Is it just me, or was TSN's coverage crappy?

Usually I love their coverage but this year they seemed to be poor. The announcers crossed the line from passive cheering to blatant cheerleading and their complete lack of coverage of anything non-canada seemed to zap the excitement out. It was very rare for anything to be said about anybody not on Canada. Beyond that, it is impossible to find any information on tournament awards. They mention Tavares being named mvp, but nothing else. I give their ranking a C. Brutal display for a network that usually delivers, especially on this tournament.

Wow a Canadian network getting excited about a Canadian Gold medal ..but not just any Gold medal a 5th in a row Gold medal won in CANADA ..yeah damn TSN .All the awards were presented during the final ceremonies ..LIVE ..how could you not notice them ???
Karlsson top D-man
Marksrom -top goalie
Tavares -MVP

Not only was there a lack of non-canadian coverage, the canadian coverage that did exist was little compared to last year. There used to be like 45 minutes of post game before, and at least 5 for non-Canada games, but it seemed they generally went straight to SportsCentre. Pretty poor IMHO

You're gonna have to be a little more specific. There's always been a heavy emphasis on canadian players. I've been recording these tournaments for the past 6 years and didn't notice any major changes from a production standpoint. They covered Hedman/Markstrom/Janus/Filatov when they were suppose to.

What exactly did they do in years past that they didn't do this year?

With access to 3 different networks (TSN, TSN2, NHL Network) I was a little disappointed with the non-Canada coverage. They could've had some B-team broadcasters and covered extra games. I missed not being able to see the likes of Finland or Germany or the Czechs.

Well, as far as announcers go, I gotta say I really disliked McGuire, some of the statements were just really ignorant in terms of looking at things too "Amero-centric". For the rest, I can't really comment much, since the only way for me to watch TSN was via VOD on the site, but yeah, they could've had more games.

With access to 3 different networks (TSN, TSN2, NHL Network) I was a little disappointed with the non-Canada coverage. They could've had some B-team broadcasters and covered extra games. I missed not being able to see the likes of Finland or Germany or the Czechs.

Alot of games were shown on Rogers Television in ontario, I also did see a few non-canadian games on tsn... I heard the play by play guy usually used for the Mens World Championships a few times aswell

Call me crazy but I can't stand the repeated mentioning of the draft status of the players. "New Jersey's going to have a great winger in the years to come"

To me it takes away from what the players are accomplishing now in the tournament and relegates the tournament to "its great but its not the big show".

Maybe they are trying to increase their NHL ratings.

Yeah, in the post-game ceremony when TSN showed the presentation of the best goalie award to Markstrom and the best defenceman award to Karlsson, I was saying to myself "Damn you TSN!! Why are you making it so difficult to find information on who won the awards??"

TSN's coverage was excellent, as it has been for years at this tournament.

I know Miller and McGuire are Canadian and want Canada to win, but their cheerleading was a bit over the top this year. Personally, I'd prefer some objectivity. Obviously I'm cheering for Canada, but I also cheer for the draft picks from my favourite NHL team who play for countries other than Canada. Try as they might, I'll never consider guys like McDonagh, Torp and Kristo as enemies.

Much as I dislike McGuire for his rambling and interrupting, he is knowledgable of the game.

Particular regarding the Swedish goaltenders antics of embellishment.

I am referring to puck chase between himself and Esposito when the two collided and Markstrom chose to act as he'd been struck down maliciously.

I can see on a few sites the Swedish and other Euro fans ranting about Canadian players "running" the goaltenders.

In the crease, yes. But outside, its open game.

I know Miller and McGuire are Canadian and want Canada to win, but their cheerleading was a bit over the top this year. Personally, I'd prefer some objectivity. Obviously I'm cheering for Canada, but I also cheer for the draft picks from my favourite NHL team who play for countries other than Canada. Try as they might, I'll never consider guys like McDonagh, Torp and Kristo as enemies.

Pierre McGuire is an American

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_McGuire

I'm not saying that makes him objective, but it does make him not Canadian :).

