Lets be honest, NBC is bad for hockey. The way they handle the sport is a travesty. Complete lack of promotion from a network whos ratings sit somewhere around the CW. I understand that ABC dropped the NHL during the lockout, but lets be honest, that was 6 years ago. ABC is clearly the best of the cable networks when it comes to sports coverage. They own all 27 ESPN networks, and ABC itself often shows high profile sports events to the masses. There is no better way to get a sport to the masses than ESPN. Look at what has happened to college football since they have gotten the attention of ABC. It is now the second biggest sport in the US behind the NFL. Thus, whenever the current deal with NBC expires, the NHL really needs to make a move to join back with ABC. NBC seems to have the NHL and the sport of hockey in like 8th place on its priority list. I remember a few years back when a game went into overtime and eventually a shootout, but NBC felt the need to cut the broadcast in order to show a horse racing pre race show. And tonights USA Canada game. It was on the extremely covered network of MSNBC, while NBC showed ice dancing. Really?? This sport is basically shoved aside by NBC. And the only partner of NBC that the NHL is shown on is versus. Who watches versus, lets be honest. If you strike a deal with ABC, you have the potential to show games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN classic, MTV and a bunch of other disney run networks.

All in all, thanks for being the only network to pick us up after the lockout, but it is time to move on to bigger and better things...