NHL Network Preseason Schedule

Because Hockey is the best sport on earth and because I've been bored out of my mind for three and a half months, I'm completely jazzed to watch some live NHL hockey, be it preseason or otherwise. This is the NHL network schedule for preseason games. All times listed are eastern. Now, based on past experiences, I would guess that all live Hawks games will be played on Comcast Sports Net locally and blacked out on the NHL Network, but the replayed games should be available.

Wed, 9/22 Chicago Blackhawks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (MTS Centre, Winnipeg) 8:00PM LIVE
Wed, 9/22 Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 11:00 PM
Wed, 9/22 Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks 2:00 AM *
Thu, 9/23 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Philadelphia Flyers (London, ONT) 7:00 PM LIVE
Thu, 9/23 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Edmonton Oilers 2:00 AM *
Fri, 9/24 Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings 7:00 PM LIVE
Fri, 9/24 Philadelphia Flyers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 10:00 PM
Fri, 9/24 Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues 12:00 AM *
Sat, 9/25 Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 PM LIVE
Sat, 9/25 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Buffalo Sabres 11:00 PM +
Sat, 9/25 Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 1:00 AM * +
Sat, 9/25 Anaheim Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks 4:00 AM *
Sun, 9/26 Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers 8:00 PM LIVE
Mon, 9/27 Buffalo Sabres vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM LIVE
Tue, 9/28 Buffalo Sabres vs. Ottawa Senators (Kraft Hockeyville - Dundas, ONT) 7:00 PM LIVE
Tue, 9/28 San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks 10:00 PM LIVE
Tue, 9/28 Chicago Blackhawks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 2:00 AM *
Tue, 9/28 Phoenix Coyotes vs. Calgary Flames 4:00 AM *
Wed, 9/29 New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 PM LIVE
Wed, 9/29 Vancouver Canucks vs. San Jose Sharks 10:30 PM LIVE
Wed, 9/29 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators 2:00 AM *
Wed, 9/29 Calgary Flames vs. New York Islanders (Saskatoon, SK) 4:00 AM *
Wed, 9/29 Phoenix Coyotes vs. Edmonton Oilers 6:00 AM *
Thu, 9/30 Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens 7:30 PM LIVE
Thu, 9/30 Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Minnesota Wild 11:00 PM
Fri, 10/1 Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 PM LIVE
Fri, 10/1 Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks 10:00 PM LIVE
Fri, 10/1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings 1:00 AM *
Fri, 10/1 Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers 4:00 AM *
Sat, 10/2 Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM LIVE
Sun, 10/3 St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks 6:00 PM LIVE
Sun, 10/3 Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames 12:00 AM *

* Denotes airtime is day after contest
+ Not available in HD
Schedule subject to change

Laffy Taffe to be seen in the United Center

The dog days of summer continue to get longer and less interesting, if you’re looking for any interesting NHL news. Only on a hot, sticky, late July day could Marty Reasoner and Jeff Taffe be the biggest hockey news in Chicago. Sadly, I regret to inform you that this is not a joke. Late yesterday afternoon, Marty “Tower this is Ghostrider requesting a fly-by” Reasoner and his freshly re-packed bags were traded back south to Florida for Jeff Taffe. This is probably a hair above the signing of the great Igor Makarov, on the list of important organ-I-zational moves . I’m talking great, as in, “doesn’t even qualify as news on the website” for Makarov. Seriously, this is a snore of a transaction. Reasoner was tabbed for the 4th line, most likely. In a perfect world, he would be a cheaper and younger replacement for Madden as the 3rd line shutdown center but, honestly, who can replace this “Hot Tub Time Machine” moment?



This means the Hawks save about $600,000 in salary, if Taffe even makes the team. So, if said player makes the team, he’ll either be warming the pine as a proud member of the 4th line, or a healthy scratch. I would personally just rather see some younger hungry kid from Rockford who throws his body around without any regard for his own safety, not some 29 year old journeyman who had a total of 2 points in 21 games last year. The bottom line is that we’re going to be seeing a lot of fresh new faces when the Hawks open up this year.