The Buffalo Sabres will appear on either NBC or NBCSN five times in the upcoming 2015-2016 season.
NBC Sports Group released its annual schedule recently, announcing the games that will appear on NBCSN as part of its “Wednesday Night Rivalry” series, Sunday games and additional nationally-televised matches.
The Buffalo Sabres’ nationally-televised games are as follows:
- Tuesday, November 10 – Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning
- Monday, January 25 – Buffalo Sabres at NY Rangers
- Sunday, February 21 – Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo Sabres (12:30 pm on NBC)
- Tuesday, March 1 – Edmonton Oilers at Buffalo Sabres
- Monday, March 28 – Buffalo Sabres at Detroit Red Wings
Several of these games absolutely make sense to be nationally televised. It seems as though nearly every season, there’s a Penguins vs. Sabres home game, Sunday afternoon, on NBC – often as part of Hockey Day in America, and this year is no different.
Surely, this year’s game will be hailed as “Sidney Crosby visits Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres” and it will almost certainly draw viewers in across the country as newcomer Eichel faces off against Crosby, Malkin and Co. on a national stage.
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Of course, the Oilers vs. Sabres game makes sense too, as a Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel “showdown” of sorts – assuming the pair are both playing with their NHL clubs at that point.
It will undoubtedly be a huge draw for fans across the league to watch two of arguably the best young players in the game face off in a matchup simply filled with talent.
In all, NBC Sports Group has 105 NHL games scheduled to be nationally broadcast on one of its networks. These games are subject to change, but as of right now, that’s it. The nationally-televised schedule begins with a doubleheader on NBCSN on Wednesday, October 7, as the NY Rangers face the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m., followed by a San Jose Sharks/Los Angeles Kings matchup at 10 p.m.
The Blackhawks, to likely no one’s surprise, lead the NHL with 21 scheduled appearances on the NBC Sports Network. The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins will each appear 18 times, while the Detroit Red Wings have a scheduled 16 appearances.
Buffalo’s five is significantly less than the 11 times the Sabres appeared nationally on television last season, but considering these games aren’t televised on MSG and fans are left to contend with national broadcasters…. I’m not sure I hear too many fans complaining.
Teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils each appear only once on the nationally-televised scene this upcoming season.
The full schedule for NHL games on NBC and NBCSN can be found here.
Which games are you looking forward to the most?
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