Poor Len, again! Since Ed. gives me the floor so infrequently, I am reluctant to yield it, particularly when yesterday's post didn't really focus on my favourite team, the Montréal Canadiens.
Last night I Watched the Habs guarantee their participation in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 6-2 thrashing of the hapless Florida Panthers. During the second intermission, one of the RDS commentators noted that Montréal defenceman Alexei Emelin had added to his "bank of enemies". He had delivered one of his thundering hits to the Panthers' Shawn Thornton, who gave him the Salmon Arm Salute on the way back to the bench. The teams meet again in Florida on Monday. I'll make the popcorn.
True it is that M Emelin (one of five Russians on the "Canadiens") has become feared, even hated by players and fans alike of the other 29 NHL teams. It's not that he's a dirty player. It's just that he's merciless. It seems his sole and only aim is to make sure that anyone on the receiving end of one of his bodychecks -- especially his patented hip check -- will get up slowly, and remember the experience a long time. That opposing players stay out of his way makes him a real asset to the Habs' defence.
One picture being worth 1000 words, and one video being worth a million, we present an excellent YouTube video which illustrates the point.
Footnote: RDS jock talkers Stéphane Langdeau and Pierre Houde have been nominated for awards for excellence in sportscasting. Congratulations to both of them and to the entire RDS team.
Showing posts with label RDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RDS. Show all posts
Friday, March 31, 2017
Friday, December 11, 2015
Rogers hockey ratings tank, Poor Len gloats
Poor Len, again. Forgive me for indulging in a bit of schadenfreude, but I can't help saying "I told you so" after reading "Rogers’ early-season TV ratings down sharply for NHL, Maple Leafs" in today's Groan & Wail.
A couple of years ago, Rogers outbid the Canadian Broadcasting Corpse for the Canadian broadcast rights for all NHL games, for 12 years. It then "leased" some of the games to CBC, RDS and other networks, but retained control of which games would be shown on Hockey Night in Canada, which it now owns, and SportsNet, its ridiculously expensive pay channel.
Then, because Toronto is Canada's biggest TV market, Robbers decided to foist games featuring the Maple Laffs on the entire nation, relegating Canada's team -- the Montréal Canadiens -- to "regional markets", i.e. the French-language networks (TVA and RDS) and (sometimes) English broadcasts in Québec and Atlantic Canada. I have complained before about the blackouts of Habs games from the Québec-Ontario border westward, and predicted Robbers would rue its, Conn-Symthian, francophobic bias.
And so it has come to pass. (Lifetime pct .990.) The Glob reports that NHL TV ratings are down across the board on average for Rogers for the first seven weeks this season. According to Numeris, Canada's only broadcast ratings service, combined ratings for the Leafs on all the Rogers-connected networks that carry them -- CBC, Sportsnet and City -- are down 30 per cent from October 7th through November 21st.
The Eastern games on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada, which usually feature the Leafs (on CBC) and some other team, not the Habs, on City, are down 19% from the same period last year. From October 7th through November 21st, an average of 1,771,500 viewers saw the prime-time Hockey Night Eastern game, a drop of 412,500 from last year’s 2,184,000.
Dontcha love it? I do. I hope Robbers lose their blue-and-white shirts.
A couple of years ago, Rogers outbid the Canadian Broadcasting Corpse for the Canadian broadcast rights for all NHL games, for 12 years. It then "leased" some of the games to CBC, RDS and other networks, but retained control of which games would be shown on Hockey Night in Canada, which it now owns, and SportsNet, its ridiculously expensive pay channel.
Then, because Toronto is Canada's biggest TV market, Robbers decided to foist games featuring the Maple Laffs on the entire nation, relegating Canada's team -- the Montréal Canadiens -- to "regional markets", i.e. the French-language networks (TVA and RDS) and (sometimes) English broadcasts in Québec and Atlantic Canada. I have complained before about the blackouts of Habs games from the Québec-Ontario border westward, and predicted Robbers would rue its, Conn-Symthian, francophobic bias.
And so it has come to pass. (Lifetime pct .990.) The Glob reports that NHL TV ratings are down across the board on average for Rogers for the first seven weeks this season. According to Numeris, Canada's only broadcast ratings service, combined ratings for the Leafs on all the Rogers-connected networks that carry them -- CBC, Sportsnet and City -- are down 30 per cent from October 7th through November 21st.
The Eastern games on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada, which usually feature the Leafs (on CBC) and some other team, not the Habs, on City, are down 19% from the same period last year. From October 7th through November 21st, an average of 1,771,500 viewers saw the prime-time Hockey Night Eastern game, a drop of 412,500 from last year’s 2,184,000.
Dontcha love it? I do. I hope Robbers lose their blue-and-white shirts.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Canada's team MIA from "Hockey Night in Canada"
Poor Len Canayen here. It's the eve of Canadian Thanksgiving and I'm NOT giving thanks to Canada's sports media for discriminating against Canada's team in the National [sic] Hockey League, the Montréal Canadiens.For over sixty years, Hockey Night in Canada, has been a must-watch programme on CBC. Indeed, it's probably the only programme that over a million Canadians watch with any regularity. Last night was the first Saturday of the NHL's 2015-16 season, with all seven Canadian teams in action. Le Canadien -- the only team with fans right across Canada, from Squamish to Dildo, were playing at Boston. But which two games did HNIC treat viewers to? Ottawa at Toronto, and... wait for it... Edmonton at Nashville!
