Watchdog

It now appears the NHL Winter Classic might not close Yankee Stadium, according to this story.

I've learned to keep tabs on this dude in Toronto for my TV hockey news, such as Don Cherry (!) contributing to ESPN.

I could never get away with writing as much about hockey as they do in Toronto, of course. Unless perhaps I was in Detroit, which still really cares quite a lot about the NHL, perhaps second only among American markets to Buffalo. (Scroll down a bit for the Detroit reference in the above link.)

Anyway, enjoy the conference finals, even though Our Rangers are through.

Speaking of which . . . the fact the Rangers' elimination was not the featured back page element of ANY of the three New York tabloids Monday was a shocking, collective diss of the sport.

That's it for me today. I've got stuff to do. If I'm not back Wednesday, it's because I got fired for publicly complaining about the lack of hockey on the back page.

At least I sacrificed my career for a worthy cause.

Here is my Tuesday newspaper column, which contains interesting information about the new Sports Museum of America (opening Wednesday), the new episode of YESterdays (premiering Wednesday) and the strangely happy post-Derby scene on NBC.

Please click on the ads on the blog and on the Web.

Keeping Newsday's on-line advertisers happy will help keep us strong and available to you for decades to come. Plus, my daughters keep threatening to go to college.

I asked Marc Fein, a top Versus exec whom I quoted in my Friday newspaper column, whether he has heard anything lately regarding ESPN's potential interest in returning to the NHL.

"We haven't heard anything,'' he said. "We've stated in the past if someone wants to talk to us, [we] would have those conversations."

ESPN would have to come to Versus, because Versus owns national cable exclusivity for the league. (I guess I could have asked ESPN poobah John Skipper about this Thursday, but, um . . . )

NBC exercised its option to carry the NHL for another season, which almost certainly puts the ESPN possibilities on the shelf for now, but some in and around the league miss the exposure ESPN provided even as Versus gradually gains acceptance.

Here is what a helpful ESPN spokesman had to say on the subject: "We are fans of the NHL and look forward to discussions next time rights become available."

By the way, in case you were wondering whether NBC and Versus are happy with the mix of Original Six, big market and Sidney Crosby teams in the second round, stop wondering:

They are.

I can't do any better today than to have inspired a raging Syl Apps controversy (see two posts below).

So I will quit while I'm ahead. Sorry.

What do you people want from me? I had 20 posts Tuesday!

Enjoy "Whitetail Diaries" on Versus at 2 p.m.

Ch. 4 will not be showing the entirety of the Detroit-Nashville hockey game scheduled for NBC Sunday because of its coverage of the Pope's visit to Big Town.

Until the Pope portion of the TV day is over, the game will be shown on WNBC 4.4, a digital channel not available to everyone. (It's on Ch. 110 on Cablevision, I believe).

The entire game will also appear on MSG Plus.

There's an NBA playoff game on Ch. 7 Sunday. I will let you now if/when I hear about the game plan for that apparent conflict.

(UPDATE: I am told the game will be seen on ESPN2, thus accommodating Pope watchers and basketball watchers.)

This is weird. But I like it. Anything like this for the Rangers out there?

WatchDog does not encourage gambling. But if you must, I hope you took my advice minutes before the start of the Frozen Four and bet the house on BC.

No need to thank me. Just spend some of your winnings patronizing Newsday.com advertisers. Tell them WatchDog sent you.

I'm happy for BC and its fans after two straight title game losses, and even more than that I'm happy whenever Eastern hockey can take one from the uncivilized hordes from the Upper Midwest hinterlands.

Or, in this case, from Notre Dame.

A couple of readers e-mailed me about this, but rather than explain it myself I'll just send you here for a summary and audio link.

The commissioner of the NHL unfortunately has his Ace Baileys mixed up. I'd make fun of him, but he's a Cornell guy from Long Island and thus gets full immunity here.

That's why I didn't even mention his Maxim Afinogenov mistake in the same interview.

Sigh. Anyway, at least the guy got back on the WFAN horse by joining Ca-Boom this morning. (Come to think of it, that would have been a good opportunity to offer a clarification.)

I'm going to write a Sunday newspaper column now and continue to whine about my back. Maybe I should have sat out softball practice.

