I received an e-mail from my penpal, John Buccigrass, who will once again serve as host of "NHL Tonight" on ESPN2. In the missive, he asks for ideas for the show that will "enhance the enjoyment of devoted viewers and occasional watchers." I plan on responding to him late Tuesday and welcome ideas from all of you.

~Adam

I don't suppose the "get rid of Barry Melrose" comment would be acted upon, would it?

I can't stand Barry. My suggestion to ESPN is to focus on more teams than they did in the past. I would like to see better coverage of more teams. When did they last cover, oh say, Columbus? I know, they lost a lot, but I'll bet there are some good human interest stories in some of those cities.

Is that the kind of suggestion you think he's looking for?

Trevor

Trevor: I'm making two lists, one meant for sending and one including everything, such as:

--air the program on ESPN rather than the lesser-seen ESPN2.
--air it every night during the season instead of just when ESPN2 airs a game.
--stop saying "Holy Schnikey!!"
--everytime Melrose makes some observation about coaching, have someone ask him "And where were you successful as a coach?" (And I liked him as my Kings coach.)
--make no references to Dashboard Confidential.

So, your Barry Melrose comment fits right in, at least in the suggestions that won't be sent list.


~Adam

Personally, I don't like Buccigross either. Could they just show the highlights and features in an empty studio? wink

But seriously, Adam has the best suggestion--it should be on every night, and on ESPN as much as possible.

[ September 09, 2003, 12:03 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Besides creating segments that would appeal to (some) female fans and "alternative" male fans (read: hottest NHL player), I'm not sure. Perhaps have a segment where someone either breaks down a commonly misunderstood rule into layman's terms or something discussing the evolution of the game.

Too bad it isn't the NHL itself... I might ask them to drop the idea of giving one standings point for an overtime loss.

You know that pay-per-view show Naked News? Well, how about doing the same thing on ESPN except have a difference hot sports stud each night? The first week: Chipper Jones, Jake Plummer, Patrick Kerney, Pat Burrell, Chad Pennington, J.T. Snow, and (for a BIG finish) Chris Simms. Just a suggestion. Okay, I'm a smartass...what can I say?

[ September 09, 2003, 12:26 PM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

I don't recongize those names. Which NHL teams do they play on?

*sigh* It figures that we can't have a conversation and NOT get comments like that.

Joe, I am not sure about the blank studio thing, though it does seem like a good idea at times.

Trevor

I would agree with some of the comments so far especially putting all the games exclusively on ESPN, and you guys know why! wink AS far as Barry Melrose, I can take or leave him. He is usually amped up a bit too much for my tastes. I would like to see more player bios from the teams they show myself.

Here is a transcript of the e-mail I sent to Buccigrass:

In response to your request for ideas to broaden the appeal of "NHL Tonight," I submit the following:

--Air the program on ESPN rather than its sister network ESPN2 to garner the largest possible audience.

--Air the program each night during the NHL season, not just on nights the "worldwide leader in sports" airs a game. Not only would this provide the greatest opportunity to follow game news, additionally it would offer consistency for "NHL Tonight," comparable to "Baseball Tonight" and "NBA Tonight."

--Offer a regular segment on game rules and terminology based on the "NHL Rules" games aired in previous seasons.

--Spotlight hockey's up-and-comers and feature nightly interviews with players from that night's games.

--Present analysis of strong plays featuring extensive use of highlight footage.

--Use the deep pool of ESPN anchors knowledgeable about hockey--Linda Cohn and Steve Levy, to name two--to fill the anchor chair during your occasional absences. Last season, viewers endured Stuart Scott as a substitute host and it was evident that he lacked the knowledge necessary to lead discussions about the game.

Thank you for asking for viewer input. I look forward to seeing "NHL Tonight" this coming season--and to watching as many games as possible on ESPN.

~Adam

Thanks to you Adam for all your hard work and followup on this too. I appreciate it!

AAAAAAAACK! I'm glad I didn't see this!

Even though I don't really like him, I'd contribute to a fund to keep Buccigross on the air if it'll keep Stuart far, far away from the show!

Buccigross is great. He gives the show some life, some zing--I love his style. Melrose, while a bit daft at times, is hellaciously knowledgeable about the game.

I never saw Stuart Scott do the show, but I can't imagine it. I like Stu, but not doing hockey.

You guys who missed Stuart Scott hosting "NHL Tonight" are lucky. After watching two nights he did, I wanted to gouge out my eyes!! And I still haven't gotten over it--that's why I mentioned it in my suggestions. I almost suggested replacing Buccigrass with either Cohn or Levy, either of whom would be more palatable as hosts, but figured that suggestion wouldn't be particularly welcome to Buccigrass, who had asked for the ideas.


~Adam

Received a response from my e-mail pen pal/stalker, John Buccigrass, to the suggestions. He says they are already planning on "NHL Tonight" being "highlight heavy" and will work to incorporate rules and hockey terminology into the nightly mix.

It's nice to know he's reading the letters & that ESPN listens....to a point (the program will still be on ESPN2 & will air only sporadically through the season.)

~Adam

In a new e-mail from Buccigross (of all the ESPN personnel, I get him as a "stalker"--the story of my life,) he reports that ESPN is planning to air a 30-minute program on the upcoming NHL season on either the season's opening night or the day before. He will let me when it's official.