The Ottawa v Toronto game wasn't bad, featuring a remarkable comeback by the Leafs to force a shoot-out, which they lost. But the Edmonton v Nashville match-up was by all accounts a total snorefest. The game at Boston, however, was more of a slugfest -- traditional when the Habs meet the Bruins -- with 20 minutes in penalties and two goals in the final minute. Les Glorieux emerged triumphant, 4-2.
So how come Canadian viewers didn't get to see that? I will explain... and condemn! Back in 2014, the NHL (G. Bettman, Prop.) sold the Canadian TV rights to Canada's biggest cable company, Robbers [Rogers, surely! Ed.], which thus acquired HNIC. The CBC, faced with the loss of its top revenue generator, grovelled abjectly enough to be given a "lease" on the Saturday night staple, but Rogers retained control of the property, which it also distributes on its own City-TV channels.
We're not just talking English TV here. Robbers also got the rights to all French programmes, which it divided between TVA and RDS, with Société Radio-Canada left out of the picture. That didn't really matter, since SRC had ceded the estimable Soirée du Hockey to RDS years ago. However, with Robbers controlling distribution, the French channels, which had previously been available right across the Great Not-so-white North, have been blacked out everywhere west of Québec and a small chunk of eastern Ontario.
It gets worse. Rogers -- greedy bastards that they are -- forced Bell, which distributes TV signals by satellite and fibre-optic cable, to go along with its national/regional lineup, all designed to force subscribers to pay an extra over C$200 per season for an "all hockey all the time" package called NHL Centre Ice.
1000s of Canadiens fans west of Québec (most of whom can understand at least some French) refused, and were belatedly offered what Bell/Rogers call the "NHL French package" for only C$60. For that, you're supposed to be able to get all... all... of the Habs games on TVA and RDS, on two channels featuring "Le forfait LNH en français". Was the Montréal game on either of those channels last night? Err, no. Was any game shown? Err, no. The "LNH gratuit" appeared to be a CCTV video of the inside of a coal bin at midnight.
Having complained to Bell and got no satisfaction, I am now going to fire a rocket in the direction of the CRTC. And to Robbers, which has put all its HNIC eggs in the Maple Laffs basket, I say: I hope you lose your blue shirts!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Open letter to Rogers, Bell TV, TVA, RDS and the NHL (attn G. Bettman)
I, Poor Len Canayen, am a fan of the Montréal Canadiens. If I can't go to their games in person, I would watch them on TV...if only I could!
But I live in western Canada -- "western" meaning anywhere west of Québec and the easternmost corner of Ontario. Until this season, that didn't matter. I was able to watch all the Habs games on RDS, and enjoy the superior commentary of their play-by-play team and analysts.
During this summer, though, you, Rogers, made a deal with the so-called National Hockey League (G. Bettman, prop. -- a man who knows nothing about hockey but everything about sharp business deals) by which you, Rogers, got the exclusive rights to broadcast the NHL in Canada.
So you, Rogers, greedy bastards that you are, figured out a way to make little people, like me, pay more to see our favourite team. You reduced drastically the number of Habs games telecast in English on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays or Hometown Hockey on Sundays. And you divided up the French telecasts between RDS and TVA.
No problem... or so I thought, as I signed up for Bell TV's "Le monde en français" satellite package. But whoooaaaa... You, Rogers and Bell, have colluded to block the RDS and TVA Sports channels in western Canada (see definition above) only and always when the Montréal games are on!
The object, obviously, is to force me to sign up for your premium "NHL Centre Ice" package, a snip at only C$209 for "the year". (What does that mean? My prediction is that it means "until the end of the regular season", when subscribers will be asked to pay still more if they want to see the playoffs.)
Guess what, greedheads?! I won't do it! I cancelled my subscription to "Le monde en français" and I'll be double damned if I'll sign up for anything else. In fact, I have a good mind to switch to cable TV -- not Rogers! -- and be done forever with Bell's intermittent satellite signals.
To Rogers, Bell and the NHL -- I'm not including RDS and TVA because it's not their fault -- PUCK YOU! Puck you very much!
c.c. Government of Canada Competition Bureau, Canadian Human Rights Commission
Saturday, February 1, 2014
P.K. can't be trusted on the P.K.!
The first "P.K." stands for Pernell Karl Subban, Norris Trophy-winning defenceman (?) and resident hotdog with the Montréal Canadiens. The second "P.K." stands for "Penalty Kill", which is what you have to do when a member of your team is sitting in the sin bin. That's when you want a defenceman who can actually play defence. Which (as we pointed out last week) is what the first P.K. can't do.
Sadly, P.K. can't be trusted on the Power Play [Just skip the initials. Ed.] either. We learned that this afternoon, when the Canadiens (a.k.a. the Kids from Montréal, pictured) hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning (a.k.a. the Bolts -- much better name for a hockey team) au Centre Bell in Canada's most exciting city.
