Canada's CBC Pulls An "NBC"

I know it's a few days late, but this is the most surprising thing that I have read all day. This TV-stations-giving-hockey-a-run-around stuff doesn't seem to die, either. Chances are you remember that little gem of a programming flaw that NBC had Saturday during Game five of the Western Conference Final. As SI's Alan Muir found out, our friends north of the border had similar problems during Game six on Sunday. It turns out that the first two periods of the game were not shown in the province of Manitoba (home of Anna Paquin, pictured right, who played 'Rogue' in all those X-Men movies). Instead, viewers were greeted with coverage of the upcoming provincial election. The game was televised throughout Canada during the third period, and would have stayed on the air in the event there was overtime. Maybe it's because I wasn't directly affected by this, or it's the fact that elections are ever so slightly more important than legalized gambling/animal cruelty, but I just can't seem to get very riled up about this one. I think it's probably because I already used up all my anger on NBC. My feelings aside, I'm sure there were quite a few people ticked off about this north of the border. Hockey is after all, the national pastime up there. Just like you wouldn't cut off a New Yorker in traffic, you certainly do not take away hockey from a Canadian. I'll be honest, the people over at CBC can do their jobs however they choose, but they should be more careful about whose hockey they preempt.

Don't let the dress fool you. She's a ruthless killing machine. Lucas Jackson/REUTERS

A friendly word of advice; I'm not so sure if it's a good idea to take the risk of making the X-Men mad. That Beast character is one thing, but Rogue can kill a person just by touching them. It might be me, but I wouldn't mess with someone who has that kind of power. It's possible that this argument is moot because she hates hockey and doesn't care at all that Sunday's game was preempted, but the folks at CBC should still be careful. In a life or death matter, it's better to be safe than sorry.

There you have it, folks. Probably one of the worst weeks ever for trying watch a hockey game on television. Not only does NBC want to remind American hockey fans their sport is less popular than horses running in circles, CBC is trying to piss off fans of their country's national pastime. Now that's marketing! That's how you bring back fans after a lockout!