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| rowspan="4" |1989
  
| rowspan="4" |1989
 
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Montreal-Boston]]
  
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Montreal-Boston]]
−
|'''[[Rick Peckham]]'''<br />
 +
|'''[[Rick Peckham]]'''
  ⚫
|'''[[Gerry Cheevers]]'''
⚫
Mike Emrick<br />
  
⚫
Pat Foley<br />
  
⚫
Jiggs McDonald
  
−
|'''[[Gerry Cheevers]]''' and '''[[Dave Maloney]]'''<br />
  
−
Bill Clement<br />
  
⚫
Dale Tallon<br />
  
⚫
Herb Brooks
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Flyers–Penguins rivalry|Pittsburgh-Philadelphia]] (Games 1–5 aired on tape delay)
  
|[[Flyers–Penguins rivalry|Pittsburgh-Philadelphia]] (Games 1–5 aired on tape delay)
  ⚫
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]'''
−
|Rick Peckham<br />
  
−
'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />
 +
|'''[[Bill Clement]]'''
⚫
Pat Foley<br />
  
⚫
Jiggs McDonald
  
⚫
|Gerry Cheevers<br />
  
−
'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />
  
⚫
Dale Tallon<br />
  
−
Herb Brooks
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Blackhawks–Blues rivalry|St. Louis-Chicago]]
  
|[[Blackhawks–Blues rivalry|St. Louis-Chicago]]
  ⚫
|'''[[Pat Foley]]'''
−
|Rick Peckham<br />
  
  ⚫
|'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
−
Mike Emrick<br />
  
⚫
'''[[Pat Foley]]'''<br />
  
−
Jiggs McDonald
  
−
|Gerry Cheevers<br />
  
−
Bill Clement<br />
  
−
'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''<br />
  
−
Herb Brooks
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|Calgary-Los Angeles
  
|Calgary-Los Angeles
  ⚫
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
−
|Rick Peckham<br />
  
  ⚫
|'''[[Herb Brooks]]'''
−
Mike Emrick<br />
  
−
Pat Foley<br />
  
−
'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Herb Brooks]]'''
  
−
|Gerry Cheevers<br />
  
−
Bill Clement<br />
  
−
Dale Tallon<br />
  
−
'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Herb Brooks]]'''
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
| rowspan="4" |1990
  
| rowspan="4" |1990
 
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Boston-Montreal]] (Games 1–2 aired on tape delay)
  
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Boston-Montreal]] (Games 1–2 aired on tape delay)
−
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />Rick Peckham<br />Pat Foley<br />Jiggs McDonald
 +
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]'''
−
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />Dave Maloney<br />Dale Tallon<br />Ed Westfall
 +
|'''[[Bill Clement]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Capitals–Rangers rivalry|New York Rangers-Washington]] (Games 3–5 aired on tape delay)
  
|[[Capitals–Rangers rivalry|New York Rangers-Washington]] (Games 3–5 aired on tape delay)
−
|Mike Emrick<br />'''[[Rick Peckham]]'''<br />Pat Foley<br />Jiggs McDonald
 +
|'''[[Rick Peckham]]'''
  +
|'''[[Dave Maloney]]'''
−
|Bill Clement<br />'''[[Gerry Cheevers]]''' and '''[[Dave Maloney]]'''<br />Bill Clement<br />Dale Tallon<br />Ed Westfall
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Blackhawks–Blues rivalry|Chicago-St. Louis]]
  
|[[Blackhawks–Blues rivalry|Chicago-St. Louis]]
−
|Mike Emrick<br />Rick Peckham<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]'''<br />Jiggs McDonald
 +
|'''[[Pat Foley]]'''
−
|Bill Clement<br />Dave Maloney<br />'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''<br />Ed Westfall
 +
|'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
|Edmonton-Los Angeles (joined-in-progress)
  
|Edmonton-Los Angeles (joined-in-progress)
−
|Mike Emrick<br />Rick Peckham<br />Rick Peckham<br />Pat Foley<br />'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Ed Westfall]]'''
 +
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
−
|Bill Clement<br />Dave Maloney<br />Dale Tallon<br />'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Ed Westfall]]'''
 +
|'''[[Ed Westfall]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
| rowspan="4" |1991
  
| rowspan="4" |1991
 
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Boston-Montreal]]
  
|[[Bruins–Canadiens rivalry|Boston-Montreal]]
  ⚫
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
−
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''', '''[[Bill Clement]]''', and '''[[John Davidson]]'''<br />Rick Peckham<br />Mike Emrick<br />Pat Foley
  
