The playoffs are finally here.
Today there are two games, one at a 5pm start time, so you can watch six hours of NHL hockey. Nine, if you start with the PWHL game.
The first game has the Islanders at Carolina, and of course, the Leafs are at Boston at 8 pm.
PWHL Toronto plays in the Habs arena at 1 pm vs Montréal. We'll have the preview and chat post up for that game late this morning.
The Preview for the first Leafs playoff game will be this afternoon, and we'll also have some updates on Marlies and prospects for you today.
Brian S
How to Watch the NHL Playoffs in Canada
All NHL playoff games televised in Canada are on Sportsnet. They might not be broadcast on the main channel – check your listings.
All NHL playoff games for all teams are available on Sporstnet+ to stream. The price is currently $19.99 per month or $179.99 per year for the Standard SN+. This gets you all of the playoff games live.
If you want to go the yearly route, think it over first. If all you want is "in-market" games for the Leafs, then Standard it's all you need. If you want a lot of non-Leafs games, you want the more expensive Premium version. But no Leafs games broadcast on TSN are available to stream on Sportsnet at any price if you live in the Leafs region.
Note, either monthly or yearly SN packages are a subscription so it will renew automatically as those things do.
If you have Amazon Prime in Canada, you can buy Sportsnet for the same $19.99 price per month and log in and watch via Prime and control your subscription with their easy to cancel system. A standalone Sportsnet+ subscription or one through your TV provider does not let you watch on Amazon Prime.
Some Saturday games in the playoffs will be on CBC and CBC Gem. Not all games are on the CBC. Our game previews will list the television broadcasters only, as that is the only information the NHL schedule provides.
In the US, games are broadcast on a family of related channels: TBS, ESPN, ABC, etc. Several services that bundle TV channels for streaming are also available and may include these games. Regional broadcasters may air and/or stream some games.
Please do not advertise or solicit illegal streams or streaming services on this site.
The News
Yesterday was all about Alex Meruelo's moment in the limelight.
hearing Alex Meruelo talk, it quickly became abundantly clear why the Arizona Coyotes flamed out under his watch. yikes.
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) April 20, 2024
If you want the full monty:
Earlier today, Alex Meruelo and Gary Bettman met with the media to discuss the Coyotes' sale and relocation to Utah.
— PHNX Coyotes (@PHNX_Coyotes) April 20, 2024
Watch the full press conference: https://t.co/1qyRM6iCTP pic.twitter.com/hG2be3nkqt
Bettman’s facial expressions and squirms many times as Meruelo talked and the number of times he had to interrupt him is worth watching this presser from the start. It was quite the scene https://t.co/AxiDT9yVS3
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 19, 2024
Coyotes season ticket holders just received this email: pic.twitter.com/VOxthANKPB
— Leah Merrall (@leahmerrall) April 19, 2024
Aside from the no plan for season-ticket holders, this seems to be a very controversial statement:
According to Alex Meruelo he spent $7 million on the Tempe campaign. He said he personally knocked on 1,000 doors over a 30-day period.
— PHNX Coyotes (@PHNX_Coyotes) April 19, 2024
“We were told to the last minute we would win by a landslide." pic.twitter.com/y0CxG0U13r
People are alleging the money amount is contradicted by official filings of spending.
You cannot move without a team name and expect that people are going to take you seriously. Meruelo is nightmare fuel as an owner, but if Smith & Co. were so set on getting this team, maybe have a marketing plan in place? At minimum, a team name & logos. Not a good start. https://t.co/JT0WU0xQOy
— Rachel Doerrie (@racheldoerrie) April 18, 2024
I am enjoying the PR and marketing experts on Twitter who are sure they know the single correct way to run a business. When did meta about public relations become the main way people interacted with corporations? There should be a special review site, a rotten tomatoes for corporate announcements where people can assess them and vote on the style of presentation, give points for word choice and colour of background and text. Explain how everything is always bad and stupid.
And it's clear no one is taking this Utah team seriously.
Utah landed an NHL team in a complex, unprecedented process that came together quickly. Then it gathered 22,700 season-ticket deposits in little more than 24 hours. There is still much to do, but it's clear Utah has passion and potential.
— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) April 20, 2024
⤵️https://t.co/mmhVdgxu35
I don't know about that logo SEG has, it's a little "did it myself in MS Paint", don't you think? And I'm not sure that black background is really right for this announcement. Obviously that season ticket number is made up, it ends in some zeroes, and won't they look funny with blank uniforms, ha ha. What losers.
Why didn't they register a trademarked logo months ago so everyone could scoop the stupid media on this story. It would be wrong and dumb though. Everything is wrong and dumb. The NHL is so stupid. This is why we can't have nice things. Why didn't they sell the team to a someone famous and cool with no actual money?
In other news, the radio reporter who covers the Coyotes is reporting that the 5-year window to restart the team was the thing that made Meruelo agree to the deal. This reporter has had some things a little wrong – he claimed the banners the Coyotes left at the old arena were in the garbage, when they were just never retrieved, so grain of salt there. I know where there's a whole lake full if you're running short.
Abhiraj Lamba
The Traverse City prospect tournament has contracted:
Yzerman says plan for traverse city prospect tournament this year is just to have two games between Detroit and Dallas
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) April 19, 2024
And that's enough for a late edition of the FTB on the first day of official FTB season.
FTB, everyone.
