Fox is testing a curious addition to their NHL scoreboard; there's now a column for displaying Shots on Goal. Good idea, although usually its displayed intermittently, not permanently.

 

And they really need to resize that box still. It's too wide!

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Well, Fox is testing a curious addition to their NHL scoreboard; there's now a column for displaying Shots on Goal. Good idea, although usually its displayed intermittently, not permanently.

 

And they really need to resize that box still. It's too wide!

 

you are referring to the regional Fox channels? I was like - Fox or FS1 isn't into hockey...

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Surprise surprise, the new Hockey Night is essentially Sportsnet on CBC/Citytv. Not that I saw that coming, though.

 

The HNIC logo is on the scoreboard for all of the games, but I've still seen a few Sportsnet logos here and there on the CBC game (you could have at least replaced the replay bug with a CBC logo)

 

Unless you're in Pittsburgh (Root Sports for you!), you can see the Toronto/Pittsburgh (CBC) game on NHL Network right now.

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Surprise surprise, the new Hockey Night is essentially Sportsnet on CBC/Citytv. Not that I saw that coming, though.

 

The HNIC logo is on the scoreboard for all of the games, but I've still seen a few Sportsnet logos here and there on the CBC game (you could have at least replaced the replay bug with a CBC logo)

 

Unless you're in Pittsburgh (Root Sports for you!), you can see the Toronto/Pittsburgh (CBC) game on NHL Network right now.

 

The true fans will watch it despite the changes; however that doesn't mean people might go onto social media and bitch about the coverage.

 

What's happening is similar to how Disney axed the entire ABC Sports division and replaced it with ESPN programming/talent/crew and dulled the quality.

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The true fans will watch it despite the changes; however that doesn't mean people might go onto social media and bitch about the coverage.

 

What's happening is similar to how Disney axed the entire ABC Sports division and replaced it with ESPN programming/talent/crew and dulled the quality.

 

Sorta; as I mentioned in the chatbox, the new HNIC is more like Turner/CBS March Madness. Permutation of talent and staff (the old HNIC producers and certain on-air talent are still employed by the CBC and are essentially being "lent" to Rogers for HNIC games, while some jumped ship entirely), and multiple games across multiple channels (SN One, SN 360, Citytv, CBC, plus a U.S. simulcast game on FX Canada) with unified production/promotion/halftime shows/etc.

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Oh, and is it me, or do portions of FSN's new NHL intros seem to echo Sinclair's old graphics? Well, specifically the fixation on rotating bits of 3D circles

 

Also, Altitude (the Colorado Avalanche broadcasters) got new graphics this year too; their box has a rather interesting layout. It's funny, those look a bit more like NBC's graphics than Sportsnet's. I'm still quite surprised Sportsnet kept the same basic layout for their graphics rather than go for a 16:9 position (like CSN) or a box like CBC did (CBC's old scoreboard was quite a bit like FSN's old design)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I found the intro of "Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey" on Sportsnet and the new "Hockey Night In Canada" intro/theme (including the Pregame show intro)

 

Wednesday Night Hockey:

 

Hockey Night in Canada (Starts at 25:39, Pregame show at the beginning of the video):

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Meanwhile, tonight sees the debut of the new graphics on Sportsnet's NBA coverage too. Although split between Sportsnet and TSN, all of the Raptors telecasts are produced by the team's owner, MLSE (which however, is also majority-owned by Bell and Rogers through a joint stake), and have incorporated elements of the corresponding network's presentation (in the past, the graphics - aside from CBC games - were unified too). Personally, it doesn't look too bad, but could be improved.

 

cAPl4tm.jpg

 

The big problem? Too much blue - even more so given that the colors of the team you primarily cover is red and black. The ice blue works on hockey and curling because, well, ice, but here, it reminds me of FSN's old NBA scoreboard from last season. The old graphics worked to an extent because they were a bit more darker and metallic, and the L3's were predominantly silver and black. If I were in charge, I would have at least had a black/grey version ready just in case. Colors, along with whitespace, are another problem with these graphics overall; all of the L3's use royal blue, and don't change depending on the team. Their old graphics were also sort of one-size-fits-all too, but had other problems too.

 

Although unlike TSN (whose scoreboard clashes with everything else because it's based off their old diagonal graphics rather than their new red/white glossy look; why can't they just ape ESPN's like they do for soccer?), Sportsnet's scoreboard provides modern amenities such as timeout lights and a little slit below the team name which I presume the Bonus indicator will show up. Only problem? Well, they're TINY, and they wedged them in a rather strange position (they squeezed them under the team abbreviation if you don't have a magnifying glass).

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  • 3 weeks later...