  +
|'''[[John Davidson]]'''
−
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''', '''[[Bill Clement]]''', and '''[[John Davidson]]'''<br />Gerry Cheevers<br />Bill Clement<br />Dale Tallon
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Capitals–Penguins rivalry|Pittsburgh-Washington]] (taped delay)
  
|[[Capitals–Penguins rivalry|Pittsburgh-Washington]] (taped delay)
−
|Jiggs McDonald<br />'''[[Rick Peckham]]''' and '''[[Gerry Cheevers]]'''<br />Mike Emrick<br />Pat Foley
 +
|'''[[Rick Peckham]]'''
−
|John Davidson<br />'''[[Rick Peckham]]''' and '''[[Gerry Cheevers]]'''<br />Bill Clement<br />Dale Tallon
 +
|'''[[Gerry Cheevers]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
|St. Louis-Minnesota
  
|St. Louis-Minnesota
−
|Jiggs McDonald<br />Rick Peckham<br />'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />Pat Foley
 +
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]'''
−
|John Davidson<br />Gerry Cheevers<br />'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''<br />Dale Tallon
 +
|'''[[Bill Clement]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
|Los Angeles-Edmonton (joined-in-progress)
  
|Los Angeles-Edmonton (joined-in-progress)
  ⚫
|'''[[Pat Foley]]'''
−
|Jiggs McDonald<br />Rick Peckham<br />Mike Emrick<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]''' and '''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
  
−
|John Davidson<br />Gerry Cheevers<br />Bill Clement<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]''' and '''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
 +
|'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
| rowspan="4" |1992
  
| rowspan="4" |1992
Line 134: Line 110:
 
|-
  
|-
 
|New York Rangers-Pittsburgh (Game 1 was joined-in-progress)
  
|New York Rangers-Pittsburgh (Game 1 was joined-in-progress)
−
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Ed Westfall]]'''<br />
 +
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
  ⚫
|'''[[Ed Westfall]]'''
−
Bob Cole<br />
  
−
Pat Foley<br />
  
−
Chris Cuthbert (Games 1-4) and Pat Foley (Games 5-6)
  
−
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]''' and '''[[Ed Westfall]]'''<br />
  
−
John Garrett and Dick Irvin Jr.<br />
  
−
Dale Tallon<br />
  
−
Harry Neale (Games 1-4) and Dale Tallon (Games 5-6)
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|[[Blackhawks–Red Wings rivalry|Detroit-Chicago]]
  
|[[Blackhawks–Red Wings rivalry|Detroit-Chicago]]
  ⚫
|'''[[Pat Foley]]'''
−
|Jiggs McDonald<br />
  
  ⚫
|'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''
−
Bob Cole<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]'''<br />Chris Cuthbert (Games 1–4)<br />Pat Foley (Games 5–6)
  
⚫
|Ed Westfall<br />
  
−
John Garrett and Dick Irvin Jr.<br />'''[[Dale Tallon]]'''<br />Harry Neale (Games 1-4)<br />Dale Tallon (Games 5-6)
  
 
|-
  
|-
 
|Vancouver-Edmonton (Games 1–4 used CBC's feed; Games 3–4 were joined-in-progress)
  
|Vancouver-Edmonton (Games 1–4 used CBC's feed; Games 3–4 were joined-in-progress)
−
|'''[[Chris Cuthbert]]''' (Games 1–4)<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]''' (Games 5–6)
 +
|'''[[Chris Cuthbert]]''' (Games 1–4)<br />'''[[Pat Foley]]''' (Games 5–6)
−
|'''[[Harry Neale]]''' (Games 1-4)<br />'''[[Dale Tallon]]''' (Games 5-6)
 +
|'''[[Harry Neale]]''' (Games 1–4)<br />'''[[Dale Tallon]]''' (Games 5–6)
 
|}
  
|}
   
Line 183: Line 151:
 
|Boston-Pittsburgh
  
|Boston-Pittsburgh
 
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
  
|'''[[Jiggs McDonald]]'''
−
|'''[[Bill Clement]]''' and '''[[John Davidson]]'''
 +
|'''[[John Davidson]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
|Edmonton-Minnesota
  
|Edmonton-Minnesota
−
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''
 +
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]'''
−
|'''[[Mike Emrick]]''' and '''[[Bill Clement]]'''
 +
|'''[[Bill Clement]]'''
 
|-
  
|-
 
| rowspan="2" |1992
  
| rowspan="2" |1992

Revision as of 16:25, 4 January 2020

NHL on SportsChannel America was the presentation of NHL broadcasts on the now defunct SportsChannel America cable television network.

