Dein erstes Forum » The Flames are 15-6-5 on the road

Hockey fans have often criticized NBC’s coverage for not showing more of the NHL’s young stars and the up-and-coming teams.That changes when the season opens Wednesday as the network goes with a new approach.NBCSN’s “Wednesday Night Rivalries” has been replaced by “Wednesday Night Hockey.” As part of the repackaging Authentic Justin Bailey Jersey , the network’s studio crew will occasionally report on site, starting on Wednesday from Washington when the Capitals begin defense of their title against Boston.“We’re now showcasing the brightest team and stars. We think it’s a great way to add new teams and stars to a big night,” NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood said. “The intent on Wednesday nights has always been to make it the destination night for hockey. Now we can really take advantage of that.”Much like the NBA does on Thursdays, the NHL has tried to make Wednesday its night for must-see TV.Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer, said “Wednesday Night Rivalries” proved how special that night can be for the league.“We’re going to make Wednesday night feel special and we want our players to once we get into this to say, ‘Wow, we’re playing on Wednesday night.’ We know that in football, for example, playing on ‘Monday Night Football’ is a big deal,” Mayer said. “Well, why can’t playing on Wednesday night hockey be a big deal? And that’s what we’re striving for.”The biggest beneficiaries of the change are the Western Conference teams. NBCSN will air 18 doubleheaders on Wednesday nights — up from five last season — and 67 of the scheduled 110 games on NBC and NBCSN will have a team from the conference.Winnipeg, which has not made a regular-season national appearance since 2014, will make five this season, including an Oct. 24 game against Toronto that will see NBCSN’s studio show going on the road.NBC’s Mike Emrick said the Jets are one of many teams that deserve the increased exposure.“That matchup could be a Stanley Cup final. There is going to be plenty of excitement with that game early in the season Kyle Okposo Jersey ,” he said.Other teams receiving increased exposure are Tampa Bay and Nashville. Both teams will make 12 appearances, which is almost double what they had last season. Defending Western Conference champion Vegas (9), Anaheim (8) and Edmonton (7) also have nearly twice as many appearances as last season.Colorado, which was on only once last year, will be on six times.“We feel it’s time and vital that, given the parity of the league throughout, that we start to develop other teams,” Mayer said. “If suddenly the Nashvilles and the Tampas and some teams that haven’t had the grand exposure get exposure, what’s to say that they’re not going to be the higher-rated teams? … We really believe that our audience is into great hockey played by the best teams and the way we present the games and the stars will lead to great ratings.”The traditional teams will still get plenty of exposure. Chicago will have the most appearances with 19 despite not making the playoffs last season. One of those games will be the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium on Jan. 1 against Boston. Washington will make the first of its 18 appearances followed by Philadelphia (17) and Pittsburgh (15).The only teams not scheduled to appear on NBCSN are Ottawa and Vancouver.“Certainly from a kind of talent standpoint, a competitive standpoint, showing more clubs is better,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. “The fact that NBC is prepared to engage on that basis where we don’t necessarily have to have major U.S. markets for their national games says a lot about how far we’ve come as a sport.”The All-Star Game, which will be held in San Jose on Jan. 26, will be broadcast in prime time on NBC, which is the first time that has happened on a major broadcast network since 1997.Flood thinks the three-on-three format could draw even more fans. It also will be the week before the Super Bowl http://www.officialsabres.com/authentic-adidas-rasmus-ristolainen-jersey , which should allow the league to reap increased exposure.The league is also focusing on improving its digital offerings through its deal with BAMTech, which began as a spinoff of Major League Baseball Advanced Media before becoming its own entity. The Walt Disney Co. took a controlling stake in BAMTech in 2017.The NHL.TV offering will include more pregame and postgame coverage, as well as being able to view programming during intermission, after deals were made with team broadcasting partners.ESPN hasn’t aired the NHL since 2004 on any of its channels but will have nine games a week on its ESPN streaming service starting this season. ESPN , which launched in April and just crossed over a million subscribers, had at least one baseball game a day. ESPN will also air a nightly hockey show.