Come to think of it, let's just ditch the Masters (see post below) altogether and agree that we all will watch the best sports event of the day/night: The Frozen Four on ESPN2.

It's Boston College's time. You read it here first.

That's it. I'm done for today. Thanks for reading.

As everyone knows, one of WatchDog's most strict policies is to link to any Sports Illustrated feature on a member of the Canadiens from Long Island.

So here it is.

Loyal WatchDog reader Kenny Albert, presumably inspired by Anthony Rieber's piece on Feb. 29 birthdays, sent along this link to a Canadian Press story about Henri Richard, who celebrates his 18th birthday today.

Albert also sent a reminder that Brian Leetch's first game as a Ranger was 20 years ago today, Feb. 29, 1988.

(Why do we have to add an extra day to the dreariest month of the year? Why not May?)

Check out this interesting interview with Curt Chaplin about his bit role in the media drama surrounding the United States' Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union 28 years ago Friday.

I'm still really annoyed that ABC showed the game on tape delay. Really, really annoyed. But I'll get over it eventually.

Maybe when the U.S. wins a gold medal in team handball.

Here is a cool link Glauber tipped me off to, as the 28th anniversary of the U.S.-Soviet hockey game approaches.

It's an alternative audio reality for those of us who have heard Al Michaels and Ken Dryden enough times already.

(Sorry, Ken. You know I love you. Really.)

I once shared a jar of artichokes with Jim Craig at a party in Anchorage in 1983 to honor the touring '84 Olympic team.

Several members of the '80 team were in attendance.

It has been a busy few months for Dr. Leslie Bisson of Buffalo, what with helping save the lives of two professional athletes.

Here is a piece on that topic from the Buffalo News' Jerry Sullivan, who was a rising star at Newsday many years ago before he left us for snowier pastures.

(It's sort of cool that the guy is a Buffalo sports doctor, and his name is one letter away from being Bison, and . . . oh, never mind.)

Here is a story in the Toronto Globe and Mail about the potential return of ESPN to the NHL coverage mix.

It's about hockey, and it appeared in Canada, so it must be accurate. And I don't have to time to look into it independently, as I'm still watching chatty Congressmen getting their TV face time.

(Thanks to our friends at Awful Announcing for the tip to the Globe and Mail story.)

Darn it. If I had known Darren Eliot would be working the Flyers-Isles game tonight, I'd have mushed out to the Coliseum to say hello.

Bonus WatchDog kudos to the first reader to identify the other member of the only pair of goaltenders in history to spend three years as college teammates, then both go on to NHL careers, then both go on to become analysts for national TV outlets.

(This is much easier than that George Mason question from Monday.)

Ratings for the NHL All-Star Game were up from 0.54 percent of homes with Versus last year to 0.76, a percentage rise roughly equivalent to that for regular-season games so far in 2007-08.

When I was a kid I was a Blues fan. I'm not sure why. I guess I liked their logo. I evolved into a Rangers fan as a teenager.

We never got the Islanders on TV so I never really bonded with them.

The only problem with blogging at the Super Bowl is I haven't had much time to get around and do any, like, reporting.

That will change at media day Tuesday.

There will be very little blogging going on, but I will build up a nice stockpile of stuff to share with you Wednesday.

Alyssa Milano has a new NHL clothing line, including a "form-fitting" All-Star T-shirt.

Versus has extended its contract with the NHL for three more years, through the 2010-11 season.

(As far as I can tell, the NY Times was the first to report this, showing some gumption in keeping up with non-Giants news.)

Ratings have been creeping upward on the much-maligned TV outpost, and fans gradually are getting the hang of turning to the channel if they care enough.

The real question is whether this precludes ESPN from getting back into the NHL business at some point by negotiating with Versus and the league for the right to do so.

As far as I know, it does not. Stay tuned!

I was so distracted by Giants-Packers this week I skipped right over an NBC release with great material from Mike Milbury that would have been more interesting than the boring stuff in my Friday newspaper column about NHL flex scheduling.

Would the WatchDog hockey people - Kenny Albert? Chris Botta? Don LaGreca? - please link this to the appropriate message boards so I can hold off Glauber's page views? Unless these comments are out there already. I don't know.

