There was a day not too long ago when the Stars and Red Wings were sure to be featured on national television against each other at least once a season. Now, even with Mike Modano, 20 year face of the Dallas Stars moving to the hated Wings, they get nothing. It says a lot about where the Stars are in the national hockey consciousness. They're now the Indiana Pacers of national television coverage: They don't get on much and people just kind of tolerate them being there. In other words, they're not very good.
The Stars will be featured on Versus three times this year:
- Nov. 29 @ Carolina
- Jan. 17 vs. Los Angeles
- Feb. 22 vs. New Jersey
The games on the 17th and 22nd are both schedule for 7:30pm starts, so that could change. The game against the Ducks on a Tuesday (10/26) that they changed inexplicably to an 8:00pm start is not on this list. On the behalf of season ticket holders with children everywhere: Why is there an 8:00pm start on a Tuesday if it's not a Versus (or a national tv game in Canada) broadcast?
There are two options for NBC games:
- March 13 vs. Los Angeles
(But they'll probably go with Chicago at Washington) - April 10 @ Minnesota
(But they'll probably go with Detroit at Chicago or Boston at New Jersey)
The only thing I really want to know is a.) Will all the games be televised? and b.) How many will be in HD? The official Dallas Stars Twitter account had this to say on Tuesday...
#DallasStars TV schedule is being finalized and it looks as though all 82 games will be available in HD this season. More soon...
All 82 in HD? Wow, is it 2008 already? I kid, I kid. Production in HD is expensive, and we all know about how Tom Hicks lost his wallet in a bar fight.
The rest of the local TV schedule is expected to be released later today... We'll update when we have it.