The pain of a Flyers-Rangers game and more

The Canessa Commentary

By KEVIN CANESSA Jr.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — 

Haven’t written a column where I do snippets — small musings — about things going on in the NHL in a while. So here it goes.

• I must admit — there’s not much worse than when the Rangers play the Flyers. Before each game, I struggle. Who do I root for now that there aren’t ties anymore? And then, when the games begin, it becomes as apparent as it did when the Yankees played the Phillies in the 2009 World Series — I wind up rooting for Philly. 

And not just that, over the last few years, I’ve met some of the nicest people, who happen to be Flyers fans — Bill Scardefield, Marc Eisenberg, Skip Babinski, Tim Ronaldson, Bob Linnehan, the Wiz (though I am not sure he’s a full-fledged Flyers junkie). I’ve come to learn — and perhaps it’s just that I am getting older — that not all Flyers fans are dicks. Seriously.

• It’s very painful to see what’s happening in Glendale. My buddy, Bill Scardefield, says it’s about 95 percent certain the Yotes will be sold and will remain in Arizona. And yet, in Game 2 of the season, the fans haven’t exactly shown much concern for the team — about 8,300 showed up after selling out Opening Night.

For Bill’s sake — and the sake of the fans who do care (I generally hate seeing teams bolt one town for another … the exception being when Atlanta rightfully moved to Winnipeg) — I hope Arizona keeps its team. And yet, I can’t help but wonder — don’t kill me for this Vin Witel — whether the organization would be better suited, financially, moving to Seattle?

• Speaking of attendance, the league had a great first week. With a few exceptions — Florida, Buffalo (close), Phoenix, Long Island (close) — crowds were tremendous and full.

Hell, even our Devils sold out for the 14th-consecutive time. 

Steve Cangialosi, right, with Chico Resch.

• Having NHL Gamecenter allows me to watch our Devils with either the away broadcast, or the home broadcast. What I’ve noticed is Steve Cangialosi is starting to grow on me more in his second full season as play-by-play announcer. And, that MSG’s audio is far superior to any of the other regional sports networks, like Comcast, Fox Sports, etc. The sounds of the game are important — and MSG mics certainly pick up a lot — including a ton of stuff the FCC would probably prefer the mics didn’t catch.

• The Panthers are doing a great job trying to woo fans back after the lockout. They’re offering fans a chance to buy full-season tickets for just $7 a game — with parking to every game included and a free Panthers’ home jersey.

The Devils, meanwhile, are touting full-season tickets for “Just over $500 a seat.”

Some deal that is.

I’ve searched high and lo, and haven’t found a single worthy enticement for non-season ticket holders. And were I in New Jersey, I seriously doubt I’d even consider going to a game. 

At least back in 1995, there were $1 dogs at every home game.

Doesn’t appear that way this time.

I suppose that’s what happens when the demand for tickets is already high. The Devils have had crowds of 17,625 for both home games thus far.

• As much as I’ve been enjoying Gamecenter Live, the blackout restrictions are stupid — and should have been re-examined after the lockout.

If a game is on NBC Sports Network, it’s not available on Gamecenter. I understand that. But if a game is on NHL-N (US), it’s also blacked out. When you try to watch the game, this message appears: “Thus game is being broadcast on national television in your area and is not available in NHL Gamecenter Live at this time. Please tun in to the NHL Network to watch live.”

Thing is, it’s NOT on TV in my area.

AT&T U-verse hasn’t had NHL programming for over a year. And there’s been no indication it’ll be back anytime soon. Greedy sons of bitches — get a deal done already. Haven’t the fans suffered enough after this frigging lockout?

• Also heard the Devils-Flyers game was blacked out on DirecTV on Tuesday. It should not have been.

There’s been debate as to why — and it’s clearly human error.

In Philly, that game was being broadcast locally on CSN — and as such, it should have been blacked out only on NBCSN in the Philly Market. In North Jersey, NBC Sports had an exclusive window to show the game in the New York market. It should have been available everywhere in the market.

Someone at DirecTV didn’t realize the game was permitted to be shown in North Jersey, with the NBCSN feed. (MSG did not have broadcasting rights for this game).

And no one else seemed to realize this — including those who cover the team professionally.

Also saw people lamenting this might happen again next Flyers-Devils  game. It shouldn’t. NBCSN and Comcast (owners of the Flyers) can’t just arbitrarily say the game can’t be broadcast in North Jersey as some have suggested.

Thorne

• Speaking of NHL broadcasts, how Gary Thorne isn’t doing any kind of NHL broadcasting is mind-numbing. He was honestly the reason I became a Devils fan back in the late ‘80s. I loved his work with the Mets — and he made me want to watch hockey … he was that good. 

Having heard some of the guys who do play-by-play across the league on Gamecenter, it makes me wonder how some of them are doing games, and Thorne isn’t.

I’d hoped Lou Lamoriello would consider bringing him back when Doc Emrick retired from MSG-N. No such luck.

I’d also say the same for Bill Clemente. He still has a limited — very limited — role with the Flyers. But no solid national work. And yet, the likes of Mike Milbury and Barry Melrose are gainfully employed to talk hockey.

• Now that Scott Gomez is playing again — for San Jose — we can’t help but wonder: Will he score a goal?

• Speaking of San Jose — Patrick Marleau — this guy’s the very early MVP frontrunner. As I write this, he just scored his second goal v. Colorado — his fourth-straight two-goal game.

• In the past, Devils game always took precedence over Nets games. Not so far this year. Friday’s game was bumped from WFAN to Bloomberg 1130. I’m wondering if this is simply because of the change in schedule/shortened season?

• That’s all for now. Big one in Montreal tomorrow. Will be cool to see brother v. brother for what I think is the first time ever — when Stephen outplays his brother, Brian Gionta.