Pierre McGuire is an American

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_McGuire

I'm not saying that makes him objective, but it does make him not Canadian :).

Get out! All these years, I thought he was from Montreal.

TSN is always going to be biased towards Canada and yeah its a little much at times, but really the announcers are as passionate about hockey as any Canadian hockey fan and while you expect them to be professional they get emotional too. I prefer bias over none and I prefer some emotion and passion for the game and Canada over none.

I do wish folks that aren't even Canadian would shut up about the bias though. Be glad you have something to watch at all.

Maybe it's just me, but I still miss Paul Romanuik.

I think TSN had two or three non-Canadian games in the round-robin, then the two quarter-finals, the Sweden-Slovakia semi-final, and the bronze medal game, plus all of Canada's games. That's six or seven games, which has been par for the course for them in recent years. They only started to cover non-Canada games in the last few years.

TSN's coverage of this tournament is excellent. They might not have the best announcers out there (Miller's okay, but he's no Romanuik; McGuire actually seemed more level-headed this year, didn't do the "monster" or "human eraser" stuff as much as in the past, which is good, because he knows the game, and that sometimes gets lost in his cheerleader antics). But TSN had played a major role in the growth of this tournament in Canada. It's been a mutually beneficial relationship between TSN, Hockey Canada, Canadian fans and the IIHF.

Get out! All these years, I thought he was from Montreal.

I think the family was en route to Quebec when he made his debut in the world. His Dad was American, Mom, I believe Candadian. If I remember correctly, the family did very well buying land in the Mont Tremblant area, and while they're spread out, they consider the area home. I believe McGuire's early schooling was in Mtl, I've heard him talk about the school he attended and how he gets involved with their hockey program when he can.

The Rogers coverage was light years better than that on TSN. Not only were their analysts more familiar with all the teams and junior hockey in general, they covered the entire tournament. Watching TSN, one wouldn't know there were games happening at the Civic Centre too, you couldn't easily find results on TSN.ca for games not involving Canada or not shown on TSN before the Quarter Finals, and they didn't even have the rosters for all the teams up until a few days into the tournament. Plenty of great team Canada coverage, but this is an international tournament, not a Canadian one.

Quite frankly, Hockey Canada is guilty of the same thing. Instead of having a true tournament website like at the Worlds, they simply use a section of Hockey Canada, which is also very much about Canada and Canada only, instead of updates about whats going on in the tournament and extended information about the other nations on the ice.

Nothing different than usual.. although I found myself wanting to cheer for Sweden to bypass all the cheerleading. I don't like watching homer broadcasts like that.
A little homer is fine, but it was over the top on talking about the goalie diving for the whole game.

A little homer is fine, but it was over the top on talking about the goalie diving for the whole game.

Well, you've gotta talk about what's happening. When the goalie dives three or four times in the game, guess what, it's going to be the hot topic.

I can usually stand McGuire's bombast better than most people seem to be able to. And I don't mind cheerleading for the home team... I even prefer it. However, my knock is that McGuire seems to be getting by more and more on bombast and pre-game rehearsing than in the past. He can be intelligent and knowledgeable about the game amidst his bombastic delivery. But I just get the sense these days that half of what he says is what he planned to say even before the puck was dropped. And/or that he's just over-reliant on some of his schtick and needs to freshen some of it up. :dunno:

But anyway, TSN has had a lot to do with why this tournament is so big in Canada. The whole crew there deserves a lot of credit.

And it was fabulous having the tournament here and the Civic Centre games on Rogers-22, it was the first time I've ever had the opportunity to see almost all the games of all the teams. (Although I couldn't be bothered to watch some of the games between the lesser teams, I have to say... still very nice to have the option, though.)

I've been in europe and heard commentators for their national teams announce "we".

That is something TSN has never doen and will never stoop to.

McGuire brings any broadcast down....he shouldn't be allowed near a mike.

