Perhaps the shine is off the Tampa Bay Lightning a bit when it comes to the NHL’s broadcast partners. Based on the release of the NHL’s national TV games, the Lightning have been relegated to ESPN+ for the majority of the nine games that have been deemed national broadcasts. Nor will they be part of ESPN’s or TNT’s opening night games.
So which games are going to be broadcast to a national audiance?
October 11th at Carolina – ESPN+
October 28 vs. Nashville (Steven Stamkos comes home) – ESPN+/Hulu Exclusive
November 7th vs. Philadelphia – ESPN+
November 27th vs. Washington – TNT
February 8th at Detroit – ABC/ESPN+
February 25th vs. Edmonton – ESPN+
March 6th vs. Buffalo – ESPN+
March 8th vs. Boston – ABC/ESPN+
April 1st at NY Islanders – ESPN+
The good news is that outside of the Nashville, Washington, Detroit, and Boston games, local fans should be able to see the other games on Bally Sports. The other good news is that out-of-market fans who rely on ESPN+ already shouldn’t really need any other package to watch almost every game. The Thanksgiving Eve game against Washington will be on TNT and Max (HBO’s streaming service) according to the press release.
TNT will also be carrying The Winter Classic between the Blues and Blackhawks at Wrigley Field as well the Final Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be split among TNT, ABC, and ESPN while the Frozen Frenzy (when all the teams are in action with staggered start times) happening on October 22nd with ESPN broadcasting a tripleheader and ESPN2 having a live look-in show for all of the other games (AKA Red Zone for Hockey).
Other Hockey News
Update 9:56 AM – As I’m sure you’re hearing, Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, passed away yesterday after being struck by a drunk driver while they were biking near their family home in New Jersey. Condolences to their family, their friends, and their teammates.
Power Ranking all 32 Teams over the last five seasons [Bleacher Report]
Sorry Minnesota, Florida is officially the new state of hockey. Based on Bleacher Report’s ranking system, the Panthers are ranked second over the last five seasons with our beloved Tampa Bay Lightning taking the top spot. Even after getting bounced in the first round two years in a row, the Lightning have more playoff series wins (11) than any other team. Oh, and they’ve won two of the five Stanley Cups during this period, lest anyone forget.
Gearing up for game time [Tampa Bay Lightning]
Gabby Shirley chats with the crew about installing the ice at Amalie Arena last week.
Lightning Rank 32nd in pipeline rankings [The Athletic]
We’re not going to lie, we were hoping to crack into the low 20’s in Corey Pronman’s annual rankings, but it wasn’t to be. Even with the addition of Conor Geekie and some intriguing draft picks, it wasn’t enough to propel them out of the bottom spot.
Will his top three match the top three in the 2024 Top 25 Under 25? We’ll find out soon. The numbers have been tallied and the countdown begins on Monday!
Austin Watson signs PTO in Detroit [Detroit News]
The former Bolt will try and earn a spot on the Red Wings roster this season as he goes back to where it all began, kind of. The Ann Arbor native played in the Detroit Compuware system as a youngster (and was on the same team as potential future teammate Jack Campbell).
Jesper Fast to miss season due to neck issue [Canes Country]
The Hurricanes announced that their 32 year-old forward will miss the 2024-25 season due to an injury he suffered in the final game of last season when he was checked into the boards. Despite some hope that he would be healthy enough to make it back for the playoffs, it appears the injury is severe enough to require surgery.
Olympic Qualifying is happening right now!
In Group D it was Kazakhstan beating Hungary, 5-2, and Slovakia took down Austria, 2-1.
In Group E It was France, captained by old friend Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, beating Ukraine, 7-2, and Latvia took out Slovenia, 4-2.
In Group F Norway avoided an upset from Japan, 4-2, and Denmark took down Great Britain, 3-1.
The teams are all back in action again today with all of the games streaming on the IIHF website.
One of the area’s newest teams sent a swag box to one of the area’s oldest teams.
