NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday fired back at NBC Broadcasting & Sports Chair Mark Lazarus, who last week told SI that recent hockey viewership both domestically and at the Olympics is down and that the NHL not participating at Pyeonchang is “bad for hockey everywhere.” Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, Bettman said, “With all the things going on in South Korea, I was a little curious about why he’s focusing on local team hockey ratings, but okay.” NBC Sports is the NHL’s largest domestic TV partner (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
WISHING THE BEST: THE ATHLETIC's Scott Powers reports NBC NHL analyst and Blackhawks announcer Eddie Olczyk last week "completed his final round of chemo." Olczyk has to "wait until April for another body scan, but he’s hopeful there won’t be a trace of cancer." He will be "joining the Blackhawks on his first road trip of the season to call a series of games later this week." Olczyk said of his battle with cancer, "I'm way tougher than I ever thought I was physically and mentally" (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/25).
CLASS ACT: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote under the header, "NHL Network Gets It Right With Temperate Treatment Of Tragedy." The net on Thursday night prior to Capitals-Panthers "plugged into" the live FS Florida feed of "on-ice ceremonies" honoring the victims of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. "NHL Tonight" was "able to show us a pregame that clearly left spectators, several players and who knows how many TV viewers in tears" (N.Y. POST, 2/25).
