Peter Tessier: Rogers Problems Also Because of NHL's Problems Exploring a great article of Dave Shoalts and how it and other factors are affecting Rogers' Communications bottom line and NHL ratings.

i can't stand strombo and the idea that the broadcast has to be "hip". i just want to listen to hockey talk. also can't stand it when they force the culture of hockey on everyone. hometown hockey is something i try to avoid at all costs.

Strombo isnt bad, but hes not Ron...

When there was a game on TV you didn't want to miss the 7pm start time to watch Ron and the hockey talk.. now it doesn't really matter.. it just feels like a rogers service.. disappointing.

And you add Kypreos? that's why I watched TSN not sportsnet....

Changing or removing people the public can relate to and have emotional ties to makes no sense unless it isn't working which wasn't the case and that's where Rogers fails.

As far as the hockey goes, the league has slowly eliminated emotion from the game with the constant changes.

So bottom line for hockey and Rogers is if people aren't emotionally invested, which comes from emotion and intrigue in the product then they will look for and be attracted to other things that affect their emotions.

Sportsnet put out a poopty product before they bought the national rights and they've carried a LOT of that baggage with them.

They emphasized all the wrong things on their regional broadcasts and continued to do wo when they bumped it up to a national game.

The Sportsnet brand was a huge piece of poop. Instead of fixing it all they've done is try to smear it all over Hockey Night In Canada.

It says everything you need to know that I'd now rather watch Hometown Hockey on Sundays than have anything to do with HNIC anymore.

If the NHL would like a better product, they really need to increase scoring.
The #1 thing they can do is... Give 3 points for regulation wins!! I'm sure NHL teams all understand that being involved in low scoring games will give them a much better chance of being involved in a game that awards 3 points. Last time I checked, zero goal games go to overtime 100% of the time, and 2 goal games 50% of the time... and so on. Reward teams for winning in regulation, and I'm sure more teams will adopt a philosophy that encourages offense. Not to mention, why should any one game be worth 50% more points than another?
I signed up just to rant about this

Rogers has a lot of smart people working for them but I do believe that they haven't made their hockey content as good as it can possibly be.

My changes would be,

1. Ditch Strombo
2. Give Don Cherry a full 10 minutes between periods
3. Get rid of Healy
4. Ditch hometown hockey

Rogers has a lot of smart people working for them but I do believe that they haven't made their hockey content as good as it can possibly be.

My changes would be,

1. Ditch Strombo
2. Give Don Cherry a full 10 minutes between periods
3. Get rid of Healy
4. Ditch hometown hockey
- riceroni

Hometown Hockey is better than HNIC right now, honestly.

Sportsnet put out a poopty product before they bought the national rights and they've carried a LOT of that baggage with them.

They emphasized all the wrong things on their regional broadcasts and continued to do wo when they bumped it up to a national game.

The Sportsnet brand was a huge piece of poop. Instead of fixing it all they've done is try to smear it all over Hockey Night In Canada.

It says everything you need to know that I'd now rather watch Hometown Hockey on Sundays than have anything to do with HNIC anymore.
- BINGO!

That is exactly what has happened. Everything just is so awkward and unnatural, even things from HNIC which were comfortable and interesting are now intolerable

i can't stand strombo and the idea that the broadcast has to be "hip". i just want to listen to hockey talk. also can't stand it when they force the culture of hockey on everyone. hometown hockey is something i try to avoid at all costs.
- chester97

Strombo is better than I thought, and he is at least comfortable on set and with the technology they are using, he just really lacks the hockey knowledge. I can tolerate him, because he's at least trying to appeal to the audience. The rest of the crew they have lack comfort and (most of them) credibility

Sportsnet:

Keep friedman
get rid of healy and kyper.

TSN:

Get rid of Dreger that guy has nothing to say in general.

What makes me laugh is all the people that think HNIC is worse because Sportsnet took over. Here's the truth folks: All of the behind the scenes people on HNIC are the same. They're the ones that drive the show.

