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Sports

Your Stanley Cup qualifier and round robin playoff schedule – including TV info

Published

4 years ago

10 minute read

STANLEY CUP QUALIFIERS DAY-BY-DAY SCHEDULE

(All times ET; home team listed second)

Saturday, Aug. 1

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, Game 1, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS, MSG, FS-CR
Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders, Game 1, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN1, TVAS, FS-F, MSG+
Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Game 1, 8 p.m. | NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers, Game 1, 3 p.m. | NBC, SN
Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames, Game 1, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, CBC, SN

 

Sunday, Aug. 2

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Round-robin

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins, 3 p.m. | NBC, SN, TVAS

Best-of-5 series

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 1, 8 p.m. | NHLN, SN, TVAS, FS-O

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Arizona Coyotes vs, Nashville Predators, Game 1, 2 p.m. | USA, NHL.TV, SN360, FS-TN, FS-A

Round-robin

St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche, 6:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS2, ALT, FS-MW

Best-of-5 series

Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks, Game 1, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, FS-N, FS-WI

 

Monday, Aug. 3

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, Game 2, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS, MSG, FS-CR

Round-robin

Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS, NBCSWA, SUN

Best-of-5 series

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Game 2, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames, Game 2, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN

Round-robin

Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 6:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN1, ATTSN-RM, FS-SW

Best-of-5 series

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers, Game 2, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH

 

Tuesday, Aug. 4

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders, Game 2, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, MSG+, FS-F
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 2, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, FS-O
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers, Game 3, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN360, TVAS, MSG, FS-CR

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Arizona Coyotes vs. Nashville Predators, Game 2, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN1, SN360, FS-TN, FS-A+
Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets, Game 3, 6:45 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN
Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks, Game 2, 10:45 p.m. | USA, NHL.TV, SN, FS-N, FS-WI

 

Wednesday, Aug. 5

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers, Game 3, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, FS-F, MSG+

Round-robin

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, NESN, FS-F

Best-of-5 series

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens, Game 3, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes, Game 3, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN360, FS-A+, FS-TN

Round-robin

Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars, 6:30 p.m, | NHLN, NHL.TV, FX-CA, FS-SW, ALT

Best-of-5 series

Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Game 3, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH

 

Thursday, Aug. 6

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, Game 3, TBD
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers, Game 4*, TBD

Round-robin

Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild, Game 3, TBD
Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets, Game 4*, TBD

Round-robin

Vegas Golden Knights vs. St. Louis Blues, TBD

 

Friday, Aug. 7

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers, Game 4*, TBD
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens, Game 4*, TBD
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, Game 4*, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes, Game 4*, TBD
Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild, Game 4*, TBD
Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Game 4*, TBD

 

Saturday, Aug. 8

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, Game 5*, TBD
Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Game 5*, TBD

Round-robin

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames, Game 5*, TBD
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers, Game 5*, TBD

Round-robin

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Colorado Avalanche, TBD

 

Sunday, Aug. 9

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Florida Panthers vs. New York Islanders, Game 5*, TBD
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 5*, TBD

Round-robin

Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Best-of-5 series

Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks, Game 5*, TBD
Arizona Coyotes vs. Nashville Predators, Game 5*, TBD

Round-robin

Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues, TBD

 

STANLEY CUP QUALIFIERS BY SERIES

EASTERN CONFERENCE (all games at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto)

(All times ET, additional TV information will be announced at a later date; home team listed second) 

(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens

Saturday, Aug. 1: Canadiens vs. Penguins, 8 p.m. | NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS, 
Monday, Aug. 3: Canadiens vs. Penguins, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Penguins vs. Canadiens, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT
Friday, Aug. 7: Penguins vs. Canadiens*
Saturday, Aug. 8: Canadiens vs. Penguins*

 

(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) New York Rangers

Saturday, Aug. 1: Rangers vs. Hurricanes, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS, FS-CR, MSG
Monday, Aug. 3: Rangers vs. Hurricanes, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS, FS-CR, MSG
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Hurricanes vs. Rangers, 8 p.m. | NBCSN, SN360, TVAS, MSG, FS-CR
Thursday, Aug. 6: Hurricanes vs. Rangers*
Saturday, Aug. 8: Rangers vs. Hurricanes*

 

(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers

Saturday, Aug. 1: Panthers vs. Islanders, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN1, TVAS, MSG+, FS-F
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Panthers vs. Islanders, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, MSG+, FS-F
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Islanders vs. Panthers, 12 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, FS-F, MSG+
Friday, Aug. 7: Islanders vs. Panthers*
Sunday, Aug. 9: Panthers vs. Islanders*

 

(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Columbus Blue Jackets

Sunday, Aug. 2: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs, 8 p.m. | NHLN, SN, TVAS, FS-O
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, FS-O
Thursday, Aug. 6: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets, TBD
Friday, Aug. 7: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets*, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs*, TBD

 

