Maybe, but if ESPN dies it's going to be a slow, painful death. Eventually, grinding out the same one or two names (see: Tebow, Lebron) as much as they do will wear people out.

Oh, and people will eventually get sick of the drama and meanness of sports talk radio.


...right? Right?!
- BulliesPhan87

My thinking is this. Fox has rights to MLB and NFL. NBC has NHL and Olympics and Golf. With the funding these major networks has behind them, they will likely take these sports over full time. So ESPN will be left showing bowling, and cheerleading competitions while Fox will be running 4 football games every Sunday. Just waiting for CBS and ABC to get thier own sports networks.

It wouldn't be akin to it. OHL and WHL is Junior Hockey. The KHL and NHL is professional Hockey. Does the NFL network air Arena football games?
- MJL

And on top of it, would the NHL really be interested in dishing out money to the KHL for the rights to air those games?

My thinking is this. Fox has rights to MLB and NFL. NBC has NHL and Olympics and Golf. With the funding these major networks has behind them, they will likely take these sports over full time. So ESPN will be left showing bowling, and cheerleading competitions while Fox will be running 4 football games every Sunday. Just waiting for CBS and ABC to get thier own sports networks.
- youarewrong

ESPN probably has more viewers for their college games and studio programming than they do for their actual professional games. For example, I'd wager more people tune in for Baseball Tonight than for the actual games. Same with basketball and SportsCenter.

My thinking is this. Fox has rights to MLB and NFL. NBC has NHL and Olympics and Golf. With the funding these major networks has behind them, they will likely take these sports over full time. So ESPN will be left showing bowling, and cheerleading competitions while Fox will be running 4 football games every Sunday. Just waiting for CBS and ABC to get thier own sports networks.
- youarewrong

ESPN took over ABC Sports--both are owned by Disney. ESPN/ABC share broadcasts and broadcast teams.

I mean, even ESPN started out with Austrailian Rules Football.

FS1 could do a whole, helluva lot worse than KHL hockey.
- johndewar

i remember. i loved watching that back in the early 80s. i was just saying i was surprised to hear they're saying they have some commitment to hockey when their launch ad shows ZERO hockey.

good grief

Ovechkin is a bust. Same with Malkin.
- jmatchett383

This is pretty damn. Like a lot of others I have my reasons not to like to invest high draft picks on Russian players but to say Ovechkin and Malkin are bust - make no sense at all. By the way, Kovalchuk leaving NJ still has a lot of question marks. I saw news bits that Devils had hard time paying him even last year. Anyway, as far as Malkin and Ovechkin - I'll take them any time

This is pretty damn. Like a lot of others I have my reasons not to like to invest high draft picks on Russian players but to say Ovechkin and Malkin are bust - make no sense at all. By the way, Kovalchuk leaving NJ still has a lot of question marks. I saw news bits that Devils had hard time paying him even last year. Anyway, as far as Malkin and Ovechkin - I'll take them any time
- SGTrader

I think he was being sarcastical

good grief
- -davies-

KHL games and NHL games aren't even aired at the same time. They are not going to steal any NHL viewers. Even if it does start to expose Americans to international hockey, its not like if your a fan of Moskow you have to stop being a Flyers fan.. and they aren't going to draw you to fly to moskow over driving to the Flyers game...

Its like saying the NFL wont air the arena football league because they are rivals. For Americans and Canadians its not even close. It would be akin to the NHL Network showing OHL or WHL games.
- youarewrong

Arena football an NFL football are different sports, with vastly different rules, so that comparison isn't even close to being apt.

The NHL doesn't care about you being a fan of CSKA. What they're not going to do is pay a rival league for the rights to televise their games on NHL Network. Because the KHL isn't going to give away the broadcast rights. Why pay a rival league money & make their league stronger & more able to poach the NHL's talent base when you can use your network promote your own players and teams? Their biggest concern with the NHL network isn't to allow hockey fans to watch more hockey, it's to promote the NHL and it's teams.

The NHL would rather show you the 4,978th repeat of "Oil Change" than show you a KHL playoff game, because the NHL network exists to promote the NHL.

This is pretty damn. Like a lot of others I have my reasons not to like to invest high draft picks on Russian players but to say Ovechkin and Malkin are bust - make no sense at all. By the way, Kovalchuk leaving NJ still has a lot of question marks. I saw news bits that Devils had hard time paying him even last year. Anyway, as far as Malkin and Ovechkin - I'll take them any time
- SGTrader

Yeah...because I am being serious.

Yeah...because I am being serious.
- jmatchett383

Oh, nvm my post then.