The Rogers coverage was light years better than that on TSN. Not only were their analysts more familiar with all the teams and junior hockey in general, they covered the entire tournament. Watching TSN, one wouldn't know there were games happening at the Civic Centre too, you couldn't easily find results on TSN.ca for games not involving Canada or not shown on TSN before the Quarter Finals, and they didn't even have the rosters for all the teams up until a few days into the tournament. Plenty of great team Canada coverage, but this is an international tournament, not a Canadian one.

Quite frankly, Hockey Canada is guilty of the same thing. Instead of having a true tournament website like at the Worlds, they simply use a section of Hockey Canada, which is also very much about Canada and Canada only, instead of updates about whats going on in the tournament and extended information about the other nations on the ice.


Wow Hockey Canada talking about ..CANADA ..who woulda thunk .I prefer to go to the Team Sweden web site to get all my Team Canada info , but i will be checking out Hockey Canada now for sho ..thanks for the heads up .

Wow Hockey Canada talking about ..CANADA ..who woulda thunk .I prefer to go to the Team Sweden web site to get all my Team Canada info , but i will be checking out Hockey Canada now for sho ..thanks for the heads up .

You miss the point. That part of the site is supposed to be the tournaments website, with info about all the teams, not further info on Hockey Canada and it's programs and only Team Canada game day posts.

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.

Seeing its an IIHF event i would think the offial site should be at the IIHF web site .

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.

The Gatorade adds gotta go ..funny when they first started i had no idea it was a commercial but lets face facts its all about Rene Fossill and the boys , Hockey Canada included ,making huge gobs of dollars off the backs of these kids , thus why its being held in Canada so often .Tavares jersey that he wore for 1 game ..ONE GAME against Germany is going for over 25 grand on Ebay !!!I think we will be seeing adds with the guys saying how wearing RBK gear helps with their skill development and gives thenm that extra advantage over everyone else .My buddy picked me up a program and a cap , 60 bucks ..i wish the players who have been drafted got their agents to get involved and say ..hey we want some of this pie !!!!

Seeing its an IIHF event i would think the offial site should be at the IIHF web site .

Yes the IIFH has official stats, etc on it's site during tournaments as well, and since their site's redesign, it's the main site for World Junior tournaments during the tournament, but it's events traditionally have pre-tournament websites (something along the lines of wjhc2012.com) with info about the tournament, the participating teams, rosters, ticket info, merchandise, human interest stories, etc. Hockey Canada chooses to forgo this site, instead bringing people straight to their homepage with a WJHC dedicated portion of their site. Only it's not truly a tournament site, but a Hockey Canada site with minimal info on other teams and how they're prepping for the tournament.

Usually I love their coverage but this year they seemed to be poor. The announcers crossed the line from passive cheering to blatant cheerleading and their complete lack of coverage of anything non-canada seemed to zap the excitement out. It was very rare for anything to be said about anybody not on Canada. Beyond that, it is impossible to find any information on tournament awards. They mention Tavares being named mvp, but nothing else. I give their ranking a C. Brutal display for a network that usually delivers, especially on this tournament.

Wholeheartedly agree. Maguire and Miller were awful this year. They have always been pro-Canada, and to an extent I understand that given their audience, but this year they went way too far with it. As you say, they were simply cheerleaders. The best example to me is in the Sweden-Canada exhibition game. Erik Karlsson tries to throw an open ice hit on a Canadian forward (for which he does recieve a penalty). Miller screams that Karlsson had attempted to lowbridge the guy! Then Maguire comes in saying Karlsson had tried a headshot on the play! They were clearly confused, and when in doubt had simply made up a situation that made Sweden into the bad guy (it was in fact neither a lowbridge nor a headshot, more a charge).

In terms of covering other teams, we were reduced to 3 key players at the starts of games, and usually the only insight provided on them was their draft status. What's frustrating is that Maguire and Miller were at their best in the non-Canada games they did. They aren't bad at their jobs when they leave out the pro-Canada BS. RogersTV actually did a great job covering things. TSN should rethink their coverage, but given the ratings I doubt they will.