Round-robin

Sunday, Aug. 2: Flyers vs. Bruins, 3 p.m. | NBC, SN, TVAS
Monday, Aug. 3: Capitals vs. Lightning, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS, SUN, NBCSWA
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Lightning vs. Bruins, 4 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, NESN, FS-F
Thursday, Aug. 6: Capitals vs. Flyers, TBD
Saturday, Aug. 8: Flyers vs. Lightning, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Bruins vs. Capitals, TBD

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE (all games at Rogers Place, Edmonton)

(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago Blackhawks

Saturday, Aug. 1: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, 3 p.m. | NBC, SN
Monday, Aug. 3: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Oilers vs. Blackhawks, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH
Friday, Aug. 7: Oilers vs. Blackhawks*, TBD
Saturday, Aug. 8: Blackhawks vs. Oilers*, TBD

 

(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes

Sunday, Aug. 2: Coyotes vs. Predators, 2 p.m. | USA, NHL.TV, SN360, FS-TN, FS-A
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Coyotes vs. Predators, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN1, SN360, FS-TN, FS-A+
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Predators vs. Coyotes, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN360, FS-A+, FS-TN
Friday, Aug. 7: Predators vs. Coyotes*, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Coyotes vs. Predators*, TBD

 

(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota Wild

Sunday, Aug. 2: Wild vs. Canucks, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, FS-N, FS-WI
Tuesday, Aug. 4: Wild vs. Canucks, 10:45 p.m. | USA, NHL.TV, SN, FS-N, FS-WI
Thursday, Aug. 6: Canucks vs. Wild, TBD
Friday, Aug. 7: Canucks vs. Wild*, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Wild vs. Canucks*, TBD

 

(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets

Saturday, Aug. 1: Jets vs. Flames, 10:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, NHL.TV, CBC, SN
Monday, Aug. 3: Jets vs. Flames, 2:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN
Tuedsay, Aug. 4: Flames vs. Jets, 4:45 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN
Thursday, Aug. 6: Flames vs. Jets*, TBD
Saturday, Aug. 8: Jets vs. Flames*, TBD

Round-robin

Sunday, Aug. 2: Blues vs. Avalanche, 6:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS2, FS-MW, ALT
Monday, Aug. 3: Stars vs. Golden Knights, 6:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, SN1, ATTSN-RM, FS-SW
Wednesday, Aug. 5: Avalanche vs. Stars, 6:30 p.m. | NHLN, NHL.TV, FX-CA, FS-SW, ALT
Thursday, Aug. 6: Golden Knights vs. Blues, TBD
Saturday, Aug. 8: Golden Knights vs. Avalanche, TBD
Sunday, Aug. 9: Stars vs. Blues, TBD

Related Topics:

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

MLB’s Exploding Chequebook: Parity Is Now For Suckers

Published on December 17, 2024

By

MLB has seen parity and proclaimed, “We don’t give a damn!” Okay, they didn’t say that. In fact they insist the opposite is true. They’re all about competition and smaller markets getting a shot at a title. But as the 2024 offseason spending shows, believe none of what you hear and half of what you see in MLB.

Here’s the skinny: Juan Soto‘s contract with the NY Mets — 15 years and guaranteeing $765 million, not a penny of which is deferred. Max Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million deal with the New York Yankees. Later, Nathan Eovaldi secured a three-year, $75 million contract to return to the Texas Rangers. Blake Snell (five years, $182 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers) and Matthew Boyd (two years, $29 million with the Chicago Cubs) added to the splurge.

There’s one more thing that stands out. MLB has no trouble with the financial big boys in New York, Los Angles, Texas, Toronto, Atlanta and Chicago shelling out money no small market dare pay. In the MLB cheap seats, Tampa, Pittsburgh  and Miami can’t send out quality players fast enough. But MLB is cool with that, too, as those paupers get a healthy slice of TV money.

So yes, they’re all about talking parity with their luxury tax system. But to keep the TV, digital, betting and marketing lucre flowing they have to have large media markets swinging the heaviest bats come postseason. The question is, do MLB fans care the way they used to about parity? It says here they don’t. More want to seed best-on-best more often. Which is brutal but refreshing.

Their sister leagues, married to draconian salary cap systems, are still pushing parity, even as they expand beyond recognition. In our 2004 book Money Players, legendary Boston Bruins coach/ GM Harry Sinden noted, “The problem with teams in the league, is that there were (then) 20 teams who all think they are going to  win the Stanley Cup and they all are going to share it. But only one team is going to win it. The rest are chasing a rainbow.”

And that was before the expansion Vegas Golden Knights won a Cup within five years while the third-year Seattle Kraken made a run in those same 2023 playoffs. There are currently 32 teams in the league, each chasing Sinden’s rainbow of a Stanley Cup. That means 31 cranky fan bases every year. And 31 management teams trying to avoid getting fired.

Maybe we’ve reached peak franchise level? Uh, no. Not so long as salary-capped leagues can use the dream of parity to sell more franchises. As we wrote in October of 2023, “If you believe the innuendo coming from commissioner Gary Bettman there is a steady appetite for getting a piece of the NHL operation. “The best answer I can give you is that we have continuous expressions of interest from places like Houston, Atlanta, Quebec City, Salt Lake City, but expansion isn’t on the agenda.” In the next breath Bettman was predicting that any new teams will cost “A lot, a lot.”

