Half way through year 1. Everyone's thoughts of Sportsnets "Monopoly"?

[bc-chris]

i think my only complaint would be that i wish they would turn up the crowd/arena noise for flames games. i love hearing the reaction of the crowd, the booms of hits and the players 'interacting' with each other. i'm not sure if they keep it down for flames games becuz they still haven't managed to perfectly sync the audio/video (nothing beats hearing the puck hit the crossbar as the player is releasing his shot )

but other than that, i'm very pleased with the broadcasts

i don't usually watch intermission stuff - i usually just change the channel to another game

i absolutely LOVE that we can choose what early game to watch on saturdays! i really don't like watching the leafs

[_Q_]

I like the panel. I like Strombo. I like the graphics and the production and I like the new HNIC theme song.

Over all it's been quite good.

[Burke Salad]

Are they using the old montage guy from CBC?

[Aleks]

How are you guys watching more games than before? As a Telus subscriber I haven't noticed a single bit of difference in terms of availability. I still get the same stupid blackouts, I can watch warmups and pregame and then boom regional restriction. Its been frustrating as I expected more broadcasts. Saturday nights is still CBC anyhow, I still think the whole thing is exactly the same. So count me in the thumbs down pile

[The Hendog]

It has been better than expected

[BsFaninCGY]

I'm a cord cutter, and although I 'donate' to a streaming site that gives me access to all the games in HD, I do like that with my antenna I can get the games on City now as well as what was on CBC. I think the sets look really good, are well lit, and haven't noticed any technical issues (which would annoy me to no end if there were any). I have always liked Kypreos, MacLean & Millard on Hockey Central, and for the most part enjoy them on the broadcasts too. I know she's a polarizing personality, but I was really surprised and quite enjoy Leah Hextall - smart & knowledgeable plus easy on the eyes and I actually really enjoy her voice.

I think the sales team needs to step it up - the commercials showing over and over again need to go. George is not a good fit at all for me - stands out like a sore thumb. I miss a lot of what the TSN panel would do during intermissions and a lot of their on air personalities.

Overall I'd say I have no major complaints and hope it only continues to improve. Either way, they're in it for the long haul so might as well enjoy it!

[heep223]

Pretty much on par with what others have posted re: the panels. When Hrudey, Kyreos or Friedman and on a panel I watch it. When they're not, I change the channel during intermissions. Hrudey and Ball are fantastic.

They need to turn up the ice-level mics and they need higher quality HD cameras. Those two things would increase production value immensely.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Burke Salad

Are they using the old montage guy from CBC?

I miss the montages a lot. They have done a few this year.

[Buck Murdock]

I don't have a big problem with anything they've done. I am however, confused as to why Damien Cox is involved in such a prominent way. He doesn't really provide anything, and can be extremely irritating.

[Erick Estrada]

It's been a pleasant surprise as not nearly as bad as I imagined but then just upgrading to Hrudey and Ball has massively improved the regional games. I still think TSN did the best intermission packages and I miss that but overall it hasn't been too bad. HNIC has been about the same for the most part but the marginalization of Ron MacLean has really improved the product. He was way too front and center for well over a decade. He's just too opinionated a guy to get that much face time IMO.

[HelloHockeyFans]

- Ball and Hrudey have made a HUGE difference for Calgary games.
- Kypreos has been great this year. Such a difference from his personality last year.
- Miss the old Satellite Hotstove segment they'd have during 2nd intermissions on HNIC. Would like to see them bring that back.
- I like Strombo. He brings good energy to the broadcasts and ties in today's social media platforms very well which will help the younger viewers (the next fans) relate.
- Still some personalities around that they would do better without (Doug Maclean, Healy), but they do seem to be trimming down their presence. They may even be the better choices with the other options currently available perhaps.
- Oilers regional broadcasts are still pretty bad. I wonder how Oiler fans feel about it though?
- Shorthouse is awesome for Vancouver. Garrett is embarrassing.

[puffnstuff]

Hrudey could lose the 'will sit for two minutes or less' any time now.

[curves2000]

In my opinion there has been some great upgrades from a fan perspective and some serious downgrades from the TSN/CBC broadcasts of previous seasons.

1) Love that we now do have choice on Saturday nights for games. For way too long we got the Leafs rammed down our throats no matter what the match up was in years past. All of Canada got Florida @ Toronto in a meaningless game while other subscribers got a excellent game in something like a Montreal @ Boston. Now we have choice as to what to watch for the 7 pm EST games.

2) Regional production of games for the Flames. I agree that Ball/Hrudey are a talent upgrade which has been nice. I also like the Fan 960 team we have on the radio as well. What I don't like is why the crowd noise is soooooo low for games. Call me crazy but I find a really loud crowd to energize the broadcast and you get a more positive feeling. Ditto for hearing on ice noise such as the players, shots off the boards etc. For whatever reason the Flames regional broadcasts have severely reduced noise levels and all you hear are the PBP and colour guys talking.

3) Pre-Post Game coverage: I found the commendatory that came from TSN and CBC broadcasts to have been substantially more in depth than the Rogers product now. I also agree with other posters that there are way too many commercials now but we need to remember that Rogers is paying $430 million a year to the NHL for these rights and they need to recoup the costs somehow.