Terms of the Deal

Taking over for ESPN, SportsChannel's contract paid $51 million ($17 million per year) over 3 years, more than double what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for the previous 3 years SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season for just $5 million.

SportsChannel's Availability

Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN did at the time. SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households. In comparison, by the 1991–92 season, ESPN was available in 60.5 million homes whereas SportsChannel America was available in only 25 million.

As a matter of fact, in the first year of the deal (1988–1989), SportsChannel America was available in only 7 million homes when compared to ESPN's reach of 50 million. When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the league returned to ESPN for another contract that would pay $80 million over 5 years.

SportsChannel America took advantage of using their regional sports networks' feed of a game, graphics and all, instead of producing a show from the ground up, most of the time. Distribution of SportsChannel America across the country was limited to cities that had a SportsChannel regional sports network or affiliate. Very few cable systems in non-NHL territories picked it up as a stand alone service. Regional affiliates of the Prime Network would sometimes pick up SportsChannel broadcasts, but this was often only during the playoffs. SportsChannel America also did not broadcast 24 hours a day at first, usually on by 6 p.m. and off by 1 or 2 a.m., then a sport sticker for the next 18 hours.

Philadelphia

Since SportsChannel Philadelphia did not air until January of 1990, PRISM (owned by Rainbow Media (the owners of SportsChannel at the time) picked up the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals. Other than that, there was no NHL television coverage in Philadelphia except for the Flyers for the first half of the original deal.

Lawsuit

As previously mentioned, the NHL would return to ESPN following the 1991-92 season. Shortly after the ESPN deal was signed, SportsChannel America would contend that its contract with the NHL gave them the right to match third-party offers for television rights for the 1992–93 season. SportsChannel America accused the NHL of violating a nonbinding clause. SportsChannel America argued that it had been deprived of its contractual right of first refusal for the 1992–93 season. Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court justice Shirley Fingerwood would deny SportsChannel America's request for an injunction against the NHL. Upholding that opinion, the appellate court found the agreement on which SportsChannel based its argument to be "too imprecise and ambiguous" and ruled that SportsChannel failed to show irreparable harm.

In the aftermath of losing the NHL, SportsChannel America was left with little more than outdoors shows and Canadian Football League games. For SportsChannel, the deal was a disaster overall. While the cable channel three years later, was available in 20 million homes (as previously mentioned), the broadcaster lost as much as $10 million on the agreement, and soon faded into obscurity.[14] Some local SportsChannel stations – which carried NHL games in their local markets – were not affected.

Coverage Overview

Regular Season Coverage

SportsChannel America would televise about 80–100 games a season (whereas ESPN aired about 33 in the 1987–88 season). Whereas the previous deal with ESPN called for only 1 nationally televised game a week, SportsChannel America televised hockey 2 nights a week in NHL cities and 3 nights a week elsewhere.

It was very rare to have a regular-season game on SportsChannel America that wasn't a regional SportsChannel production from Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, or Philadelphia Flyers. San Jose Sharks were added in 1991-92. As previously suggested, SportsChannel America for the most part, used the local telecasts. The dedicated SportsChannel America station was little more than an overflow channel in New York area for SportsChannel New York.

Special programming

In 1989, SportsChannel America provided the first ever American coverage of the NHL Draft. In September 1989, SportsChannel America covered the Washington Capitals' training camp in Sweden and pre-season tour of the Soviet Union. The Capitals were joined by the Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames, who held training camp in Prague, Czechoslovakia and then ventured to the Soviet Union. Each team played four games against Soviet National League clubs. Games were played in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Riga. The NHL clubs finished with a combined 6–2 record against the top Soviet teams, including the Red Army club and Dynamo Moscow. Five of the eight contests were televised by SportsChannel America.

All-Star Game coverage

SportsChannel America was the exclusive American broadcaster of the 1989 All-Star Game. The following year, they covered the first ever NHL Skills Competition and Heroes of Hockey game. SportsChannel America would continue their coverage of these particular events through 1992. In 1991, SportsChannel America replayed the third period of the All-Star Game on the same day that it was played. That was because NBC broke away from the live telecast during the third period in favor of Gulf War coverage.

