Talk:Hockey Night in Canada

European Availability
As a fan who watches HNIC from Europe on the NASN channel, I have edited a few sentences in the relevant section relating to it's availability on that channel.

Worlds Longest Running TV Series?
"It is the world's oldest and longest-running television program". Please clarifiy this hyperbole. Is Hockey Night in Canada the longest running CBC series? It's not the longest running series in television history. The world's longest running TV show is "Meet the Press". It began on NBC-TV on November 6th, 1947, and has been running in the USA for 59 years, non-stop. The daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" began on radio January 25, 1937 on NBC before moving to televison on June 30, 1952 on CBS. 

I reorganized the article slightly for coherence -- the top intro part was top-heavy and a bit meandering, so hurt readibility somewhat. Also slightly edited the criticisms for style, and added a couple of books I think are worth checking out on the topic. (Caveat: I've only read the Gruneau book, and it's certainly not a traditional history.) AnotherBDA 21:03, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

I've also cleaned up a few of the more obvious grammatical errors. westmt01, 13 Sept 2006

Music theme link
Is the link to the theme suitable for inclusion? I didn't find any real information there, except about buying the sheet music for the theme. I don't think the link adds anything to this article. - Cafemusique 16:44, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Radio/Bias
"As such, many fans have resorted to tuning into their local radio station's broadcast of the game for the commentary and muting the television audio feed." Unless there's a reference for this somewhere, I say this should be removed, I've never heard of ANYONE doing this
 * I do it, so now you've heard of one person doing this. That said, I agree with you: unfortunately, I am not the world and as far as I know it's not very common practice. It should probably go unless it gets a citation. Lord Bob 06:17, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
 * and I do it, too. In Ottawa it's seems to have become a fairly common practice. Especially since a commentator had once exclaimed, during a Senators versus Leafs game, 'what a clean hit by Domi' (that quote is almost verbatum).  I do not think that the term 'clean hit' and 'Domi' have ever been used in the same sentence.

I used to listen to the HNIC theme, then turn down the television and turn on the local sports station to hear the play by play. The timing is a little off, but I find that less irritating the bias from CBC. I have suggested it be renamed the Toronto Broadcasting Corporation and get its funding, not from the federal government but from the City of Toronto. Maybe now that the CBC no longer has to spend the money on Canada's other national anthem, it may afford to split feed the appropriate games to the appropriate cities. I thought when I got a satellite dish and can get all the CBC stations from major Canadian cities I would be able to see the Senators on the Ottawa CBC station, but I was wrong. The Leafs' game is broadcast right across the country.Janice21 (talk) 20:32, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

I pulled it from various NHL team newsgroups, mostly alt.sports.hockey.nhl.vanc-canucks - I will try to find a few concrete examples to back it up Tawker 09:00, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Here's a summary of my changes:
 * I reworded the 2003 Coaches' Corner controversy. "Something that offended Quebec" sounded kind of POV-ish to me, plus it wasn't either all of Quebec or just Quebec that was offended. Then I figured I might as well tell the whole story.
 * I removed mention of The Hockey Classic in Hockey day in Canada since it wasn't part of Hockey Day in Canada, it was part of a plain old doubleheader in the middle of November.
 * A couple of style changes that I felt made the article flow a little better.

Also, I don't get the following passage:


 * Critics of what the show chooses to program allege that the eastern broadcast, in particular, favours teams from Ontario, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs. These critics note that Leafs' games are often aired too early, usually to the detriment of the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. The CBC has responded by saying that scheduling Leafs games early makes sense considering budget cutbacks and the relative national popularity of the Maple Leafs.

To me, it seems that two (somewhat opposing) arguments are jammed in together: 1) the Leafs are shown too often 2) the early game starts too early (West Coast Leaf fans?), but I'm far from sure. Any ideas? Usonophile 14:07, 17 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Nobody's stood up to defend the original sentence in question, so I'm deleting it. --djrobgordon 06:54, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

I've found the Globe & Mail article that blasted CBC's non-coverage of the Boom-Boom Geoffrion number retirement, but it's behind a subscriber wall. Is it appropriate to link it here as the citation for that statement? The url is quite long - it's by Roy MacGregor on March 13, 2006 titled "When Boom Boom's legacy rose to Montreal's rafters -- and Leaf Nation missed it" 142.167.154.183 04:19, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Broadcast of games with 2 American teams
I believe their was also a scheduled game between 2 american teams in 1996, plus they've televised american games in the afternoon as well (same time as FOX or ABC's games), including the last game by Wayne Gretsky. Because of this, I have manualy reverted part of your edit Usonophile. If anyone has more info, please post to this discussion. --Nick Dillinger 17:56, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Complaints of HNIC
It been pointed out (validly so), that Eastcoast hockey fans feel Maple Leafs games get more coverage, then the Senators or Canadiens. However, we should mention that HNIC's French counterpart, doesn't show any Maple Leafs games (unless the Leafs are playing the Canadiens). We should point out possilbe bias both ways, PS I'm a Canadiens fan. GoodDay 22:33, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
 * SRC no longer holds rights to The NHL. They only air simulcasts of the Montreal games on Saturday Night because people were offended that the SRC would not be televising habs games.  RDS is the actual broadcaster now.--Nick Dillinger 22:58, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the clarification. GoodDay