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.

I always laughed when Pietrangelo said '...dealing with elite level athletes like ourselves....'

Nothing against Pietrangelo, and I do consider them to be elite athletes, it just sounds funny to hear them say it about themselves.

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.

Ah yes those Gatorade commercials *sigh* :shakehead

I also hated the constant repeated flow of Canadian goals highlights reels with:

Gord: " What a goal by whomever"

Pierre: " Silly man-crush comment"

Repeated over and over and over.

I watched the game at Boston Pizza and it was too loud to hear the announcing. It was good times.

Yeah, in the post-game ceremony when TSN showed the presentation of the best goalie award to Markstrom and the best defenceman award to Karlsson, I was saying to myself "Damn you TSN!! Why are you making it so difficult to find information on who won the awards??"

that was the only coverage. If you missed the game like me, you couldn't find out. Not 1 single mention on their website.

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.


Then I guess you don't remember the non-stop Crispy Crunch commercials last year then, eh? Thinking about it over a year later and it still makes me shudder.

Evey time i hear a car horn i buy a Crispy Crunch

that was the only coverage. If you missed the game like me, you couldn't find out. Not 1 single mention on their website.

There was nothing on TSN's site ..i didnt know that .Usually TSN and Sports Net are both pretty good .

I've been in europe and heard commentators for their national teams announce "we".

That is something TSN has never doen and will never stoop to.

Exactly.

Anybody who thinks Canadian broadcasters are overly 'homerish' have obviously never watched a sporting event on European television.

Forget international coverage. A lot of American NHL teams have some of the worst homers doing commentary. I guess they're trying to sell the game to the local market but there's a reason none of the real "homers" ever get national shots on Versus or NBC or TSN.

TSN focused on Canada because that's what TSN's viewers want. They showed quite a few key games from Pool B. They also weren't shy about blasting Della Rovere for his dumb penalties. A true homer would have made excuses for him.

The two things I took issue with was McGuire hi-jacking the moment when Eberle tied it against the Russians, and the never-ending Gatorade infomercials.

yes i hate those too

and McGuire did ruin that moment...Gord Miller actually made the call so exciting (not that the moment wasnt sans commentators) but this is where McGuire's brain should of kicked in and told him to keep his trap shut...Its such a perfect moment he should of let the crowd do the talking. instead of bluring out "YES I CAN!!!!"

Even their top 10 plays from the World Juniors were a joke. There were much better goals a saves in Pool B, but they had to put in some mediocre crap from their coverage.

yes i hate those too

and McGuire did ruin that moment...Gord Miller actually made the call so exciting (not that the moment wasnt sans commentators) but this is where McGuire's brain should of kicked in and told him to keep his trap shut...Its such a perfect moment he should of let the crowd do the talking. instead of bluring out "YES I CAN!!!!"

I will never forgive Maguire for (almost) ruining that moment.

We are in Canada, of course the coverage is going to be pro Canadian. Leave it up to the other countries broadcasters to support their respective countries(which is what they do!).

Evey time i hear a car horn i buy a Crispy Crunch

Hahahaha! :naughty:

Me too!

Maybe it's just me, but I still miss Paul Romanuik.

I think TSN had two or three non-Canadian games in the round-robin, then the two quarter-finals, the Sweden-Slovakia semi-final, and the bronze medal game, plus all of Canada's games. That's six or seven games, which has been par for the course for them in recent years. They only started to cover non-Canada games in the last few years.

TSN's coverage of this tournament is excellent. They might not have the best announcers out there (Miller's okay, but he's no Romanuik; McGuire actually seemed more level-headed this year, didn't do the "monster" or "human eraser" stuff as much as in the past, which is good, because he knows the game, and that sometimes gets lost in his cheerleader antics). But TSN had played a major role in the growth of this tournament in Canada. It's been a mutually beneficial relationship between TSN, Hockey Canada, Canadian fans and the IIHF.

