At least there's FSN

its worth noting that, while it should be quite obvious, those numbers for MTL are skewed a bit, being that RDS is their official station. That's akin to posting Prime Ticket's numbers...except of course they probably have 78 games or some garbage like that.

I find it quite comical that two years removed from the Stanley Cup, with two of Canada's biggest heroes in Pronger and Nieds, the Ducks still have the same representation as the Kings.

Hey! At least we're not Columbus!

Not suprising. The only people that want to watch a team rebuilding are the die hard fans of that team. I will be watching every televised game I can from up here in Canada, and I cant wait.

NBC is showing a whopping two games for the entire upcoming season? Now that's really growing the game Mr. Bettman! What a joke!

NBC must have a few more games in which they haven't determined which teams will be broadcast?

FSN is still televising most of the games right?

David- they only announced the first two but have 8 games listed as TBD

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=379694

va -

I laughed too that no one cares about the Ducks, no matter what they do.

Now when the Kings win a cup, that'll be a mighty bandwagon.

I surprised the Ducks only have 4 being as good as they are.

The best part will be if the Kings do have a "surprising" season, the networks will be scrambling to change their schedule at the last minute to get them on TV.

NBC = token coverage just to get playoff games
VERSUS = not bad but not in the same league as ESPN
RDS = in French
CBC and TSN = the real deal, of course primary focus is on the six Canadian teams, three Kings games is reasonable compared to the rest of the American teams
ROGERS SPORTSNET = I guess their schedule isn't out yet

Final analysis - get NHL Center Ice and watch EVERYTHING! 82 Kings games plus ???

In my worst Anthony imitation...

This is all Dumbardi's fault. The guy sucks so bad he can't even get the Kings on tv.

How was that?

"The skinny
The Los Angeles Kings, owned by Forbes 400 member Philip Anschutz (net worth: $7.6 billion), have not qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in five seasons. The timing could not have been worse for Anschutz, who bought out the 40% interest in the Staples Center he and his partner Ed Roski did not already own from Fox three years ago. Even for the busiest building in the U.S., missing the postseason takes a toll on the bottom line. More humiliation: southern Cal rival Anaheim won the Stanley Cup last season. This off-season the team signed several free agents, including Brad Stuart, Ladislav Nagy, Kyle Calder and Jon Klemm, in a bid to get the Kings moving in the right direction ." - www.forbes.com

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/31/biz_07nhl_NHL-Team-Valuations_Rank.html
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/31/biz_07nhl_NHL-Team-Valuations_Income.html
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/31/biz_07nhl_NHL-Team-Valuations_Revenue.html

AEG out!

Cristobal, what did this have to do with the schedule? I am sick of you hijacking threads to get your point accross that everything the Kings do is wrong. Its getting very lame.

NHL Center Ice, problem solved...however, I'd like to see more HD games

"28 KINGS said:
In my worst Anthony imitation...

This is all Dumbardi's fault. The guy sucks so bad he can't even get the Kings on tv.

How was that?"

Now that is funny! It sounds so real I think your actually him. ;)

Wish I could afford center ice... it'se either that or go to games, and I can't help myself from going to 10 or more games a year.

Terry Murray signed a three-year contract for ~$1m per year. Anyone here making $1m per year? By any rational standard, Terry Murray is a genius.

Dean Lombardi collects a salary well in excess of Murray, with a net worth likely well in excess of anyone here. Dean Lombardi is a super genius.

Philip Anschutz is one of the 100 richest men ever to walk the earth. Philip Anschutz is an Ultra Genius.

It is absurd for anyone to criticize these men. We are fortunate to be able to breathe the same air as they do. If you think you can do better, contact Mr. Anschutz, purchase the team, and prove it.

Otherwise, show some patience and respect for your betters.

No big deal since we have local coverage. This would only be a drag when you are on business or vacation.
And who takes a vacation during hockey season????????

That was a good one Oz! Very funny.