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly echoed Bettman’s caution about a sudden expansion but added, ”Having said that, particularly with the success of the Vegas and Seattle expansions, there are more people who want to own professional hockey teams.” Translation: If the NHL can get a billion for a new team, the heck with competitive excellence, the clock might start ticking sooner. After all, small-market Ottawa just went for $950.”

It’s not just the expansion-obsessed NHL talking more teams. MLB is looking to add franchises. Abandoned Montreal is once more getting palpitations over rumours that the league wants to return to the city that lost its Expos in 2005. Recent reports indicate that while MLB might prefer Salt Lake City and Nashville it also feels it must right the wrong left when the Expos moved to Washington DC 19 years ago.

The city needs a new ballpark to replace disastrous Olympic Stadium. They’ll also need more than Tom Brady to fund the franchise fee and operating costs. And Quebec corporate support— always transitory in the Expos years— will need to be strong. But two more MLB franchises within five years is a lock.

While the NBA is mum on going past 30 teams it has not shut the door on expansion after seeing the NHL cashing in. Neither has the cash-generating monster known as the NFL where teams currently sell for over six billion US. The NFL is eyeing Europe for its next moves.

The question that has to be asked in this is, WTF, quality of competition? The more teams in a league the lower the chances of even getting to a semifinal series let alone a championship. Fans in cities starved for a championship— the NFL’s Detroit Lions or Cleveland Browns are entering their seventh decade without a title or the Toronto Maple Leafs title-less since 1967— know how corrosive it can be.

Getting to 34, 36, maybe 40 teams makes for a short-term score for owners, but it could leave leagues with an entire strata of loser teams that no one—least of all networks, carriers and advertisers—wants to see. Generations of fans will be like Canuck supporters, going their entire lives without a championship.

In addition, as we’ve argued in our 2018 book Cap In Hand: How Salary Caps Are Killing Pro Sports and How The Free Market Can Save Them, watering down the product with a lot of teams no one wants to watch nationally or globally seems counter productive. The move away from quality toward quantity serves only the gambling industry. But since when has Gary Bettman Truly cared about quality of the product? So long as he gets to say, “We have a trade to announce” at the Draft, he’s a happy guy.

When we published Cap In Hand we proposed a system like soccer with ranked divisions using promotion and relegation to ensure competition, not parity. Most of the interviewers we spoke to were skeptical of the idea. But as MLB steams closer to economic Darwinism our proposal is looking more credible every day. Play at the level you can afford. Or just watch Ted Lasso. Your choice.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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Sports

LPGA bans ‘transgender’ male players after hundreds of female golfers speak out

Published on December 12, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Calvin Freiburger

The Ladies Professional Golf Association released an updated policy limiting participation to actual biological ladies after calls by hundreds of female golfers to keep confused men such as ‘Hailey’ Davidson out of the game.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has released an updated policy limiting participation to actual biological ladies after calls by hundreds of female golfers to keep confused men out of the game.

Two hundred seventy-five female golfers signed an August 19 letter calling on the LPGA to remove self-professed “transgender” golfer “Hailey” Davidson, to “repeal all policies and rules that allow male golfers to participate in women’s golf events,” and to “establish and enforce the right of female professional golfers to participate in women’s golf based on sex-eligibility (which) must be limited to members of the female sex.”

“The male advantage in driving the ball is estimated around a 30% performance advantage; this is an enormous difference in the context of sport,” the letter argued. “Anatomical differences between males and females affect clubhead speed and regulating consistency at ball contact. Females have higher mean heart rates and encounter greater physiological demands while playing, especially at high altitudes. The anatomical differences are not removed with male testosterone suppression.”

On December 4, the LPGA announced an updated Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility, which was “informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law,” and will take effect starting in 2025, effectively disqualifying Davidson.

“Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events,” the organization confirmed. “The policies governing the LPGA’s recreational programs and non-elite events utilize different criteria to provide opportunities for participation in the broader LPGA community.”

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Davidson complained on social media. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.”

Mandatory inclusion of gender-confused individuals in opposite-sex sports is promoted as a matter of “inclusivity,” but critics note that indulging “transgender” athletes undermines the original rational basis for having sex-specific athletics in the first place, thereby depriving female athletes of recognition and professional or academic opportunities, as well as undermining female players’ basic safety and privacy rights by forcing them to share showers and changing areas with members of the opposite sex.

There have been numerous high-profile examples in recent years of men winning women’s competitions, and research affirms that physiology gives males distinct athletic advantages that cannot be fully negated by hormone suppression.

In a 2019 paper published by the Journal of Medical Ethics, New Zealand researchers found that “healthy young men (do) not lose significant muscle mass (or power) when their circulating testosterone levels were reduced to (below International Olympic Committee guidelines) for 20 weeks,” and “indirect effects of testosterone” on factors such as bone structure, lung volume, and heart size “will not be altered by hormone therapy;” therefore, “the advantage to transwomen (biological men) afforded by the (International Olympic Committee) guidelines is an intolerable unfairness.”

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