Amazon Prime Monday Night Hockey

The first game of Monday Night Hockey aired October 14. 2024 with Montreal Canadiens versus Pittsburgh Penguins on Amazon Prime. The site is subscription only so only those with an Amazon Prime membership can watch. For further clarification, these games are only seen in Canada because Rogers (which holds thee rights) has sold two years of Monday games to them. In the first game the Penguins took Canadiens 6-3. 

Amazon Prime has various business interests in streaming in addition to their massive online and bricks and mortar retail platform. Prime has been has been making exclusive content on their streaming channel but it is sports that draws in the big live audiences.

Amazon, like YouTube and Netflix, has been broadcasting a game a week on their platforms. It is less noticeable in Canada because CTV has the NFL rights and we get Prime, CBC, NBC and ABC games on regular CTV channels and TSN cable. This could change in the next TV and streaming deal with the NFL if the streamers insist on world-wide rights on their platforms only. This could lead to charges of antitrust.

It would seem the NHL wants to have streamers pay big money but everyone knows if a deal goes to just one broadcaster, it could lead to government breaking up a monopoly. Rogers buying national rights in Canada to squeeze out CBC and TSN might have been disallowed if it wasn't for regional broadcast rights being owned by TSN in major markets as well as Rogers using CBC and CityTV to further the reach of their broadcasts.

Mark Messier is easily the most recognized of the broadcast team. With six Stanley Cups, he is known on both sides of the border. It is hard not to think this is an audition for more Amazon broadcasts targeting the U.S. for the NHL. The amount of American talent on the broadcast makes you think Amazon is setting up for a long future. Play by play is being called by present say Seattle Kraken play caller John Forslund. He has been in American hockey broadcast since the 1990s and is a well known and recognized voice in the booth. Colour commentary comes from a series of broadcasters breaking a way from their other duties around the league. Blake Bolden, American, former NCAA and women's professional leagues and pro scout for Los Angeles Kings. Jody Shelly from Manitoba/Nova Scotia. A former enforcer in the NHL, he became a broadcaster with Columbus Blue Jackets. Shane Hnidy, another Manitoba, former NHLer and former much beloved colour analyst for Jets. Working for Golden Knights and TNT as analyst.  Thomas Hickey, Canadian, former NHL defencemen for the Islanders and colour analyst for the team with MSG Network.

I'm assuming that Shane Hnidy gets the call for the Amazon Prime broadcast in Winnipeg in two weeks against the Leafs. I expect it will quite the experience. The Montreal broadcast had Amazon crews all over the place shooting the city and the fans. Comments from Montreal fans was that broadcast was very high quality. Some camera work was not seen in broadcasts done elsewhere. One observation was that the commentary was simplistic and focused on the game rather than the league as well. They did have Gary Bettman there but it was not quite a state of the league address but more a welcome to Amazon.

The pre-game production was about an hour before the game. It consisted of American host Adnan Virk of ESPN introducing the game. The rest of the panel was Blake Boldren and Mark Messier with guest Bettman. The other co-host, Canadian Andi Petrillo, a long time analyst for CBC and Hockey Night in Canada, handled all the interviews except Bettman's.

Andi Petrillo will host a Thursday program called Coast to Coast on Prime. The NHL has a production hub in Secaucus, New Jersey and Petrillo will often use the studio there if she isn't doing it on location in various Canadian cities. Meadowlands sports centers are there and it across from Manhattan.

Amazon Prime is also producing a docu-series Face-Off Inside the NHL which will looks at the inside story with players and teams. So far it has been compelling TV. There are also some other NHL series on the streamer.

Last year Amazon Prime had just under 12 million average for Thursday Night Football. Not bad numbers considering some of the games were not exactly best of the week. In fact, some were calling it trash football. Next year Amazon Prime will have NBA games broadcast. It is unclear if it is for all of North America.

The Amazon in Canada won't feel like trash games to Canadians. Anytime two Canadian teams face off will get a TV crowd. The Leaf and Jets game will see a lot of viewers. The Winnipeg game is going to have huge excitement to it and could see a rise of Prime subscriptions or more people going to bars where it is playing. 

The who issue of subscriptions is a big deal. The next NHL deal is likely to have several aspects to it. It will be shorter, have regular broadcasters and cable but it could also be multiple streamers. People forget that the return of the Jets meant seeing games on a single cable channel TSN 3 and paying quite a bit for it. Imagine having to do that for several subscriptions. It could grow to prices that led people to cut cable.

Quebec: NHL Team First?

There is a newly released poll that states that today's NHL players support the return of a team to Quebec City.

I'm not quite sure of the the breakdown nor were any questions asked to about why the city was chosen.

In recent months there has been rumblings in politics and on the part of the NHL about Quebec City getting finances for a new arena as well as a team. I think some sort of announcement is likely to come soon on the arena. They will have to wait a bit longer on a team.

So how does this affect Winnipeg's chances? Well, it should be noted that the players don't choose the cities they play in. They go where there are facilities and where there is a ownership group willing to pay their generous salaries.

Winnipeg has both a facility and an ownership group ready to go. If the Phoenix Coyotes fail to go this year, they are likely to be knocking on Winnipeg's door very soon.

It is possible that the NHL will try and operate the team one more year as a league venture but that whole idea probably doesn't sit well with some of the governors.

In the end, Quebec City might get a posher arena than what Winnipeg has right now but with teams looking to bail pronto, it won't come soon enough. Winnipeg will probably get a team first.

Toews Lake

Cpl. Michael James Alexander Seggie.

There has been some controversy regarding the quick naming of a lake to honour Jonathan Toews for his Stanley Cup win.

While the province seemed quick to have politicians give out the honour, they are no where to be found now. Chief of protocol Dwight MacAulay is out there taking the heat from the family of Cpl. Michael James Alexander Seggie who are questioning why they have to wait so long to receive a similar honour.

McCawley on CBC Radio's morning program explained there was no double standard in giving Toews the award and said that the fallen soldiers will be honoured. However, he admitted the families had not been contacted about it. There was some confusion as to how long families have to wait for a geographical landmark to be named with the Free Press saying three years and McCawley saying five years on the radio. However, McCawley says the province is not bound by that timeframe.

McCawley went on to say on radio that he wished the families had come to him about what was going on before this controversy started. He backtracked though and said the province should have gone to the families instead and told them when honours were planned.

One interesting note was that McCawley said he doesn't know exactly how Toews came to be chosen quickly for a lake naming. He said he was "in the room." Think that was his way of saying the decision was made at the political level.

My thoughts on this: I have no problems with naming a lake after a sports hero. The problem I have is that the families of soldiers were not told when their sons and daughters would receive their honours. It looks bad and looks even worse when the politicians steer a civil servant out to explain that there is no fast track when it is obvious there is.

Greg Selinger is where the buck stops with this one and he should have called the families. Bad form.



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