I'm a huge HNIC loyalist and it has been a part of my life ever since I was a young lad.
That said, I think the HNIC product has become stale over the past few years. I think CBC missed some opportunities to modernize incrementally and instead focussed on retaining the "tradition" of HNIC. The biggest example is Don Cherry. I love the guy, but even as a fan I'm tired of seeing him every week all season and then every day during the playoffs. He gets repetitive. The 2nd intermission went downhill when they dropped the satellite hotstove and went with the studio discussion format - even though I really like Friedman and Weekes.
Anyway, the point of my post is that I'm optimistic about what Rogers can do. Clearly they are putting a lot of thought into it and assembling a great team. I am excited to see the changes. The point about the Jays games is great - the Sportsnet broadcasts are fantastic. There's no reason to think they won't pull it off for national hockey broadcasts.
|