Sure Strombo may not be McLean, but think back to when McLean took over for Dave Hodge. Imagine the twitter wars and incessant blogs about how bad a replacement McLean is there would have been.

And is anybody really missing Kevin Weekes or PJ Stock having prominent roles on HNIC?

As for the on ice product, it isnt the players or the equipment that ruined it, its safety which did it. With no vested interest, I would watch an Av's-Wings game 15-20 years ago because you didnt know what to expect. They hated each other, fought, threw cheapshots, etc. and that created passion and emotion. I know safety should come first, but thats why the battle of Alberta is a snoozefest. At least Calgary-Vancouver had something for a year with Torts

I don't know if Rogers has anything to do with this directly but I have become extremely frustrated with my NHL GameCenter Live internet package. I have been using this to watch hockey while wintering in Arizona.
Too many blackouts and poor streaming quality.
I have instructed the provider to cancel my automatic renewal. They will not be getting my money anymore.

As for the on ice product, it isnt the players or the equipment that ruined it, its safety which did it. With no vested interest, I would watch an Av's-Wings game 15-20 years ago because you didnt know what to expect. They hated each other, fought, threw cheapshots, etc. and that created passion and emotion. I know safety should come first, but thats why the battle of Alberta is a snoozefest. At least Calgary-Vancouver had something for a year with Torts
- whitelie

On top of that teams don't see each other enough or frequently enough to hate each other. You play the division rivals what, 4 or 5 times a year? And then they're spread out throughout the season so much that by the time that you play them again any animosity has subsided. All so that each team plays at each arena at least once.

You should play your division teams 7 times. 7 x 7 = 49. Then the other division in the conference 3 times. 7 x 3 = 21 + 49 = 70. The remaining 12 games are for the other conference. No, you won't be able to see everyone every year but you'll see them every other year. If they want to make sure that each team plays at least once they can take some away from the inter-conference games.

What makes me laugh is all the people that think HNIC is worse because Sportsnet took over. Here's the truth folks: All of the behind the scenes people on HNIC are the same. They're the ones that drive the show.

Sure Strombo may not be McLean, but think back to when McLean took over for Dave Hodge. Imagine the twitter wars and incessant blogs about how bad a replacement McLean is there would have been.

And is anybody really missing Kevin Weekes or PJ Stock having prominent roles on HNIC?
- H8terade

Then the people behind the scenes have not stepped up or been neutered. It was the whole production- the way it flowed the timing the personalities etc. Stock has a place and at CBC they know where to place it.

But I don't think everyone who was at CBC moved to Rogers, In fact I;m fairly certain there was a significant change over.

I really think Rogers blew this one. Instead of intermissions that captivate the audience , all they have done is alienate. I still love Coaches Corner but, these other guys have to go. Does anyone else feel that the hosts are talking to us like we just don't get it? Horrible.

if they want to increase scoring, bring back the God-awful goalies of the eighties and nineties.

I really think Rogers blew this one. Instead of intermissions that captivate the audience , all they have done is alienate. I still love Coaches Corner but, these other guys have to go. Does anyone else feel that the hosts are talking to us like we just don't get it? Horrible.
- jcfogerty

They are actually trying to explain it to Strombo...

In all seriousness, youre right about it being alienating. The set seems large and cold, the conversations are choppy, the topics are usually irrelevant to the game being played. At least TSN's intermissions are structured, so you can follow the flow, the speakers are prepared and articulate, it just helps. HNIC kept the sets small, tight shots made it feel cozy and more engaged with the speaker/host. Its like Sportsnet saw everything right with all other products and did the opposite

Is anything worse than Dennis Beyak's constant use of the phrase "tight turns to get away from" ?

Here is a typical 10 second Beyakism:

"Schiefele, the former Barrie Colt, tight turns to get away from the checking of Taylor Hall, the former Windsor Spitfire, now he passes the puck up to Nic Petan, the former Portand Winterhawk, who has the puck bounce over his stick, and now Jordan Eberle, the former Regina Pat, takes over, and tight turns to get away from.........."