I took out a part about the first game "usually" being a Toronto game. that would mean that more than half the time it was a toronto game. There may be somewhat more Toronto games palyed, but I hardly think that it is neccisary to mention this in the regular season section, as it's covered in the contraversy section. An7drew 02:59, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I have watched this game on Saturday night for the last 30 years and like to see some changes as far as the intermissions are concerned especially the second intermission with the satellite hotsove.What ever happened to entertaining the young.For instance i remember the Howie Meeker exciting description of certain plays in the game that night.Also i recall a very exciting shoot out format in the intermission with several players.I really feel the intermissions are to business like,except the first with Don Cherry.I'd also like to see highlights of every game that`s going on that night.I find to much coverage about only Canadian teams.I think HNIC should take a look at the NFL and the way they cover all the teams that are playing.Every time the second intermission comes around most people that i know will turn to another channel.HNIC should look to concentrate on entertaining the young kids,they don't want to hear all $ and cents talk I know that i wouldn't if i was yonger.I recommend bringing back the shoot out with the big name players and goalies,that catch the attention of lots young viewers not to mention older gents like me.74.12.27.22 20:43, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

2006 Playoff Update
Added announcers for the second round of HNIC coverage. Also added a mention of "Behind The Mask" to the regular season part.

--RogueNine 07:14, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't believe Cole/Neale called the Carolina/Buffalo games.--Nick Dillinger 19:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

History of HNIC?
There's almost nothing on how HNIC started here. The 1952 date is in the Infobox, but except for an extremely brief mention under "Announcers", there's not one word in the text itself explaining why it was started on that date, who gave the go-ahead, how the teams/players/fans reacted, how it related to radio transmissions etc. That's a big omission. 86.143.53.214 09:54, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Failed GA
Sorry, but this article has 'far too many unsourced statements to be considered worthy of Good Article status. The entire "Criticism" section is unsourced, and if anything, that would be the section most in need of sourcing. Along with all of the unreferenced statements (the "Critcism" section just being a large example), five of the (only) seven references do not contain any information besides an external link; that is, there's no info on the soruce, the author (if any), the access date, etc. There are also a ton of fair use images, and some of them actually feature where the image came from. In addition, there are a few WP:MOS problems, such as italics for TV show titles and lowercase letters in heading titles. But mostly, the problem revolves around a severe lack of sources. When these problems are fixed, and someone feels that the article passes all criteria of WP:WIAGA, feel free to resubmit the page to WP:GAC. Have a great day. -- Kicking222 16:41, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

GA
OK, I fixed and added to the references. I'm having trouble finding stuff on Programming criticism. Anyone want to coordinate with me? Should we cite what we can and remove the rest? I'm sure it's all true, but can we verify it? - Peregrine Fisher 19:30, 10 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd say give it a week or two before removing the stuff that we can't find refs for. It may take a bit, but I think most of it can be cited. JQF • Talk • Contribs 04:20, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Origins
This page doesn't dicuss the show's origins as a radio show starring Foster Hewitt!!! Kevlar67 23:38, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Broadcasters
Should the broadcasters list be updated. All thats on there is the hosts. Tigersfan1992 20:58, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The only HNIC?
HNIC redirects here. There's a version of this acronym that has history, including a prominent use in the film Lean on Me (film). Not sure if a disambig would be right, so I'm just mentioning it here. --Bobak 23:56, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

The National Anthem?
I added a cite tag to the part under the "Theme song" sub-heading that says the theme "has been referred to as Canada's second national anthem." I don't dispute this - I say this frequently myself! - but there needs to be a citation or it is another "some people say"-type, unencyclopedic bit of misinformation. --InformationalAnarchist 17:40, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

While reading through this I noticed the line "Which is somewhat true due to tour guides tricking Europeans into thinking it's Canada's national anthem." The article cited infact stated that the band The Shuffle Demons, while on tour in Europe, had a few of their audiences believing that it was the Canadian national anthem after introducing the song as such. I edited the article accordingly. WCSwing (talk) 04:58, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

English
This article really should be checked for English. It appears to have be transliterated from another language, at least in part. 217.132.141.224 23:05, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's it... Kevlar67


