NBC on Saturday night drew a 2.2 overnight rating for the double OT Ducks-Blackhawks Western Conference Finals Game 4, marking the best figure for any '15 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game to date and the best for any conference final since '13. Ducks-Blackhawks Game 4 marks the best overnight for a non-Final game since Blackhawks-Kings drew a 2.9 overnight for a double OT game on June 8, 2013. Saturday night's game also was up from a 1.9 overnight for the comparable Kings-Blackhawks Game 3 last year. Meanwhile, NBCSN drew a 1.7 overnight for Game 5 of the WCF, up from a 1.0 for Blackhawks-Kings Game 4 last year in the same time slot. NBCSN also drew a 1.3 overnight for Lightning-Rangers Game 5 on Sunday night, up from a 1.2 for the comparable Rangers-Canadiens Game 4 last year (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
NO REST FOR THE WEARY: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted broadcaster Kenny Albert, who is currently working the Ducks-Blackhawks series for NBC and the Lightning-Rangers series for ESPN Radio 98.7 N.Y., tonight "will call his 31st NHL playoff game this postseason." Last season, he "worked 39 NHL playoff games between radio and TV." Albert: "The volume of games is similar to the Winter Olympics. Often, we work two or even three games per day. The difference is there is no travel once you arrive on site. You are in the same hotel for two weeks. However, there is even more preparation than during the Stanley Cup playoffs due to the volume of games and number of countries/teams involved" (SI.com, 5/25). Meanwhile, in a special to USA TODAY, Pat Pickens writes analyst Pierre McGuire "has also kept a wild schedule this postseason," as he worked "his 30th game" Saturday night in Chicago. He said calling that many games is a result of "doing what my superiors tell me." McGuire said he is "blessed" and it is "a privilege" to have the opportunity to call so many games. With contractual obligations on radio throughout the week "sapping more time, McGuire retains his sanity from the hectic travel and games with 60-to-90 minute gym sessions in which he decompresses" (USATODAY.com, 5/23).
LOOK HARDER: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote throughout NBC’s Stanley Cup coverage, and "with live play on, viewers have been distracted, often startled, by the sudden removal of the score/time/period graphic in the upper left, replaced by a long strip panel showing eight separate videos." Although that "gives us nine moving images to watch at once, those eight are so small" that each becomes "indecipherable." Next, that panel "is cleared, replaced with, 'Share Your Moments,' then with, '#MyPlayoffsMoment.'" Why not "wait until a whistle to show us something we can't see?" (N.Y. POST, 5/24).