My thoughts so far on the new coverage? Well, firstly, Don Cherry keeps pointing out that Coach's Corner got shortened. Apparently the new producers wanted to Americanize the intermission/pre-game content by having shorter, quicker segments. Aside from the new coat of paint, the regional coverage (aside from the fact that they replaced Louie DeBrusk with former Sharks color Drew Remenda on color. I saw complaints on Twitter, but it's not the end of the world) I've seen of the Oilers games has remained watchable. I've also noticed that, much like they do for baseball, they have been airing assorted games from U.S. regional sports networks, and from time to time, "regional" Sportsnet games can be upgraded to national availability (In these cases, they are still branded like and use the same talent as the regional game. This led to humorous complaints by people who felt the commentators were being way too biased to the Oilers for a "national" game, in one case). Overall, the entire setup has room for improvement, and I bet you that Rogers is paying attention.

 

Meanwhile, TSN? Well, the Jets games aren't too bad. Probably at or around FSN level; they got new intros for the regional games which are actually quite good (of course, you can't get any better than their powerful version of the original Hockey Night in Canada theme). If you live in the Leafs market, you are very lucky: TSN's regional Leafs games (from what I saw on Centre Ice free preview, anyway) looked almost exactly like how TSN did its national games last season, quality-wise. No downgrades here. TSN split itself up into a hybrid regional sports network much like Sportsnet a few months ago, although they are not branded explicitly as such (they're TSN1, 3, 4, and 5), specifically so they could do regional games like this. However, of course, people have been complaining about blackouts, primarily because they did not specifically mention this aspect in its advertising for them (despite the fact that Sportsnet has been structured like this since the beginning).

 

Sportsnet has actually been pretty consistent in rolling out these new graphics, unlike some broadcasters (TSN only started using its red/white gloss graphics consistently after it debuted its current SportsCentre set). But meanwhile, for Canada's university football semifinal bowl games (yes, we do the College Football Playoff before even you did. The Uteck Bowl typically involves teams from two eastern conferences, and the Mitchell Bowl involves western conferences), Sportsnet is still using the older scoreboard, but the newer graphics for everything else. To be fair, they did drop their OUA football coverage this year, presumably to pay for the new NHL deal, although they denied it and actually said it was because of low ratings. That part I can vouch for, since most people only start magically caring about university football again when the CIS championship game, the Vanier Cup, rolls around just before the Grey Cup.

 

p.s. If you watched the Notre Dame hockey game on NBCSN last night, Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire (who used to be TSN's lead NHL pairing before McGuire left for NBC) were calling it. They actually did an interesting job (TSN did pick up some NCAA Division I games this year to make up for the lack of NHL. They had aired the Frozen Four in recent years too)

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  • 1 month later...

So tonight was interesting.

 

Firstly, Paul Romanuk was sick or otherwise completely out of his element during the Canadiens game, and everyone noticed. A Twitter user felt it sounded like he was "calling a golf tournament with strep throat", which is pretty accurate.

 

Secondly, the Oilers game (which, for some bizarre reason, was originally listed as a regional-only game in Sportsnet's original NHL schedule list, but got bumped up to a national slot on Sportsnet One, which is essentially ESPN2 in this scenario) was called by the regional Oilers crew rather than any of their national-specific commentators (probably because it was originally slated as a regional game, as mentioned). Kevin Quinn's been under the weather too, and was really hoarse during the last game, yet he still managed to pull through. He sounded a bit better tonight at least (and unlike Romanuk, he actually was calling the game and wasn't an outright monotone mess)

 

Thirdly, I'm probably beating a dead horse with this remark, but no matter how many credentials you've had in the past with now-Rogers-owned radio stations, Stroumbo just doesn't work. It's like, say, having Ryan Seacrest host Sunday Night Football instead of Bob Costas (okay, extreme example, but still, you get the picture).

 

Lastly, as I mentioned in the shoutbox, Sportsnet did a Control Room Cam tonight during the Canadiens game, and it was fascinating stuff. ESPN, take note: you might want to try that for the next CFP National Championship.

 

The All-Star Weekend is, well, next weekend. Sportsnet and CBC are splitting coverage in Canada, and NBCSN is the sole carrier in the U.S.

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  • 1 month later...

An update; Sportsnet's new graphics are reaching some more sports. This week they made their soccer debut for the UEFA Champions League knockout round (up until now, they had used the 2014 graphics for inserts, but still the old scoreboard). Its, well, just as you expect: its basically the NHL scoreboard but cropped down (no period counter, obviously, and no team logos) and re-positioned for 16:9. Baseball is almost here too; the Blue Jays' scoreboard was based directly off the NHL one, so I bet you we'll see something new once Spring Training comes along.

 

Still, it's clear that Canada did not get the memo about how overly glossy graphics are on their way out.

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