OLN Hockey Review

OLN stepped onto the major sports scene last night and wasn't too bad.

Their studio team was (former ESPN hockey commentator) Bill Clement, hockey 'insider' Neil Smith and former player Keith Jones. I really liked Gary Thorn and Bill Clement when they would do hockey on ESPN...by far (I thought) the best tandem in the business. The studio coverage just didn't have any 'umph' for me. All three of the studio analyst's seemed suited as an 'analyst' and Bill just didn't have that flair that a John Buccigross has, imo. They really didn't add any excitement to opening night, which really isn't that bad... I say amongst hockey fans, it was a better move to be non-offensive on opening night than to be an in-your-face type program. With all the new rule changes, hockey fans are just looking for any reason to walk away from the sport forever.

From what I saw from last night's action, the rule changes were well received. I think the game flows better and I think scoring will increase...and for the record, I never really wanted to see scoring increase, I enjoyed a 1-0 goalie battle just as much as a 7-6 shootout.

OT: I haven't tuned into OLN before, but apparently according to their commercials all they air is PBR (Professional Bull Riding) and re-runs of Survivor...so unless a fantasy PBR league fires up, NHL will be the only thing I'll be watching on the OLN...