He was bad during the Spengler Cup. So many wrong names. Stuff that should be known too (Petr Cajanek, anyone?) He also had to correct himself a lot. I'd probably chalk it up to being rusty.

Usually I love their coverage but this year they seemed to be poor. The announcers crossed the line from passive cheering to blatant cheerleading and their complete lack of coverage of anything non-canada seemed to zap the excitement out. It was very rare for anything to be said about anybody not on Canada. Beyond that, it is impossible to find any information on tournament awards. They mention Tavares being named mvp, but nothing else. I give their ranking a C. Brutal display for a network that usually delivers, especially on this tournament.

Really?

Pierre was sounding like a real-estate agent when he talked about Slovakia.

He and Gord Miller have a tonne of history with this tournament...(along with the rest of the network) and when you compare the job they do with WJ's to the job SNET does with the Memorial Cup...TSN gets the nod IMO.

Keep in mind the WJT is a huge event...TSN managed to track the key stories and thats all you can ask,

It just so happened that Canada was in the middle of MOST of the key stories.

The one guy I think could have gotten more coverage was Magnus Svensson Paajarvi.

He had an excellent tournament and instead of dweeling on Hedman's LESS than impressive tournament...there was a very positive development with MSP that could have been talked about a bit more.

Still though, Canada's trail to Gold was far and away the most compelling success story there was.

So a Canadian station hyped a Canadian team and that's a problem? It's expected.

Forget international coverage. A lot of American NHL teams have some of the worst homers doing commentary. I guess they're trying to sell the game to the local market but there's a reason none of the real "homers" ever get national shots on Versus or NBC or TSN.

TSN focused on Canada because that's what TSN's viewers want. They showed quite a few key games from Pool B. They also weren't shy about blasting Della Rovere for his dumb penalties. A true homer would have made excuses for him.


Agree on the second paragraph. They catered to TSN's viewers. However, as an American, it got to the point that I had to mute the TV everytime the play stopped and McGuire started talking. I like him normally, but the last few games were unbearable if you were anything less than 100% pro-Canada.

Your first paragraph ignores the fact that a lot of those homers work for the club that they comment on, and have to be homers or risk losing their jobs. EDIT- Actually, I guess it doesn't ignore it, but I don't think you're correct about the national jobs. Eddie O is a big homer doing Hawks games.

Call me crazy but I can't stand the repeated mentioning of the draft status of the players. "New Jersey's going to have a great winger in the years to come"

To me it takes away from what the players are accomplishing now in the tournament and relegates the tournament to "its great but its not the big show".

Maybe they are trying to increase their NHL ratings.

I actually had the opposite thought. I really liked hearing about who had been taken where and who was available for the next draft. Many of us don't get to watch many games for prospects, so being able to think "Wow he has really progressed if he was drafted last year in the 4th round" or "He's playing really well, wonder where he'll go in the upcoming draft." really adds to the experience.

Secondly yeah the announcers were homers. But at least I could see the games, something I wouldn't be able to do without the coverage.

Someone needs to stick a cork in Pierre's mouth. He always annoys me, although I will say.....he was perhaps marginally less annoying during the WJC broadcasts, then when he does NHL games. Maybe it was because he dropped his 'monster' shtick.

He is simply, a motormouth who leaves no space unfilled with his chatter. He would be much more effective if he simply shut up once in a while. His 'man-crush' platitudes are over the top and not necessary for the viewer to hear.

The end-zone camera angle on PP's is over-used as well. Maybe it's just me....but that camera angle, when viewed on a large wide-screen HD TV, gives me the whirlies. I feel like my head is spinning.

There were positives though. I enjoyed the TSN panel, the post-game interviews, and Miller's play by play. Picture qualify was the usual top-notch TSN HD stuff as well.

TSN's biased homering broadcast has made me hate Team Canada and Canadians with a passion.

....and I'm born and raised Canadian.

TSN's biased homering broadcast has made me hate Team Canada and Canadians with a passion.

....and I'm born and raised Canadian.

