As Rogers Communications prepares to launch its new Canadian broadcast deal with the NHL in the fall of 2014, current rights-holders at CBC and TSN are facing the unenviable possibility of tracking just one Canadian team when the playoffs begin on April 16. With 10 days remaining in the regular-season schedule, only the Montreal Canadiens have clinched a playoff berth.
Canadian hockey fans are notoriously regionalized with their loyalties, so the best-case scenario for broadcasters north of the border is to show games from teams representing as many different pockets of the country as possible.
They were thrilled when four of seven Canadian teams made it to the dance in 2013, but if only the Habs advance this year, it will mark the first time since 1973—when there were only three Canadian teams—that just one team from Canada has appeared in the playoffs.
Even with its relative success compared to its countrymen, Montreal has also regressed this year and has issues of its own.
Here's a look at the biggest problem facing each Canadian team as it stumbles towards the 2013-14 finish line.
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Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Carol Schram
The Biggest Problem Facing Each of Canada’s NHL Teams
April 3rd, 2014 by Carol Schram Leave a reply »
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