 * "transliterated" ...??????? haha. david what! (talk) 19:43, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

theme song
What about the older theme song, before Dolores Claman's song replaced it? 70.51.9.185 (talk) 09:06, 7 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The original song was called Saturday's Game and was composed and conducted by Howard Cable. Reggie Perrin (talk) 23:20, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Rights to song re acquired
TSN is reporting that the CBC has reached a deal in the theme song dispute, im waiting for them to put an article up on their site. david what! (talk) 19:39, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

so apparently CTV has the rights now, and it will appear on TSN hockey broadcasts. david what! (talk) 19:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Somewhat related to this discussion, but since the song will no longer be a part of HNiC and there appears to be enough coverage of the song itself, would it make sense to spin off the section about it into a separate article again? NeoChaosX (talk, walk) 22:27, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Never mind, it seems User:Reginald Perrin has already done so at The Hockey Theme. Good work, Reginald! NeoChaosX (talk, walk) 23:00, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

The entry claims that the rights are to perpetuity but copyright has expiration. Their rights are until the copyright expires! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmgerman (talk • contribs) 22:31, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I believe copyright lasts until 50 (or maybe now it's 75) years after the author's death. Since Claman is still alive CTV will have the song for some time to come. There've been recent changes to copyright law so it's possible that it could actually be indefinite if the "legal person" owning the song is CTV rather than Claman. Reggie Perrin (talk) 23:36, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Theme music section
There is a wide discrepancy between what John Ciccone, the Publishing Copyright Administrator of Copyright Music and Visuals, is saying on his important announcement page (it's the bottom menu option on the left, I can't directly link to it) and what the CBC are saying. Macleans has an article saying "The theme song fiasco is only part of it. The CBC is letting its flagship sink" Macleans

See this link for a more in depth look at whats going on. EccentricCanadian BlogCarrotLore (talk) 21:05, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Colour broadcast of HNiC
It says that back in '66 all games were shown in colour. This can't be right, because on NHL Network today (well, more accurately, yesterday) I watched a Bruins-Maple Leafs game from 1971. It was broadcast on HNiC and it was in Black and White. So, if there were already colour games, why would this one be in B&W? --Son (talk) 04:26, 27 July 2008 (UTC)


 * This was before the days of videotape. The telecast you were watching was a kinescope recording of the original broadcast, and the recording was done in black-and-white.  For viewers watching the game live in 1971, they would have watched it in colour if they had a colour television.Djob (talk) 10:03, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Instant Replay
The article states "Instant replay made its debut on a 1955 HNIC broadcast. CBC director George Retzlaff made a kinescope recording of a goal, and replayed it to the television audience seconds later."

As I understand it, kinescopes consisted of pointing a movie camera at a CRT. How did the director process a roll of film so quickly in order to replay the goal "seconds later"?Pessia (talk) 16:58, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Hockey Day in Canada
I think it should be split off and have its own article. It's been around for 9 years and there is more than enough content for HDIC to have its own article. If you agree then maybe we can propose a split. I'm not sure exactly how that's done.George Pelltier (talk) 18:09, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree. GoodDay (talk) 02:20, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

There should be a disambig for "HNIC"
Google "HNIC" and you'll find that the far, far more internationally well known version is for the (excuse the language) "Head Nigger In Charge". It's used in popular culture and even films. I'm sure this show is huge in Canada, but there are more people in California and there are nearly as many black people in the United States as the entire population of Canada --not to say anything about the use of the acronym outside North America. This needs to be fixed or at least clearly acknowledged. --75.72.66.9 (talk) 19:56, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * There is a hatnote at the top of the article for an album that stands for what you mentioned. Unless there's an article about the phrase, then there's no need to disam. --CutOffTies (talk) 20:02, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

Wednesday on CTV
I followed the NHL closely for a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s and I'm certain that for all of that time there were games on TV two nights a week: Saturday at 8 pm on CBC and Wednesday at 8 pm on CTV. (That is, it was CTV here in southern Ontario; the games would be on CFTO in Toronto and CKCO in Kitchener.) And I'm reasonably sure that the same announcers were used on Wednesdays as on Saturdays, and I think the title "Hockey Night in Canada" was used for both. If so, then the article needs to cover this. If the same announcers were used but not the title HNIC, then I think it should still be mentioned. I have no idea of how long this arrangement lasted, and I don't remember how it was done in the playoffs when games might be on other nights of the week. --65.94.50.4 (talk) 23:38, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Criticism: Content
The section about criticism of the show's content includes this line: "As of the Rogers-produced Hockey Night, Coach's Corner was noticeably shortened, from as long as 10 minutes to as short as 5—a change that was lampshaded by both Cherry and MacLean during their first segment of the new season."

What does "lampshaded" mean? Jnmwiki (talk) 14:11, 11 June 2015 (UTC)

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