The NHL playoffs will be found in a new spot this season – USA Network. The crew over at Awful Announcing reports that in addition to NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and NHL Network, USA Network will join the group of channels this year to broadcast the playoffs.
Via Awful Announcing:
When e-mailed for confirmation, an NBC Sports spokesman said, “USA Network is joining the NBC Sports Group team to televise Stanley Cup Playoff games this year. We’ll have more information as we get closer to the start of the playoffs.”
Last year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs aired on NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and NHL Network. In its current contract, NBC does have the option to use USA as an overflow channel in case there are conflicts with NBC or NBCSN. Last year, NBC utilized CNBC as the main overflow channel, but it appears that the Sports Group wants to spread the Stanley Cup Playoffs across its platforms by adding USA.
It sounds like USA will only be used if absolutely necessary, so there’s a chance we may not see any NHL action on the channel. Still, consider this a heads up that some playoff games might pop up in an unexpected location.
