Olympic Hockey Coverage in the UK?

As a transplanted Canadian, I am going to be absolutely gutted if I can't watch Olympic hockey. Does anybody know if it will be covered on any British stations? BBC2? Eurosport? NASN? Help! :)

I don't know about the UK but here in the NL the ordinary Dutch station which covered the Olympics in 2002 showed most of the games. I would say the chances are pretty good that someone over there will have it.

Whoever the Olympic carrier is.

Whoever the Olympic carrier is.

The Olympic carrier is BBC2 I believe. But don't think for a second that it necessarily means they will be showing hockey. It's a near hockey vacuum here, even more than in other non-traditional hockey markets like German, The Netherlands etc.

The Olympic carrier is BBC2 I believe. But don't think for a second that it necessarily means they will be showing hockey. It's a near hockey vacuum here, even more than in other non-traditional hockey markets like German, The Netherlands etc.
Seeing as they( GB) never even bothered trying to qualify you may be in trouble. Some big games may be on but i doubt you will get a full slate.

It's highly probable the final will be on BBC2 - it was last time around. I dont think they showed anything else though, perhaps the semis or highlights.

However with the expanding BBC digital channels, its possible there will be a little more coverage and the BBC are very committed to their Olympic coverage. But I wouldnt get your hopes up for more than the final or semis.

4 years ago, BBC1 and BBC2 showed a lot of the games from the hockey tournament, including most of the games from the preliminary round. A lot of it was shown on the Interactive service (red button on digital television, one of sky, cable or freeview) where you could choose from three different sports, the majority of the time one of these would be a hockey game. Unfortunately a lot of the time you had to miss the first period as they were showing a curling game and they waited for that to conclude before switching to the hockey. The quater-finals onwards I think were featured on the regular bbc coverage, certainly the semis and medal games were.

I think I watched almost all the games from the salt lake tournament, apart from a handful. I will warn you the commentary isn't exactly 'expert' but it isn't that bad.

Hope this helps

I think eurosport show a lot of the Olympics, including the hockey tournament If you check here - http://www.eurosport.co.uk closer to the start of the games there is a link down the left hand side to "TV" I expect this will show the listings, but I wouldn't expect them appear till around the 10th of February.

Good to know, thanks guys. To be honest, I'd be thrilled with just the semis and the finals. I was worried I wouldn't get to see any Olympic hockey whatsoever, except perhaps some highlights. But from what you guys are saying it sounds like we should see and least a couple games between BBC and Eurosport.

Eurosport normally carry most games in the Olympics.

Hopefully we'll get Paul Ferguson and Richard Boprey doing the commentary

Eurosport normally carry most games in the Olympics.

Hopefully we'll get Paul Ferguson and Richard Boprey doing the commentary

Usually get them and another commentary team of Bob Ballard and another fella who I can't remember his name!

The BBC has always shown olympic hockey for as long as I can remember. From '92 onwards the Semi and the Final have always been shown live. From Nagano onwards pretty much all the games have been shown, including prelims like Belarus and Kazakstan. Don't worry all the big games will be covered, lets face it even in the UK we know the hockey is the best part of the winter olympics! Eurosport will show some games also.

It should definitely be on Eurosport and BBC Interactive. Alternatively, find yourself a pub or bar showing the games. I'll likely be spending most of them with the Finnish population of London at the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington, lovely.

It should definitely be on Eurosport and BBC Interactive. Alternatively, find yourself a pub or bar showing the games. I'll likely be spending most of them with the Finnish population of London at the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington, lovely.

I concur !

BBC showed the final last year, and highlights of every game throughout the Olympics.

It should definitely be on Eurosport and BBC Interactive. Alternatively, find yourself a pub or bar showing the games. I'll likely be spending most of them with the Finnish population of London at the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington, lovely.

Famous Three Kings, eh? whats up with that, tre kronor anyone? :)

Just so people in the UK are aware, BBC2 are going to be covering the hockey. Upfront on their channel I dont know how much but if you have access to digital interactive you can press the red button go into the interactive section and select whatever event you want to watch at the games so if it's hockey you want you should be able to go interactive and watch every single game.

It should definitely be on Eurosport and BBC Interactive. Alternatively, find yourself a pub or bar showing the games. I'll likely be spending most of them with the Finnish population of London at the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington, lovely.

After Finlands last game on Feb 21 you may want to switch to the Maple Leaf Pub in Covent Garden eh. Alternately in Edinburgh a good place for hockey is Belushi's on Market just off the Royal mile. They have NASN you can watch Hockey Night in Canada for 9 hours Sunday mornings (6 AM on) and have a full breakfast. It's also a good place to watch International hockey because it's attached to a hostel so there's usually foreigners aboot.