Well, yes Tito, the local coverage is good. Unless you live 3 thousand miles away, and the only local coverage you get is Calgary and Edmonton. It sucks paying $200 just to watch the Kings, but its kinda worth it. I had center ice last year, and didnt watch a second of any other game except the Kings.

I prefer not to have any games on national TV. I love the fact that I can listen and see Bob Miller and Jim Fox on FSN every single night.

I don't want to watch idiot commentators who can't even pronounce the Kings players names. So for me, every national telecast that Kings are not on, is doing me a favor.

Ryan you have center ice and only watched Kings game?

I have Center Ice and watched most Pittsburg, Washington, Sharks, and every Kings game.

Its called a VCR, TIVO, DVR, you should look into it!

Pitt/Wash and east coast games start @ 4, you watch/tape that and then go to the Kings game while you are taping a west coast game.

Kingsfan, I have a PVR, but I'm also married with a kid. The wife watches all Kings games with me, but I'm pretty sure I couldnt get away with all that hockey. I have to tape most of the Kings games because I dont even have enough time to watch them live.

I know you guys might scoff at what I'm about to say, but this is a major reason, from my perspective, why you won't see any King competing for an award this season and mark my words, someone will get punked for a roster spot on the all-star team. I know that sounds loopy but does anyone remember how Kopitar got shafted for the ROY 2 seasons ago? How about Brownie last season for the all-star game? Yeah, I'm biased for my team, but when the media and other NHL peeps don't even have a chance to watch the games even when they start at 10pm, well frankly, that's BS. And by BS I mean bull poo.

Sigh. Stinks to be an out of town Kings fan again. NHL Center Ice for me. I actually live in Washington (to the othe 8 Kings fans here- I'm the one in the old black "Blake" jersey with an "A", stop by when the Kings are in town.)

I understand the reluctance of Versus and NBC (who's schedule is not complete yet) to commit to show the Kings. I think we're all aware that are prospects are not great this year. No one outside of SoCal who isn't a Kings fan would have any interest in watching the Kings unless they magically become a playoff contender during the season. Its too bad though.

But, have faith, brothers. I endured many a crappy season with no national coverage of my adopted team, the Caps. After a couple of years of rebuilding, (admittedly made easier by having the best player in the league). This season they are getting 17 national views, and that's bound to go up. Give the Kings a couple years and we should be back in contention.

One other random comment. Someone above noted the time difference. It is a killer the other way too. Kings games starting at 1030 EST makes it darn hard to watch all three periods (and watching a day old game the next evening on TIVO is pretty lame). Unfortunatley or fortunately, there were a bunch games last year that got out of hand in the first period (Thanks, Cloutier!), so I didn't have to stay up too later to know what would happen.

hooray for censorship...

I guess its not allowed to compare OZ to one of those guys who worked for H1tler...too true, i guess.

maybe big Phil kicked down some advertising dollars, after all.

ryan oliver - sorry to ruin your day, friend, keep the smile pinned up. this tv scheduling is a hot topic. you'd think FSN didn't exist. By the way, this weekend on FOX SOCCER CHANNEL, the EPL resumes with some dandies. Man U vs. Newcastle, mmm mmm. did you hear that ROB?

PS - Still no Stoll, O'Sullivan, not even Richardson? These things take time, i guess. And who are we to ask for the dust to settle on this offseason?

Center Ice is worth every penny. And if you're getting the package just for the Kings...what's wrong with you? There is a lot of fantastic hockey out there.

There is a clear bias toward the east coast in hockey coverage. Don't see a reason to cry about it myself, and glad to see most people aren't. The way to change the team getting ignored for media and honors considerations is to build a team that seriously contends on a consistent basis. CAR, TB, ANA get more consideration right up until they slip back out off the radar screen because they couldn't keep it up.

cristobal- Yeah, hijacking the threads is kind of annoying. I know you want to talk about the Forbes stuff, but what do you want to talk about? The team has improved in value since AEG came in, their holdings related to the team are through the roof, yet the accounting shows the Kings proper as losing money. What is there to talk about? These guys know what they are doing, and wouldn't be in this business if it didn't make money for them on balance.