Oh, nvm my post then.
- BulliesPhan87

I was being sarcastical there too. Your post has been deemed relevant, unlike 7th round Russian draft picks.

Something interesting was said in the first episode of the new series the Flyers have going leading up to the draft. One of the scouts said "Even if we don't like him later, he should have value". Interesting and direct choice of words even before drafting a young player. I love our first two picks in Samuel Morin and Robert Hegg. Hegg was originally projected to go in the first round even ahead of Morin, so it will be interesting who we start raving in positive chants of who we want in the Flyers line up mote the next few years. If the Flyers bring along these two the same way they were patient with Gustafsson, we have a lot of positives to look forward to, whether remain in the system or not. These are valued picks in my opinion.

Arena football an NFL football are different sports, with vastly different rules, so that comparison isn't even close to being apt.

The NHL doesn't care about you being a fan of CSKA. What they're not going to do is pay a rival league for the rights to televise their games on NHL Network. Because the KHL isn't going to give away the broadcast rights. Why pay a rival league money & make their league stronger & more able to poach the NHL's talent base when you can use your network promote your own players and teams? Their biggest concern with the NHL network isn't to allow hockey fans to watch more hockey, it's to promote the NHL and it's teams.

The NHL would rather show you the 4,978th repeat of "Oil Change" than show you a KHL playoff game, because the NHL network exists to promote the NHL.
- Jsaquella

The last sentence says it all. NHL Network exist to promote NHL Hockey, not Hockey as a whole.

I was being sarcastical there too. Your post has been deemed relevant, unlike 7th round Russian draft picks.
- jmatchett383

I was also being sarcasmic on that one. We're running a dangerous lampshading factor here.

suprised g didnt tweet any pics of his finger

bet it looked badass

suprised g didnt tweet any pics of his finger

bet it looked badass
- Crimsoninja

He was probably ashamed he didn't at least par the hole.

It's not a risk at all. What are the odds of a 7th round pick making to the NHL? Very slim. And an NHL team doesn't draft players to help the AHL team. They draft to try and help the NHL team. And they can figure out if a player is going to have a chance to help the NHL team, while he's playing overseas, just as well as they can if he plays in the AHL.

So I'll repeat my point in case there is some confusion. Taking a player with an upside that slipped in the draft because of possible transfer issues is smart drafting. Because chances are that player is more talented then a normal player taken in the 7th round. The possible reward far outweighs any potential risk. There is very little risk if any.
- MJL

So is Paul Holmgren so much smarter at drafting then all of the other GMs who passed on Vasiliev in rounds 6 and 7? No, he just has a different draft philosophy and different priorities and different input from his scouts than the other GMs who chose to draft somebody else when they could have drafted Vasiliev. The fact that he was a "talented slider" wasn't some big secret that only the Flyers knew about.

So is Paul Holmgren so much smarter at drafting then all of the other GMs who passed on Vasiliev in rounds 6 and 7? No, he just has a different draft philosophy and different priorities and different input from his scouts than the other GMs who chose to draft somebody else when they could have drafted Vasiliev. The fact that he was a "talented slider" wasn't some big secret that only the Flyers knew about.
- Coburns_Nose

I don't see where I said anything about Paul Holmgren being so much smarter then other GM's, or that Vasiliev was a big secret. I just disagreed with your take on the pick. And I think it was the completely wrong way of looking at it, in my opinion.

I don't see where I said anything about Paul Holmgren being so much smarter then other GM's, or that Vasiliev was a big secret. I just disagreed with your take on the pick. And I think it was the completely wrong way of looking at it, in my opinion.
- MJL

Right. I never said you did. But you were saying that Vasiliev was a smart pick because he slid due to questions about leaving Russia. I guess I was asking if it was so smart, why weren't the GMs picking before Holmgren smart enough to make the choice?

Homer saw value in the pick so he made it, but there's different kinds of risks to take in the 7th round and to say one type of risk is smarter than another can be hard to justify.

My thinking is this. Fox has rights to MLB and NFL. NBC has NHL and Olympics and Golf. With the funding these major networks has behind them, they will likely take these sports over full time. So ESPN will be left showing bowling, and cheerleading competitions while Fox will be running 4 football games every Sunday. Just waiting for CBS and ABC to get thier own sports networks.
- youarewrong

They also have the EPL which they paid huge money to get.

The best active hockey talk and rumour in weeks turns out to be false. Jose Theodore to Boston.

The best active hockey talk and rumour in weeks turns out to be false. Jose Theodore to Boston.
- dingo8urbaby

well that's not really that exciting

well that's not really that exciting
- -davies-

It's activity in a league that still has plenty of room for it. I'll take it.