“We know there is a big opportunity to grow the subscriber base with both products,” said Disney Streaming President Michael Paull. “One thing we learned is that fans want more video. They want more coverage before and after the games.” NEW YORK (AP) Henrik Lundqvist raised his arms in a game-ending celebration as if it were playoff series clincher. It likely felt that way for the New York goalie as the Rangers snapped a brutal four-game losing streak.Lundqvist made 28 saves in relief of Ondrej Pavelec, who injured his knee during the first period of an eventual 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.Lundqvist replaced Pavelec to start the second and made 19 saves that period then stopped all nine shots in the third to secure the win, his team’s first since Jan. 25 at San Jose before the All-Star break. It was most saves Lundqvist ever made in a relief appearance.”We’ve been losing a lot of one-goal games, which means we are one play away, we are one save away, one goal away from getting points,” said Lundqvist, who won in relief for the third time in his 13-year career with the Rangers. ”Tonight we got that goal, we got that save in the end to keep the lead.”Mika Zibanejad scored the go-ahead goal on a power play at 12:41 of the third period off a cross-ice pass from J.T. Miller. It was Zibanejad’s 16th goal of the season.The Rangers ended Calgary’s three-game winning streak. New York had lost 10 of its last 13 games to fall out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.Rangers forward Rick Nash www.blackhawksshoponline.com , likely to be traded by the Feb. 26 deadline because of his expiring contract, tied it at 3 at 6:41 of the third with his 17th goal of the season. Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes also scored.Matthew Tkachuk put Calgary ahead 3-2 with his 18th goal of the season at 18:27 of the second on a power play. Brett Kulak had his first NHL goal, and Curtis Lazar also scored for the Flames.The Flames (28-19-8) had won the first two games of their six-game trip, beating New Jersey 3-2 on Thursday night. Their coach Glen Gulutzan was not happy with his team’s performance especially seeing his team outshot 20-8 in the first period.”Just the way we played and the way we approached the game. I thought we were terrible in the first and took way too many penalties,” he said. ”We got what we deserved. We weren’t ready to play.”Grabner put the Rangers ahead 2-1 at 11:52 of the second when the puck deflected off Calgary defenseman Giordano and went past goalie Mike Smith. Grabner has a team-high 22 goals.Lazar quickly tied the contest for the Flames with his first of the season at 12:37, nudging the puck past Lundqvist when the goaltender went for a poke check attempt.Hayes opened the scoring for the Rangers, knocking in a rebound on the power-play at 7:53 of the first period.The Rangers (26-24-5) seemed to come out with relieved purpose a day after the organization released a letter to fans asking them to bear with a potential rebuild ahead with the league’s trade deadline looming in just over two weeks.Vigneault said he still believes his squad can make the playoffs – though the roster he will be working with remains to be determined.”If I were a player, I would be looking at the standings, seeing that we’re three points out of the playoffs. You can be sure I’d be coming ready, coming out and working hard,” he said. ”I think that’s what we’ve been doing.”Nash figures to be the most prominent player to depart since his contract is expiring. The 33-year-old forward needs two points to reach 800 in his NHL career. He scored a career-high 42 goals for the Rangers three seasons ago.Even though the Rangers outshot the Flames so widely in the opening period, Calgary still managed the tie the contest at 1 when Kulak scored his first NHL goal at 18:15.Vigneaul said Pavelec would be evaluated on Saturday and any roster decisions would be determined before the team leaves for Winnipeg and the start of a four-game trip.With Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh out against the Flames with an upper body injury, two defensemen made their debuts for the Rangers – Neal Pionk and John Gilmour. Both were recalled from AHL Hartford.NOTES: The Rangers have won six straight at home against Calgary . The teams meet again on March 2 in Calgary. … The Rangers also continued to be without injured defensemen Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk as well as forwards Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey . The Flames are 15-6-5 on the road.UP NEXT:Flames: At New York Islanders on Sunday night.Rangers: At Winnipeg on Sunday.