The "real" season debuted on OLN and NBC this weekend, as the first NHL
playoff games in 21 months were broadcast to a hockey public drooling
in anticipation of some mouth-watering matchups.
OLN kicked things off with coverage of Edmonton vs. Detroit Friday at 7
PM, followed by "Bonus Coverage" (i.e.: CBC production) of Anaheim vs.
Calgary joined in progress. NBC got into the act on Saturday
afternoon with the Rangers vs. Devils and Colorado v. Dallas being
shown to the east and west coasts, respectively.
The NHL Playoff are frequently described as more a marathon than a
sprint, with the teams that eventually play for the Cup usually
improving round by round. Hopefully the same will be said of the
NHL's two new hockey outlets in the US, as both OLN and NBC suffered
some significant opening-game production jitters.
OLN tossed up the dreaded black screen for extended intervals at least
three times during its Friday night coverage, including twice in the
closing minutes of the third period of Edmonton-Detroit. I even
saw the dreaded test pattern on one occasion! I didn't know they
still used those things! Let's hope the backup satellite
bandwidth is rented by the time we reach the Conference finals.
As for NBC, during the entire first period of the Rangers - Devils, the
cameraman appeared to be shooting for an HDTV-only broadcast:
when play was in the zone, both the net and the point man would
disappear off the edges of a standard TV screen! I know the
networks like to cater to the upscale disposable-income-possessing
demographic, but this was ridiculous. The peak of absurdity was
reached as the Devils scored the first goal and neither the point man
who started the play nor the net itself, when Elias poked it home, was
visible. Luckily, the camera abnormality was rectified for the
second period.
To balance the equation, however, NBC must be credited for not only
exceptional picture quality, but great camera work as well, as the
Rangers' implosion was covered from every angle. Great TV is easy
when the score is close, but even with a blowout on thier hands, NBC
captured the sights, sounds, and mood of the event with great pictures
and expert commentary, making even a 6-1 scoreline interesting.
Nice job.
Just the Scores, Ma'am
It gives us some pleasure to report the revamping of OLN's oversized,
obnoxious scoreline bar. OK, the bar is still oversized and
obnoxious, but at least it is on the top of the screen now, instead of
on the bottom, where it often covered the play.
And to believe, I was on of those on the fence when the first graphic
score overlays started appearing stated appearing on network telecasts
8 or so years ago. Ah... to return to those halcyon days when
just an unobtrusive scorebox was placed in a corner of the
screen. Nowadays, huge bars with grotesque, blocky letters and
unnecessary colors and shading covering 20% or more of the screen have
become the norm. It's even worse if you have a flat-screen or
flat panel set, as the bars appear even further down into the action,
to accommodate those folks viewing on older 'curved' screens.
OK, I'm getting myself too worked up and will now step off the soapbox,
but... can't some graphical techno-wiz working at one of these
companies design a stylish bar that decries each team's logo and score
in redolent color during whistles and stoppages, but shrinks to the
innocuous semi-transparency of BUF 4 PHL 0
during play? The graphic can then be animatedly expanded using
the latest CG techniques (Foxbotted?) during the next stoppage --
whether for a Hatcher elbow or Buffalo goal. The best of both
worlds, really. It keeps the bell-and-whistle folks happy with
their toys, and lets the hockey fan enjoy more of the actual game.
Maybe I should head down to the patent office....
Gilles Moncour
[email protected] 