Here is Milbury on Jaromir Jagr: "The Rangers' problem is Jagr. He has to carry so much responsibility and his psyche is so fragile. At times he's been missing his buddy [Michael] Nylander or can't find chemistry with somebody else, but he's one of those guys that demands constant attention from the coaches, and you wonder whether it's worth it. He's one of the great all time players of the game, and he's frustrating. They'll go as good as he goes."

Well, NBC got exactly the kind of weather it wanted for today's Pens-Sabres game in Orchard Park - not too cold, not too sunny, photogenic snow flakes.

Perfect.

It's all enough to get any pond hockey fan misty eyed. Here's a trailer for some sort of documentary about the game. It mostly seems to quote people in Minnesota. But I actually played pond hockey on Long Island a few times.

It's rare that it's cold enough for long enough, but it's possible.

Here is a really, really weird seven-plus minutes of video, courtesy of a tip from our friends at Going Five Hole.

It is a tongue-in-cheek report on a tongue-in-cheek table hockey tournament held in 1971 at a Manhattan hotel.

Mostly it's a time capsule of the dying days of an era in which famous New York sportswriters and other journalists got together to socialize and drink too many adult beverages rather than do what they do now in their spare time: coach a youth soccer game, get in quick a run, chug some bottled water, help with the dishes and go to bed early.

Among the luminaries I spotted here are Stan Fischler, a spectacularly inebriated Nick Auf der Maur, Jim Bouton and Newsday's own Marvin Kitman, Stan Isaacs (the very first TV sports columnist in New York!) and (I think) Steve Jacobson.

I know most WatchDog readers were not born when this video was shot, but maybe the old-timers out there can help me identify others who appear here.

Speaking of hockey (see post below), according to Sports Business Daily, three of the four biggest increases in local TV ratings in the NHL so far this season have been recorded by the New York-area teams.

The Islanders were No. 1 with a 176 percent improvement.

The Devils were second at 138 percent.

The Rangers were fourth at 124 percent.

Versus also has shown significant gains for its national games.

People are starting to see the hockey light!

Peter Puck is coming back to TV!

But only in Canada.

Sigh.

Did I ever mention that my first job out of college almost was as assistant editor of The Hockey News in Toronto? I was offered the job tentatively, then the paper's lawyers deemed me not worth the time and expense it would have cost to prove they could not hire a comparable Canadian for the job.

I boycotted Molson for a decade after that. Then I got over it.

Speaking of expensive tickets (see post below) . . . check out this depressing news from downtown Newark, home of the Devils, Seton Hall and an indoor soccer team whose name I never can remember.

Also, an upcoming Hannah Montana concert, I believe.

A surcharge for security?

Didn't we already establish in the Barry Melrose incident that everyone's wallets actually are quite safe in and around The Rock?

I try to mix things up in my newspaper column, because readers appreciate the unexpected when they open up their Newsday. Or at least I hope so.

Sometimes that leads me down some wacky paths, such as writing this Sunday about "NHL Center Ice On-Line," which gives fans a chance to watch four out-of-market games at once and do other cool stuff.

It's nice of the editors and readers to let me go off on these tangents and avoid more obvious, timely topics. And this is far from my nuttiest such divergence from the expected.

Check this out: In January, on the morning both the Giants and Jets would be appearing in playoff games on the very same day, I wrote about . . . the Golf Channel.

Anyway, about Center Ice, loyal reader Jim Clark wondered whether there is an option to listen to either team's announcers, which is a good question I should have answered in the column.

Most of the time, only the home team's announcers are heard. But often, for various reasons, that feed is not available, so perhaps 30 percent of the time subscribers get the road announcers.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy Quinnipiac at UConn at 2 p.m. on SNY.

The head of the NHLPA would like to see the league back on ESPN, perhaps in some sort of shared cable arrangement with Versus, the NHL's current exclusive cable home.

I would not be surprised at all if this in fact comes to pass for the 2008-09 season.

John Skipper, ESPN's content boss, has said often he is open to the idea of bringing back the sport, which has devolved into a backwater in the view of the universe from Bristol.

We'll see.

Controversy was the last thing I expected when I wrote Friday's newspaper column about . . . shopping!

