Your memories of the NHL on Sportschannel America 1988-1992?

[Mike Martin]

From Wikipedia:

Taking over for ESPN in 1988-1989 SportsChannel's contract paid $51 million over three years, more than double what ESPN had paid for the previous three years. SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season for just $5 million.

Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets, and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN did at the time. SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households. In comparison, by the 1991–92 season, ESPN was available in 60.5 million homes whereas SportsChannel America was available in only 25 million. As a matter of fact, in the first year of the deal (1988–89), SportsChannel America was available in only 7 million homes when compared to ESPN's reach of 50 million. When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the NHL returned to ESPN for another contract that would pay $80 million over five years.

What I liked about Sportschannel America's NHL games was that they used the announcers for each team. Therefore, you could watch a Chicago Away game announced by Pat Foley and Dale Tallon and it felt like you were living in Chicago although at the time I lived in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously with ESPN coverage you had the same announcers each week announcing for teams that were usually not their own which felt less personal.

And who can forget the Sportschannel America network tag "You're watching Sportschannel America" in which the guy sounded like a Decepticon from the Transformers?

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[Normand Lacombe]

That was a good thing about Sports Channel, the home team announcers. Living in Philly at the time, it was my first exposure to other team's announcers. Jiggs McDonald of the Islanders, Pat Foley of Chicago, Rick Peckham of Hartford, and Gary Thorne of New Jersey before Emerick replaced him.

I still remember Sports Channel, at least in its first and second year of NHL coverage, going off the air at about midnight and showing primitive computer graphics of the previous days scores and stories in the NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL until returning on air at about 5PM the next day.

 

[Boxscore]

My biggest memory is the Isles/Caps OT game where Patty LaLa scored the winner.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

This one's easy for me - the Malarchuk injury was shown live on Sportschannel.

 

[Boxscore]

This one's easy for me - the Malarchuk injury was shown live on Sportschannel.

Oh damn.

 

[Disengage]

My biggest memory is the Isles/Caps OT game where Patty LaLa scored the winner.

Are you sure? That game was shown nationally on ESPN and it was played in 1987 before Sportschannel America had the NHL contract.

 

[DJ Man]

Wasn't available in my area due to a conflict with some local sports channel that showed nothing I cared to watch. Sad.

 

[Mike Martin]

Wasn't available in my area due to a conflict with some local sports channel that showed nothing I cared to watch. Sad.

Yes, that's another aspect of a person's memories of the NHL on Sportschannel America, not having the channel. The NHL received tremendous negative feedback during those years for having the games on a channel that was not available on most of America's cable systems. I didn't get the channel either for the first year (1988-1989) so I had to listen to NHL games on AM radio and this gave me such a hunger for the sport. For many Americans who didn't live in an NHL city and thus couldn't depend on those local TV stations to show them the home team's games, these were the years when the NHL was essentially blacked out.

 

[Roomtemperature]

So it was basically OLN if no one got OLN at the time

 

[Cynicaps]

So it was basically OLN if no one got OLN at the time

And if OLN had little will or motivation to grow after the first year as even at the end of the deal SCAM lacked in carriage. Another horrible move of the Ziegler era where the US practically didn't matter in the NHL's eyes.

 

[The Shovel Penguin]

I love this thread forever

I first discovered hockey in 1991 on Sportschannel America! Probably one of my favorite memories was the Pens sweeping Chicago and Jagr's unreal goal in 1992. What a magical time.

 

[DJ Man]

After a few years, ESPN picked up the whole package. The league used to schedule each divisions/conferences playoff games on alternating nights (there was no crossover until the final), and ESPN showed all of 'em right on through. Those were the best years.(When NBC or CBS got involved, they'd mess up the schedule for their one weekend game: the "major" networks can never get hockey right.)