George Bodenheimer, President of ESPN and ABC Sports, informed the NHL last night that they would not match Comcast's offer. Its a 2 year contract, which can be extended up to 6 more years. Most of the games will be shown on OLN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2137098

OLN? HAHA what a joke. I hope this isnt the downfall for the NHL

NHL, and indoor sport is being broadcast on The Outdoor Life Network.

Downfall my you know what, ESPN is probably ****ed they didn't renew now. I don't care what anyone says, there is a buzz about the NHL again. People will want to come to games, especially when Pittsburgh rolls into town. All the teams are damn near equal, this will be the best season in a long time.

whats an NHL?

Stop reading my mind! Seriously, it's getting weird now

maybe i missed something, pens will still be the same...

too bad for espn, but i won't miss it, their commentary was horrible.

ESPN had the option to match any offer made by any network but they decided not to. I dont think theyre ****ed at all. It's too bad that the only way to watch hockey in America, besides some local stations (if they still are allowed to show games) is twice a week on the Outdoor Life Channel.... seriously. Thats like watching Home Makeovers on ESPN.

ESPN got crap ratings for NHL games, and like Bayrider said, they were given the option to match the offer and had a good while to think over it. Then again, though, they only plugged the games in on ESPN2 mostly (and even then it was rare to see an NHL game), so I can't say I'm sad -- now I'll actually be able to watch the games. I doubt most fans who aren't exactly hardcore feel the same way, though.

well hopefully ratings are above what Comcast expects and they televise more games or create a new station strictly for sports/hockey. U never know, this lockout wasn't for nothing so there may be a positive to it. I sure as hell hope so.

And as for reading ur mind Scorpio, i think they say that great minds think alike, fortunately we can both agree that the habs rule

i can see it now...

Comimg up:
6:00 - Suvivorman
7:00PM - NHL - Detroit vs. Colorado
9:00PM - Pilot Guides
10:00PM - Suvivorman

from that, it doesn't fit...

what the hell....i don't think i get the OLN channel. and i don't have comcast. (i'm in the US) so what options does that leave me? nothing?

Um, Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux? Id say you missed something...

to my surprise, i actually get this channel.. i never knew

I've also read a report that OLN will have 58 exclusive Hi-Def games on their new OLN HD channel!

BroChaos, OLN is carried by DirecTV.

The first game will be on 10/5 and it will be the Rangers vs Flyers

To find out if OLN is available in your area: http://www.olntv.com/article/view/743/?tf=footerArticles.tpl

Hopefully OLN puts some life into the broadcasts. Most US markets have never had a product to compare with HNIC (except for the northern border cities).

I'm kind of wondering who they're going to get to commentate the games... I still have a lot of doubts.

im sure in canada CBC will still be doing hockey night in canada.

well crap, i have dishnetwork. i just scrolled through all my channels and didn't see it... man this sucks.

Yes, we are talking about the US broadcasts.

Satellite: 110
Channel: 151
Transponder: 1

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/program...sp?NetwID=50357

OLN eh, suprisingly, on my time warner that is a normal analog service channel for me! It's on channel 74.

Outdoor Life Network Canada is also analog for me on Rogers. I don't think they'll simulcast the US games up here though. In Canada, OLN is owned by TSN.

http://www.tsn.ca/oln/

i am in the same boat man... lets see what CRAPcast can do with the NHL. Hopefully it wont become the next G4

There will be live vid streaming for games too.

Let the downfall of the NHL begin.

You're a bit late on the NHL apocalypse bandwagon... most people joined back when the lockout began.

I just ordered digital cable from cablevision and added the sports pack which luckily includes OLN. I'll definitely give it a chance but I'll have to see the product on the ice and decide whether to stick with it or not. Plus, I'd still get the Rangers MSG Network but I don't expect them to do much of anything.

I only hope this means hockey being played on ponds otherwise it doesn't make sense.

I actually watch OLN quite a bit. (compared to other channels. I really don't watch tv).

I must say though, i've watched the occasional game on fox and abc over the years.
Just awful. Just awful. I hate the dinks at cbc commentating but down there it's like
they're calling a football game. They haven't a clue.