Don't watch a Canadian station then?

I may be a bit ignorant on this but it's a canadian broadcast showing mostly team canada games, to a mostly canadian audience, should they not be taking advantage of their target market? Are you trying to tell me Joe Bowen doesn't call games through leafs coloured glasses? Or other teams announcers doing the same? I don't know if these games are broadcast in other countries but I would imagine if they are then the coverage would focus on their countries team. Why does TSN have to call games like they are impartial?? It's a canadian broadcast man! People are becoming far too critical of this stuff. I'd be pissed if I was watching these games and not getting the coverage of our canadian kids since I am a canadian. They talk a lot about other teams players during the games and if I want to know more about a player from another country...I DO SOME BLOODY RESEARCH. We have the internet at our finger tips, use it! We have posters from other countries on this very board who have loads of info about their countries players, ask them about them. I dont get it...it's a canadian broadcast not an international broadcast, of course they are gonna chear for canada, they're canadian!! (except maguire, but he's an adopted canadian)

Agree on the second paragraph. They catered to TSN's viewers. However, as an American, it got to the point that I had to mute the TV everytime the play stopped and McGuire started talking. I like him normally, but the last few games were unbearable if you were anything less than 100% pro-Canada.



That is exactly how I feel when watching NBC cover the Olympics. The blatant cheering for the US team makes me need to mute the sound.

Guess we all have differing perspectives based upon where we are from. Shocking. Perhaps you should watch the coverage of the WJC on ESPN next time. Oh wait, never mind.

TSN's biased homering broadcast has made me hate Team Canada and Canadians with a passion.

....and I'm born and raised Canadian.

That's ok, I hate ungrateful traitors, so we're even. :thumbu:

I think McGuire is a moron on TV, particularly during the WJHC, but he's actually quite nuanced on radio.

A shame a lot of people never get the chance to hear him on the airwaves. He has a completely different personality.

Ultimately it comes down to the fact that TSN built itself up on the back of the World Junior Championships and it's been a love-in ever since.

That is exactly how I feel when watching NBC cover the Olympics. The blatant cheering for the US team makes me need to mute the sound.

Guess we all have differing perspectives based upon where we are from. Shocking. Perhaps you should watch the coverage of the WJC on ESPN next time. Oh wait, never mind.

So wait, you're going to rip on the guy for muting the TV when admitting to doing the same thing in the previous paragraph?

That being said, I wouldn't be that surprised if a decently sized chunk of the percentage of people who watched the WJHC and weren't from Canada posted here. Canadians still make up a good 99% of the viewership, and most like the ego-stroking that TSN gives them for a week every year (because hey, where else does Canada win anything on the international sporting stage?). So its understandable.

The main problem I have with TSN is not that they're homers when it comes to calling the games, or that they concentrate on Canada about 90% of the time, it's that they ignore a huge part of the tournament, barely report on games that they don't broadcast, and pretend that it's a four team tournament from the get go. It simply bad journalism. It's not a useful source for complete information on the tournament. They didn't even have the relegation round scores on their ticker. Do they not think anyone would like to know who's getting kicked out of the tournament? And as much as Canadian broadcasters should be catering to Canadian interests, one must also remember that it's a country of immigrants, and that there are people either directly from or descended from all of these countries, who care very much as to how the other countries are doing, and in that TSN fails greatly.

I can usually stand McGuire's bombast better than most people seem to be able to. And I don't mind cheerleading for the home team... I even prefer it. However, my knock is that McGuire seems to be getting by more and more on bombast and pre-game rehearsing than in the past. He can be intelligent and knowledgeable about the game amidst his bombastic delivery. But I just get the sense these days that half of what he says is what he planned to say even before the puck was dropped. And/or that he's just over-reliant on some of his schtick and needs to freshen some of it up. :dunno:

But anyway, TSN has had a lot to do with why this tournament is so big in Canada. The whole crew there deserves a lot of credit.