Year Play-by-play Color commentator Ice level reporters Studio host Studio analysts
1989 Jiggs McDonald Scotty Bowman Gary Thorne Denis Potvin and Herb Brooks

Stanley Cup playoffs

Divisional finals
Year Teams Play-by-play Color commentator(s)
1989 Montreal-Boston Rick Peckham Gerry Cheevers
Pittsburgh-Philadelphia (Games 1–5 aired on tape delay) Mike Emrick Bill Clement
St. Louis-Chicago Pat Foley Dale Tallon
Calgary-Los Angeles Jiggs McDonald Herb Brooks
1990 Boston-Montreal (Games 1–2 aired on tape delay) Mike Emrick Bill Clement
New York Rangers-Washington (Games 3–5 aired on tape delay) Rick Peckham Dave Maloney
Chicago-St. Louis Pat Foley Dale Tallon
Edmonton-Los Angeles (joined-in-progress) Jiggs McDonald Ed Westfall
1991 Boston-Montreal Jiggs McDonald John Davidson
Pittsburgh-Washington (taped delay) Rick Peckham Gerry Cheevers
St. Louis-Minnesota Mike Emrick Bill Clement
Los Angeles-Edmonton (joined-in-progress) Pat Foley Dale Tallon
1992 Montreal-Boston (Games 1–4 used CBC's feed; Game 1 was joined-in-progress) Bob Cole John Garrett and Dick Irvin, Jr.
New York Rangers-Pittsburgh (Game 1 was joined-in-progress) Jiggs McDonald Ed Westfall
Detroit-Chicago Pat Foley Dale Tallon
Vancouver-Edmonton (Games 1–4 used CBC's feed; Games 3–4 were joined-in-progress) Chris Cuthbert (Games 1–4)
Pat Foley (Games 5–6) 		Harry Neale (Games 1–4)
Dale Tallon (Games 5–6)
Conference finals

See also: NHL Conference Finals

Year Teams Play-by-play Color commentator
1989 Montreal-Philadelphia Mike Emrick Bill Clement
Calgary-Chicago Jiggs McDonald Herb Brooks
1990 Boston-Washington Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement
Edmonton-Chicago Pat Foley Dale Tallon
1991 Boston-Pittsburgh Jiggs McDonald John Davidson
Edmonton-Minnesota Mike Emrick Bill Clement
1992 Pittsburgh-Boston Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement
Chicago-Edmonton Pat Foley Dale Tallon
Stanley Cup Finals
Year Teams Play-by-play Color commentator Studio host Studio analyst Ice-level reporter
1989 Calgary-Montreal Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement Mike Emrick Herb Brooks
1990 Boston-Edmonton Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement Mike Emrick John Davidson
1991 Pittsburgh-Minnesota Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement Mike Emrick John Davidson
1992 Pittsburgh-Chicago Jiggs McDonald Bill Clement Mike Emrick John Davidson

Production

A fair amount of times in their first season, they would use their own production services for games, but very rarely would this sort of practice occur in the last 3 seasons. Since programming was so sparse otherwise on SportsChannel America, usually the games were replayed immediately following the live telecast.

For playoff coverage, if any of the aforementioned teams made the playoffs, SportsChannel America would focus on those teams, using their facilities. For example, SportsChannel Chicago produced the SportsChannel America coverage for the Blackhawks' 1990 playoff run. Because of Hawks owner Bill Wirtz's disdain for free and basic cable home telecasts of his games, the road games were shown in Chicago, with the home games only given short live look-ins as "bonus coverage". The same occurrence happened in 1992 only this time, Blackhawks' home games were broadcast on a pay-per-view basis via "Hawkvision" Sometimes, they would use the CBC feed for other series (Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens series, for example). For the Stanley Cup Finals, SportsChannel America use their own facilities. They also use their own facilities for any Conference Final series that did not involve one of SportsChannel's regional teams.

John Shannon was the senior producer of The NHL on SportsChannel America.

Announcers

For the Stanley Cup Finals, Jiggs McDonald served as play-by-play, Bill Clement served as the color commentator. Also during the Stanley Cup Finals, Mike Emrick served as the studio host, and John Davidson served as rinkside and studio analyst (Herb Brooks filled into that role in 1989).

Play-by-play

Color commentators

Ice level personalities

Studio personalities

Commentating crews

See also

Chicago Blackhawks seasons

  • 1988–89 Chicago Blackhawks season
  • 1989–90 Chicago Blackhawks season
  • 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season
  • 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks season

Hartford Whalers seasons

  • 1988–89 Hartford Whalers season
  • 1989–90 Hartford Whalers season
  • 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season
  • 1991–92 Hartford Whalers season

New York Islanders seasons

  • 1988–89 New York Islanders season
  • 1989–90 New York Islanders season
  • 1990–91 New York Islanders season
  • 1991–92 New York Islanders season

New Jersey Devils seasons

  • 1988–89 New Jersey Devils season
  • 1989–90 New Jersey Devils season
  • 1990–91 New Jersey Devils season
  • 1991–92 New Jersey Devils season

San Jose Sharks seasons

  • 1991–92 San Jose Sharks season

See also

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