And just look at that Forbes quote. It shows how little relevance it has to actual hockey. Bringing in free agents like Nagy and Klemm are supose to put the team in the right direction? Shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the problem, so I can't say that info means much in terms of on the ice discusion.

So, what is there to discuss on that? Comparing the numbers to the rhetoric, the ownership appears to not be so concerned about winning? Well, there's a shocker. On the positive side, I think fans could at least take comfort in noting they seem to have gotten out of making hockey decisions and retarding the team's long term improvement for short term first round exit gains. Otherwise, the overall bottom line hasn't changed.

28 kings

Good imitiation. Too short for the real thing, but your point was made.

Captain Material - Actually, I agree somewhat, the quote is dated. Perhaps not relevant today, but we're all just giving the Pass on the poor effort to win. No talk of rebuild speaks volumes.

I had asked the accountants out there for some help in understanding it. What's going on with the debt ratio? I do like to slam the parent-co., but other than basically telling me I'm lucky that Big Phil lets me live, nobody can point out the positives with this parent-co. I know of some things I'd talk about if I were trying to support them, but all the dolts who call me a meth-head, a disability-abuser, and a negative nelly don't know a thing. Plus, I think they all work for said parent-co.

Also, just because they haven't fired Lombardi, with one employment termination, they'd have the reins in their hands again in terms of hockey operations. In terms of marketing, you know they've gone nowhere.

What about the games on the NHL network? Not everyone has it but it's still national cable.

Captain Material,
Fair enough regarding your comments on the whole east coast bias thing. I think your right that the team will garnish more recognition once they start winning, but I still think it sucks that a player like Purcell may go unnoticed by the mainstream media for a few years. I know that I'm whining but it's really just residue from the years of losing. Sorry if it bugs.

cristobal,
You mentioned above "...just because they haven't fired Lombardi...", and it made me think that if they did fire Lombardi say tomorrow, would that really be such a good thing? Like it or not there is a plan in place and if a new guy came in wouldn't it suck if they started all over? What if the new guy traded all of the youth Lombardi has attained? What if the focus wasn't on development but winning right now? I hope you don't take this as an attack but as a real chance at Kings related discourse. Thoughts?

Does anyone know if it is possible to get CBC's Hockey Night In Canada in a cable or dish package? I have neither cable or a dish, but I would be willing to get one that will show HNIC.
Thanks,

Well, I don't think the parent company can be much defended. AEG sucks. Such is life. Don't want to be an idiot there, but I can't take anyone who wants to promote AEG as positive or who is so corporate capitalist brainwashed to think we are lucky to have rich people giving us the opertunity to make them richer that serious to being with.

AEG sucks. Ownership that cared about the winning could be better or worse for our actual prospects of winning, but at least they'd care. But having said that, I don't see then moving the team, so I'm left with finding what little positive I can which is that they have backed off enough to allow a hockey guy run the team and we are making great progress.

At least by my POV we are making progress. Not sure what you mean by "no talk of rebuilding". I'm willing to give a pass on winning right now because I don't think it's terribly important. Stocking the team with players who have a future in the NHL at all positions and developing those players seems more important, and I see that happening.

As far as marketing, my opinion is that the NHL is making a big mistake trying to be big. They are never going to be Coke or Pepsi, so they should really concentrate on being the best RC they can be. Instead they try to be Coke and Pepsi and fail. Contraction makes more sense to me than expansion.

LA is an interesting example. The team has a loyal base and then starts thinking they're in a "big market". Really, LA is such a big market, they have a large enough sub-market to make it seem that way and keep people coming to the Kings. LA is so big a market, a little devoted faction of that market is enough to keep butts in the seats.

What they don't seem to realize is they will never draw the larger market as a whole in through marketing efforts. Just won't happen. They already are attracting everyone they are going to attract, so marketing the team is pointless...