It wasn't much of a game for the first period. Both teams seemed intent on a bit of a siesta. With no score several minutes into the second stanza [Sounding like a sports writer, Len! Ed.] it seemed as if the first goal would be the winner. Then TB took a penalty and the Habs went on the (occasionally) deadly power play. What happened then was terrible to behold.
On the power play, Subban and whoever's stuck with him on defence are supposed to play on the points, meaning just inside either end of the opposition's blue line. Even with the man advantage, the two defencemen may still have to make a defensive play -- for instance, stopping the opposition from clearing the puck over the blue line and out of their zone. P.K. does that about, errr, half the time.
On this occasion, as a result of being in deep rather than close to the blue line, Subban saw the puck go by him, with two TB players chasing it, and only his defence partner skating furiously backward. The defensive play, one on two, is for the defenceman to take the opposition player closest to him and let the goalie -- the estimable Carey Price -- face the other one. It would have worked this time too had P.K. not decided to stick his stick in between the TB player and Price, to stop the shot (see?) as if Price couldn't do so on his own.
Sadly, the shot hit P.K.'s stick right on the tape and caromed past Price's outstretched hand. Advantage Tampa Bay! Goat horns to Subban!
Today's question: Why is P.K. Subban immune from criticism when, as happens too often, he makes a mistake and then compounds it trying to recover? Could it be because he's, errr, black -- one of the few black players in the NHL and the only one ever to play for Montréal.
Yeah, could be. Whatever the reason, only the play-by-play commentators on RDS (the French-language channel) mentioned Subban's habit of making decisions that cause coaches to tear their hair out. That he scored an own goal was not talked about at all on the CBC telecast. The sportscast during the CTV evening news showed the Montréal goal which tied the game, and Tampa Bay's overtime game-winner. But the first goal, deflected by P.K. into his own net? Not shown. Nothing. Rien.
In fact, Subban's sub-par performances have been quietly overlooked ever since he was named to Canada's Olympic hockey team in spite of his reputation for being defensively "risky". If anyone has noticed that Habs coach Michel Therrien never plays P.K. on the P.K. -- and how could his absence not have been noticed -- they keep silent about it.
Eight defencemen have been chosen for the Canadian Olympic team. But coach Mike Babcock doesn't have to play or even dress all eight. Canadians who want their team to win should hope that political correctness doesn't force Babcock to trust P.K. to defend against some of the best players in the rest of the world.
Sadly, P.K. can't be trusted on the Power Play [Just skip the initials. Ed.] either. We learned that this afternoon, when the Canadiens (a.k.a. the Kids from Montréal, pictured) hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning (a.k.a. the Bolts -- much better name for a hockey team) au Centre Bell in Canada's most exciting city.
It wasn't much of a game for the first period. Both teams seemed intent on a bit of a siesta. With no score several minutes into the second stanza [Sounding like a sports writer, Len! Ed.] it seemed as if the first goal would be the winner. Then TB took a penalty and the Habs went on the (occasionally) deadly power play. What happened then was terrible to behold.
On the power play, Subban and whoever's stuck with him on defence are supposed to play on the points, meaning just inside either end of the opposition's blue line. Even with the man advantage, the two defencemen may still have to make a defensive play -- for instance, stopping the opposition from clearing the puck over the blue line and out of their zone. P.K. does that about, errr, half the time.
On this occasion, as a result of being in deep rather than close to the blue line, Subban saw the puck go by him, with two TB players chasing it, and only his defence partner skating furiously backward. The defensive play, one on two, is for the defenceman to take the opposition player closest to him and let the goalie -- the estimable Carey Price -- face the other one. It would have worked this time too had P.K. not decided to stick his stick in between the TB player and Price, to stop the shot (see?) as if Price couldn't do so on his own.
Sadly, the shot hit P.K.'s stick right on the tape and caromed past Price's outstretched hand. Advantage Tampa Bay! Goat horns to Subban!
Today's question: Why is P.K. Subban immune from criticism when, as happens too often, he makes a mistake and then compounds it trying to recover? Could it be because he's, errr, black -- one of the few black players in the NHL and the only one ever to play for Montréal.
Yeah, could be. Whatever the reason, only the play-by-play commentators on RDS (the French-language channel) mentioned Subban's habit of making decisions that cause coaches to tear their hair out. That he scored an own goal was not talked about at all on the CBC telecast. The sportscast during the CTV evening news showed the Montréal goal which tied the game, and Tampa Bay's overtime game-winner. But the first goal, deflected by P.K. into his own net? Not shown. Nothing. Rien.
In fact, Subban's sub-par performances have been quietly overlooked ever since he was named to Canada's Olympic hockey team in spite of his reputation for being defensively "risky". If anyone has noticed that Habs coach Michel Therrien never plays P.K. on the P.K. -- and how could his absence not have been noticed -- they keep silent about it.
Eight defencemen have been chosen for the Canadian Olympic team. But coach Mike Babcock doesn't have to play or even dress all eight. Canadians who want their team to win should hope that political correctness doesn't force Babcock to trust P.K. to defend against some of the best players in the rest of the world.
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