Expect the NHL to announce that Versus will remain the cable carrier for NHL games heading into next season. A mutual option must be agreed upon by the January 1st 2008 deadline. No official agreement has been made but sources tell me not to expect the NHL and Comcast to part ways.
You can also expect to hear an announcement from the NHL that either ESPN or ESPN 2 will replace NBC and begin televising games next season. Sources tell me that the news is looking very positive for ESPN.
The biggest thing for ESPN is that they once again are televising the Stanley Cup playoffs and more importantly the finals.
An announcement will likely come sometime during this season’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
A change back to ESPN will give the NHL far more coverage than they are getting today. The bottom line is if ESPN is not your partner in today’s world in professional sports, then you have an automatic marketing problem.
This move will obviously give the NHL more coverage on Sportscenter, you’ll see commercials promoting the NHL on ESPN, and scores will appear on the crawl at the bottom of the screen.
All you have to do is look at what ESPN has done for Arena football. The NHL wants credibility, and going back to ESPN will be a great starting point. It’s not a bad deal for Versus either when they get ESPN cross promoting for them.
Oh Canada!
It looks like Blues forward David Perron will participate for Canada in the upcoming World Junior Championships.
I know Perron will be disappointed by the news which is completely understandable. Why would he want to leave the NHL? I certainly hope he doesn’t take the assignment as a demotion.
What a great life experience this will be for Perron who has never participated in this tournament.
The World Juniors is the closest thing to the NHL in terms of overall pace and skill level. It’s extremely intense and includes the best players in the world under the age of 20. This is different than the U-18 tournament; these kids are stronger, more mature, and much more developed as hockey players. It’s a tournament for men, not boys.
The games may not be played as smart or as controlled as what you see in the NHL, but some would argue that’s what makes the games so entertaining.
The bottom line is if Perron is not going to be inserted into the St. Louis Blues lineup on a consistent basis, then allowing him to represent his country is a no-brainer. I personally think he should be a regular in the Blues lineup because he gives them a dimension they lack, which is offensive imagination, creativity, not to mention he’s a legitimate scoring threat.
Some would argue that Erik Johnson should be allowed to represent USA and play in his third WJC. The difference here is that he’s already played in the tournament twice and there is a greater need for EJ if the Blues were to lose a D-man to injury.
Assigning Perron to the WJC certainly helps the Blues out as well. They need to make a roster move before they can bring Martin Rucinsky off of IR who is eligible to come of this Friday. Sending Perron to the WJC is no different than assigning the kid to the minors; he comes off your 23 man roster.
This move would give the Blues some necessary breathing room for a few weeks as long as they don’t suffer any long-term injuries.
Perron will return to the St. Louis Blues following the tournament.
This may not be an exciting idea for Perron right now, but assuming he has a great tournament and Canada plays well and wins a gold medal Perron will return to St. Louis with as much confidence as he’s had all season. He’ll feel on top of the world.
Hockey fans in Canada got a glimpse of Perron in last year’s Memorial Cup when he played for Lewiston and then again this past summer when he was on a line with Sam Gagner and John Tavares in the Canada, Russia Super Series. He’s the real deal, a magician with the puck who plays with desire, Canada will be lucky to have him!
You can expect Perron to leave for Calgary early next week where Canada is holding their training camp before going over to the Czech Republic.
Blues Clues!
It looks like Blues 2nd round pick Aaron Palushaj will be left off of USA’s roster which will be announced within the hour. Palushaj may be the best freshman playing NCAA hockey this season. The Michigan Wolverine is on the bubble to make the team.
Blues draft picks D-men Ian Cole (Notre Dame) and Cade Fairchild are expected to be named to USA’s roster.
The Americans are keeping 8 D-men and one less forward which will probably keep Palushaj off the team.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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