...with one small exception. Winning. Win and LA loves you. That is the start and end of the situation.

Frankly, I don't want the sport to get bigger. It just means I sit farther from the ice, the talent is thined out across more teams, it costs more for tickets and parking, people come up with crazy ideas like Fox-tracks and worry about fighting hurting the perception of the game for people who don;t even care to percieve it in the first place, etc. I'd prefer the NHL decided to be the best second tier sport they could be and focus on their fans instead of all those dollars out there in the pockets of people who are not their fans.

Irish Pat - I have to whisper because their are agents out there, but i do not take your post as an attack. All i like is dialogue. My point about Lombardi "not being fired yet" is in connection to the Parent-co.'s recent firing of their soccer marketing GM of the Galaxy - Alexei Lalas. He was able to bring in money, but then he was turned upon and cannibalised. Look it up. That's part of what I've been posting. Some people seem to have a big problem with it and want it silenced.

Captain Material - If the hammer IS dropped on Lombardi because the team isn't winning or earning enough, the Parent-Co. will be back in charge. Since they hold the 'sword of damocles' over Lombardi, he's still answerable to them. I'm not FOR firing Lombardi despite my huge criticism of him. He's made errors but they'll only be mistakes if he fails to learn from them. As for the Parent-Co. i want them out. I want them to sell. I want them out of the NHL and I want their support of Bettman gone. I want people who love hockey to own the team and I want people who love hockey to win AND lose in LA. I want to be proud to be a Kings fan, not ashamed. I don't want to see 120 dollar wall clocks on their website and I want the website for the LA Kings to be their property, not the NHL's. People don't even want me talking about soccer, but why not? I want Hockey to be one of the top 3 sports in the world. It's better than the NFL and its better than the NBA. Unfortunately, its being collared by marketing-driven, clueless, oil-barons like Big Phil. The "value" of the Kings may be higher than when Big Phil bought, but relative to inflation and everything else we buy, they've lost value.

I still need some accounting knowledgeable person to explain to me what the debt ratio is all about and what it means.

Little off topic, but this is for you cristobal -

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=379753

Nothing monumental, but it is interesting and shows forward progression to have an NHL team play and international team.

Not Impressed,

Hockey Night in Canada is always included with the NHL Center Ice Cable Package. Its cool because they play the extended pre-game & post-game shows from the CBC on Saturdays. And then when CBC has their Hockey Day in Canada special you get to see all 12 hours of the CBC coverage. I'm a Cox Cable customer in San Diego, and I can't tell you how rad it is to be able to view HNIC every week in America's Finest City through the NHL Center Ice package...

I work in Accounting/Finance and the easiest way to describe Debt Ratio is that it is the Ratio between the Total Amount of Debt you have on your books and the Total Amount of Assets you have on your books. I hope this helps...

disappointing, but expected. i can't help but think back to a memorable game we played against New Jersey on VS in 2006-07. we beat the Devils in a shootout after Frolov and Kopitar pulled ridiculous moves on Martin Brodeur, and the commentators raved about our young players and our prospects for the future. i like to think that the game showed a few hockey fans outside of california that the Kings had some killer young guys and were looking to make an impact. unfortunately, that kind of exposure isn't gonna happen this year. unless we make the playoffs!

(optimism: a Kings fan's best friend.)

CBC and HNIC are pretty cool. Their coverage is top notch, except if your the Kings and get blown out like last years game in Calgary. I've never heard a group of announcers jump all over a team like they did. They didn't just kick us when we were down, they jumped on our throats and stayed there until the final buzzer. Pierre Maguire was especially harsh on Jack Johnson and pretty much railled on him for every mistake he made.

28 Kings, I think you are thinking of TSN, not HNIC.

Don't mind one bit that the Kings are not on Versus. There announcers are horrible. However, I do enjoy when the kings are on hockey night in canada, or tsn. NHL Center Ice is the way to go for any hockey fan.

Speaking of FSN, they're airing episodes of Kings Insider this weekend. Time to get your August hockey fix! :)