Any criticism of the NHL Network has to be qualified with the acknowledgment that during its dullest, most uninspired of programming slates it offers puckheads a respite — 24 hours a day — from ESPN and everything else that is broadcast-indifferent to our great game. So it is in the spirit of constructive criticism and unyielding gratitude that I offer my personal assessment of what the network presently is and what it could, and should, become.
In July especially, the network has relied, disproportionately, on replays of games from the most recent NHL postseason. To reiterate, were it to broadcast merely the pre-game warmups from those games I’d embrace that over say a home run derby carried off by bloodstream-polluted lab rats called major leaguers. Or televised poker. Or the WNBA. (Gracious what a wasteland July in American sports is.) But the NHL Network, which is a promotional tool for the league, isn’t going to lure in new viewers with that manner of prime-time programming. I love hockey as much as Mr. Hockey, but I just don’t need a refresher on game 4 between the Ducks and Stars from April. Every night of the summer.
In this odd bit of recurring programming the outlet seems to fail to recognize that the allure of NHL postseason hockey is the cumulative effect playoff series have — of antagonism built up over the course of 10 days, and from rivalries forged from season to season — and that isolating individual, non-classic playoff games isn’t the same thing as chronicling the Habs-Nordiques April wars of two decades ago.
But initially let’s acknowledge what the network is getting right. Some of the network’s staple programming — ‘Hockey Odyssey’ and ‘Hockey Academy,’ for instance — is quite good, carrying strong production values and well serving the larger hockey community. These 30-minute programs are not easy to produce, nor do they offer the promise of delivering big revenue returns for their costs. These are acts of TV goodwill by the league for its supporters.
The network also deserves plaudits for its coverage of the most recent NHL Draft, most particularly for carrying forward coverage all the way through on Day 2. The draft has become a bit of a cult hit for the league, and so it’s a natural fit on the league’s TV network.
I was also very impressed by the NHL Network’s presence in Buffalo in the leadup to, and after-event coverage of, the Winter Classic. When the NHL hosts a special event, its network seems to rise to the occasion.
But covering hockey in the dead of winter ought to be like breathing for the rest of us for this network.
I’m not an XM subscriber, but I’m familiar enough with the characteristics of XM 204 to know that puckheads who have it are grateful for it. The league has something good going with XM, and in-season, when the NHL Network broadcasts all two hours of ‘NHL Live’ each day, that’s quality programming. Repeating it in the early evening is wise as well, as most fans aren’t home at 10:00 a.m. to view it. The network in the offseason suffers to some extent by losing such a program, which offers engaging in-studio interactions with serious league insiders like E.J. Hradek and their thoughtful take on league developments, delivered informally and always with enthusiasm. That’s a winner of a TV formula, and the network needs to find some manner of replacement for it in the offseason.
It seems to me that there needs to be a recognition by the network that its patrons in summer are, on some level, seeking an escape from summer heat, from baseball — from NASCAR most particularly. It’s then when we most need images and associations of our frozen game. So why not offer up a re-broadcast of the very first league-sponsored outdoor game, the Heritage Classic, when frosty Edmonton froze up the event’s Zambonis? Some NHL teams are now annually holding one or more practice sessions outdoors (as the Caps do at Chevy Chase Country Club). Footage from those affairs would be especially novel to view in the dog days of summer.
There are also compelling stories emerging from every NHL summer Development Camp. The league’s network should be broadcasting press conferences and prospect interviews and even snippets of scrimmages. When George McPhee beamed in front of cameras at Kettler Capitals last week about the arrival of the Frozen Four in Washington next spring, that was an occasion for all of hockey to celebrate. This is not a league or a sport that goes dark in the dead of summer (influencing, incidentally, the genesis of OnFrozenBlog) — and its TV channel ought to reflect that.
I’ve yet to see ‘Slapshot’ air on the network. May I ask why? Schedule that for one summer Saturday night, and promote it with an appearance by the principal actors offering commentary in interludes, and see if more than 17 folks tune in (the Canadian Parliament will go out of session).
This is a league that is chronicled, on line, by some of the most creative and talented commentators in all of sports. Why wouldn’t the league open up a few hours of its offseason each week on the NHL Network to the wit and wisdom of its bloggers? “My NHL” was advertised by the league just a couple of seasons ago. Make it so on the network in summer, and eventually year round. After all, we’ve given traditional media a fair century at the endeavor, to underwhelming reviews.
The NHL was bold and beautiful with its idea of a Winter Classic; similarly, it needs to be bold and beautiful with its around-the-clock television broadcast branding. Especially during Redskins’ training camp.
By now you realize that the Caps secured their 70th point last night, equaling their totals for last two seasons, with still 15 games remaining. The rebuild is indeed over. 
The 
Is there a player out there who can raise the bar on mustaches? (Those nasty Oreo cookie mustaches don’t count, either.) Olie had a good start almost twenty years ago, but he eventually added the goatee before eschewing facial hair altogether. Playoff beards also don’t count, even if Ovechkin did win “Playoff Beard of the Month” from 
- Thursday, Feb. 14 - Hershey @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7 p.m. ET
Two members of the Washington Capitals’ family today get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Scott Stevens, who played eight seasons with the Caps, and the late Dave Fay, the team’s beat reporter for the Washington Times for nearly a quarter century. The Hockey Hall of Fame web page offers 
Hockey yesterday fell to one knee and offered me its hand. The NHL Network, you see, debuted some time yesterday afternoon on my cable television provider, Comcast. It would have been a same-sex marriage between us, and I’m not real big on those. So we’ll live together.