As for the post game coverage I just hate, especially on Saturday Nights. I find the whole sitting around in red chairs, showing off your coloured socks, reading from Q-cards to be just terrible. No flow to the conversation and they literally recap the days events and show highlights. If I wanted to just watch highlights for the games I wanted then I have several other Rogers properties to turn into such as Sportsnet West, SN 360 etc. What I used to love about the CBC Saturday Night broadcasts was the show "After Hours" I love the behind the scenes look, getting to know players more in depth on a human level and so on. I think this would be a great chance for Rogers to have a 30 minute segment post game where they had a little "behind the scenes" show. Show everything from players flying on the plane, going to dinner, playing pranks on each other etc. Nothing too wild but I find the fans go crazy for that stuff.

4) Strombo and Coaches Corner: I grew up as a little boy watching Ron so I don't think George has the same level of knowledge and cache. He's probably great to bring a more modern perspective on some of the issues of "today" but I hate the try hard image. I myself hated the fact that all of hockey including players, broadcasters and management wear ties and George would strut around like hes going to a night club. Someone @ Rogers must have said something or they did internal polling cause the last few weeks hes got a tie on and dressed more "business like"

As for our beloved Cherry and Coaches Corner, well its pretty much been neutered to a quick 5 minute segment of nothing of substance, some yelling about more time and that's it. The leash has been tightened on this program big time and it shows. I suspect after next season Cherry is done on air and maybe have a small, reduced role somewhere else.

Thats it from my end. Sorry about the long post!!!

[calgarygeologist]

A segment that I really hate on the Saturday broadcast is that stupid puck wall that Friedman interacts with. I like Friedman but that puck wall really needs to be tossed in the dumpster.

[habernac]

The one bummer for me is that I lost the ability to see all the Habs games through RDS. Had to pay a flat fee to get the NHL French package (still much better than having to fork out $250 for Centre Ice).

Love the new broadcast team for the Flames.

The selection on Saturdays is cool, like having the option if the Canadiens don't play.

Glad I'm not the only one who has noticed how good Kypreos has become.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I still don't like the intermission panel for non-HNIC games.

When the Flames played on TSN, we'd get actual decent between-period discussion. And by that I don't necessarily mean quality, but quantity.

It seems that there's barely any discussion in-between periods on Sportsnet and it's 75% commercials. It was not like that on TSN.

And half the freaking time they replay a segment that was on during the pre-game! What discussion the panel of two might have is ridiculously superficial and designed for children.

Again though, when the Flames used to be on TSN, that was a National broadcast on Wednesday nights. It's the equivalent of the Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday night hockey that is now on Rogers.

It's not a like for like comparison, critiquing what used to happen on TSN when the Flames got a rare National broadcast spot, versus what happens now on the Flames much lower budget regional games. TSN has never covered the Flames as the regional broadcaster so there isn't a fair comparison point.

Now comparing TSN's coverage of the Flames last year, to what we get when the Flames are on Sunday or Wednesday on Sportsnet is totally fair, and I'm not suggesting your thoughts are wrong.

The problem though is previously, people had a negative opinion on Sportsnet in comparison to TSN and CBC because they were comparing National broadcasts to regional which isn't fair, and now the problem is a lot of people are not distinguishing between the fact that the Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and then all the other Flames games are all different "shows" if you will with different budgets and target audience sizes, so the format and quality will be different, but because for us Flames fans it's all on the same network, I think we just lump it all together.

[Burke Salad]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I miss the montages a lot. They have done a few this year.

I wonder if they have limited access to the CBC's archived footage, something seems off in that dept.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

For me, the production value (at least of the intermission segments, I'm no HD expert) has been very professional and good. Not sure I love all the segments, but I was never a big fan of TSN's intermission format, but I did like some of their analysts. I like some of what Rogers is doing with HNIC better than what CBC did, and some less.

Agreed with the thoughts that Kyper has pleasantly surprised. Freidman is still my favourite, and I like the set, except when they sit in the red chairs, just stay at the desk.

Regional broadcast quality has not improved visa vie the intermission segments (not that I expected it to) but huge upgrade this year on the comenatator team, not that any of this has to do with the new national deal.

Not sure how much I'm loving the Sunday small town hockey thing, kind feel like the once a year Hockey Day in Canada focus on that type of thing was enough for me, but I like getting extra national games on Sunday, so no complaints.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

It's been pretty decent so far. Helps a lot that Ball/Hrudey are fantastic for us Flames fans, we're spoiled. Friedman is the one I listen to the most overall, he's usually the voice of reason and has some great insights. Not much different from last season, but now he's 'the man' and it's great to have him on so much. Other thoughts:

- I love Strombo, loved when he hosted his own show, but he still seems a little 'off' on that set. I'd rather have Ron Maclean, but hopefully Strombo gets more comfortable as the games go along.
- Leah Hextall isn't a great fit. Not a fan. She just seems too quiet or too timid, I don't know what it is but she's one of the weak links IMO.
- Healy is a mess and shouldn't be on TV anywhere. Brings the quality down a few notches, he's irrelevant and annoying even if he's on less now than before. Any time on TV for him is too much. Cox isn't as bad, but I'd rather not see him on there either. I don't think the other guys take him seriously when they're discussing topics.
- Still not 100% sold on Kypreos, but he is much, much better.

[TorqueDog]

I'm with AC in that the picture quality is really bad.