~Adam

You have stalking preferences? wink

Good to hear about the preview show. Have they done this before?

from Joe in Philly:

Good to hear about the preview show. Have they done this before?

According to the e-mail, in the past the NHL preview was embedded in SportsCenter and not a separate show, so things might be looking up.

~Adam

Yeah its tough to get any kind of decent NHL coverage in the US. For a few years I had a canadian satellite dish and could get TSN (owned by espn i think) which is the canadian version of espn. Hockey coverage there is 100%. On top of it you have shows like "Molson's Thats Hockey" "NHLPHA's Be a Player" "NHL Cool Shots" shown regularly and repeatedly and of course Hockey Night In Canada. Some of those shows are shown on espn in the US but at wierd times. The coverage in Canada is greater than you can get here. The sat dish even has toronto's sports talk AM radio station for lots of hockey-talk. You just don't get that sort of coverage in the US.

I forgot to mention all the tons of hockey Labatt and Molson beer commericals that we as americans miss out on during hockey season. My favorite Labatt commercial is the guy walking down the street with his gym bag on his shoulder and the birds and animals fall over dead from the ripe smell. He sniffs around and realizes his hockey bag is unzipped and zips it up :-)

I forgot to mention all the tons of hockey Labatt and Molson beer commericals that we as americans miss out on during hockey season. My favorite Labatt commercial is the guy walking down the street with his gym bag on his shoulder and the birds and animals fall over dead from the ripe smell. He sniffs around and realizes his hockey bag is unzipped and zips it up :-)

In a new e-mail from Buccigrass, he writes ESPN has decided against airing the NHL preview as a separate program and will instead air the preview in segments on ESPN News throughout the day on 10/6 and 10/7.

~Adam

Which means virtually no one will see it. ESPNews isn't in as many households as the main network or ESPN2 because it's newer. On my cable system it's available to digital cable subscribers only.

http://www.tsn.ca/audio_video/

Build your own highlight reel from canada's sports leader.... where sportscenter is spelled sportscentre....

:-)

OMG too funny! I love it! I'm laughing!

In other ESPN hockey news, as of October 8, ESPN2--sorry, puckman--shall debut something called "Ice Picks," in which viewers will be able to vote on which games the network will air on seven occasions during the season. The voting will be done via espn.com.


~Adam

This is an interesting idea. The local Fox station here did that a few years ago with the NFL--for doubleheader weeks or if they didn't have an Eagles game, you got to vote for which game you wanted to see.

Its abundantly clear to me that ESPN 2 is going to be or will be if it isn't already the flagship station for hockey on ESPN. Oh, it hurts. frown

Let the voting begin (at espn.com.) Which game would you rather watch (on espn2--sorry puckman!) on October 29:

--St Louis at Detroit
--NY Islanders at Pittsburgh

I've already placed my vote--against the recall and for the Blues at the Red Wings. When I did a quick check of future possibilities, it seems my Kings are never on the ballot. The other local team, the Ducks, are possibilities two times: the choices for February 23 are Ducks/Coyotes or Red Wings/Oilers and the choices for March 3 are Ducks/Wild against Avalanche/Canucks.

~Adam

A suggestion that would be made by me today would be perhaps showing the Colorado Avalanche @ New York Rangers, which starts at a perfect time--5.00 p.m. EST.

ESPN'S LINE UP DURING THIS TIME:
5.00 X Games IX Stomped
5.30 X Games IX Slammed
6.00 2003 World Series of Poker (Final Table)
7.00 SportsCenter

Albeit, ESPN2 is showing that crucial Nashville/
Dallas game tonight (How many times have they shown Dallas and those ugly sweaters, anyway?), maybe ESPN could offer an alternative this afternoon instead of showing people playing cards.

Sorry, guys, just venting here... :mad:

[ November 02, 2003, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: Cattledog ]

I for one, will not be holding my breath for ESPN. I have almost given up most hope for them and their hockey broadcasts. frown

Cattledog, I agree with you completely! It would be nice if ESPN2 featured a bit more regional coverage, but the feeling is there isn't enough interest in hockey to justify ESPN sending out more than one crew. It's silly, I know, but that't the current reality. The fixation with the Stars reminds me of the year Mario returned to the league and ESPN seemed to air all the Penguins games--to the point that Darren Pang joked that ESPN stood for "Every Single Penguin Network." And puckman, take heart, according to my penpal & stalker, John Buccigross, there will be some games aired on ESPN (gasp!!!) from December through the end of the season--what do you want to bet it's one game a month until playoffs?

~Adam

...and wouldn't you know it? Dallas plays my beloved Rangers on Tuesday night, and there are NO plans for the game to be televised nationally! Unless I see otherwise, the next national game would be Thursday's San Jose at Boston game on ESPN2.

Let's see. What would be more affordable? Getting NHL Center Ice or quitting my job and moving back to New York? I can see it now--shacking up in the basement of one of my many relatives in New York and watching endless Ranger, Yankee, and Knick games! :cool:

You could also go to ESPNZone or some other sports bar with lots of TV screens that might pick up the game on the satellite dish.

What the league should start doing is televise games over the Internet. If baseball can do it on MLB.com, why not the NHL?

Excellent idea!

Regarding going out to watch games, I do that sometimes on weekends, but I don't want to always do it--especially on a work night.