But a couple of faithful readers e-mailed to say I was a tad too kind to the NHL's flagship store in Manhattan, particularly in contrast to its NBA counterpart a few blocks away.

Looking back, they might be right, but in discussing the NHL store I took into account that it has been open only seven weeks compared to nearly 10 years for the NBA version, and that it has much less space with which to work.

Plus . . . I'm biased, because I am among the minority of Americans who understand how vastly superior hockey is to basketball as both a spectator and participatory sport.

So we'll see how this develops over time. But my central point still is valid. Both locations are a welcome respite from the holiday crowds on the sidewalks and from non-sports shopping at other stores.

I made a reference in my newspaper column last week to the encouraging very early TV ratings for the Islanders.

A week later it turns out all three local NHL squads are off to fast starts, which I'm happy to report because I've spent the past two years making fun of hockey's awful ratings, but I'm a hockey guy from way, way back.

The numbers on MSG and FSNY are the best for this point in a season since the pre-lockout 2002-03 season.

The Islanders up 250 percent compared to last year at this time, the Rangers up 85 percent and the Devils up about 100 percent.

Billy Smith had a kid at a camp I worked at in the summer of 1980. It caused quite a stir when he came to visit.

Uh, oh. Barry Melrose of ESPN made an impolite joke at Newark's expense.

On one hand, Newark should be above worrying what a TV analyst with Canadian hair says about it.

On the other hand, the incident illustrated the fact the gleaming new Prudential Center does face a perception problem among potential fans in the ultimate suburban state reluctant to venture to downtown Newark.

I was born in Newark, by the way. Many years ago.

Speaking of Al Arbour's 1,500th game Saturday night, it was nice to see former Islander and Northport's own Richie Hansen in the house.

Northport isn't quite as well known for our athletic alumni as our acting alumni, which include Patti LuPone, Edie Falco and Bobby LuPone, Patti's brother and Edie's TV neighbor/dentist, Dr. Cusamano.

I used to do color commentary for videos we shot of Northport High hockey games at the Long Island Arena in Commack that we showed in school the next day.

I could have been John Davidson if I'd kept at it instead of doing this job. Dang.

Here's a link to my Tuesday newspaper column. I guess I buried one of the most interesting pieces of information in it, since the Sports Business Daily linked to it this morning:

It's a quote from Marc Fein, Versus' senior VP of programming, saying the network would be happy to listen if another network approached it regarding its exclusive cable rights to the NHL.

Yo, that means you, Bristol Stompers! Pick up the phone!

I'd be surprised if there were not some sort of NHL presence on ESPN in 2008-09, in addition to the Versus package. We'll see.

It's amazing what the eliminations of the Yankees and Mets can do in October for that other sport that plays during the week this month.

Versus reported that its telecast of the Rangers-Islanders game Wednesday night attracted 1.8 percent of households in New York, making it the highest-rated cable network in the market that night.

A Rangers-Isles game last season got a rating of only 0.7 in New York. The previous best rating for a regular-season Versus game in New York was an 0.9 for Rangers-Pens in March.

Oh my goodness gracious . . .

WFAN currently is streaming the Devils game live on its Web site rather than "Mike and the Mad Dog'' from Yankee Stadium.

Thanks to reader Vincent V. for the tip.

I hope this has something to do with contractual obligations and not with WFAN operations director Mark Chernoff trying to play with the heads of Yankees fans. (His son, Mike, is the Indians' director of baseball operations. I saw the elder Chernoff at Yankee Stadium Sunday night and told him I'm keeping a close eye on him during this series.)

Memo to self:

Time to stop ignoring the e-mails from Versus about their college football package, even if there are 1,869 other games on every darn weekend.

Versus lucked into the ultimate stunner Saturday with Stanford's mega-upset of USC, much as the Big Ten Network did last month with Appalachian State over Michigan.

So you never know where and when these things will happen.

Versus is reshowing the Stanford victory at 4 p.m. Monday.

Next up for the channel: Oregon State at Cal Saturday. Look out, Bears!

One more thing: My newspaper column was a little difficult to find on the Web site earlier today, what with all of the more pressing matters regarding the Bronx Bombers filling the page.

So here's a link to it.

I talked to Jiggs McDonald.

What more do you need to know?