And it was fabulous having the tournament here and the Civic Centre games on Rogers-22, it was the first time I've ever had the opportunity to see almost all the games of all the teams. (Although I couldn't be bothered to watch some of the games between the lesser teams, I have to say... still very nice to have the option, though.)

High Marks
Production
McKenzie
Duthie

Passing Marks
Miller - Canada-US continously mis-represented the skirmish in front of US bench, JVR hitting the camera when everyone from the first replay saw that he was sucker punched by Della Rovere

Failing Marks
McGuire - he is the only reason that I get no pleasure watching Canada win. He has single handedly ruined the WJC experience for me with his one sided commentating.

While I can understand why someone watching TSN from outside Canada might find the broadcast biased, I don't understand why they would be surprised by this.

I remember being in Cancun a few years back, when I watched the Sens play the Islanders on ESPN's Mexican channel. Being in Mexico....I was just very happy to see the game on TV at all, and I certainly didn't complain because the play by play and colour guys spoke Spanish.

I didn't think it was too bad throughout the tournament, but last night in general was just awful to listen to. Now I hated Markstrom's flopping as much as the next guy but seriously Pierre... put a sock in it. It was embarassing listening to that idiot go on and on everytime something even closely related to Markstrom falling over happened.

I do like Gord Miller though, it's a shame Pierre is always trying to steal his thunder.

That is exactly how I feel when watching NBC cover the Olympics. The blatant cheering for the US team makes me need to mute the sound.

Guess we all have differing perspectives based upon where we are from. Shocking. Perhaps you should watch the coverage of the WJC on ESPN next time. Oh wait, never mind.

I have no problem with TSN's bias. I understand the target audience concept. And no, I don't think it is a coincidence that all of TSN's broadcasters wore red ties virtually the entire tournament. I was just saying that as a non-Canadian it was annoying (in particular, Pierre was annoying). I appreciate TSN broadcasting the games so that we can all watch, and I had no problem with just muting out McGuire and enjoying the rest of the broadcast.

I missed CBC's coverage of the Olympics. Was it fair and balanced?

High Marks
Production
McKenzie
Duthie

Passing Marks
Miller - Canada-US continously mis-represented the skirmish in front of US bench, JVR hitting the camera when everyone from the first replay saw that he was sucker punched by Della Rovere

Failing Marks
McGuire - he is the only reason that I get no pleasure watching Canada win. He has single handedly ruined the WJC experience for me with his one sided commentating.


I pretty much agree with this. Certain members of their broadcast team were tactful, and others weren't.

Well, crappy or not, people tuned in.

Preliminary data revealed 3.7 million viewers watched Canada take its fifth consecutive gold medal in a 5-1 victory over Sweden. The audience surpassed TSN's previous audience high of 3.5 million viewers for the gold medal game at the 2003 World Junior Championship in Halifax.

The gold medal game on TSN is the most-watched program ever on a Canadian specialty channel and is also the most-watched program overall across all Canadian television this broadcast season. Audience levels for the game peaked at 4.7 million viewers at 9:58pm et, as Team Canada celebrated its victory in Ottawa.

There was nothing on TSN's site ..i didnt know that .Usually TSN and Sports Net are both pretty good .

that was my point of the thread. There coverage was limited to canada and a little bit of who canada was playing. Even during Slovakia/USA all they talked about was the Canada game a couple days before.

I wouldn't call their coverage crappy, what they do cover they do quite well, though McGuire's shtick has worn on me more and more. But I will echo that I was disappointed that with their extra resources (TSN2) they didn't cover more. Even if they didn't show some of the other games live, I still would have liked to be able to see them.

I can get over the homer stance. Its a Canadian network, which theoretically only is available to Canadians, of course they're going to lean that way, but they could still cover more games that aren't involving Canada.

I may be a bit ignorant on this but it's a canadian broadcast showing mostly team canada games, to a mostly canadian audience, should they not be taking advantage of their target market? Are you trying to tell me Joe Bowen doesn't call games through leafs coloured glasses? Or other teams announcers doing the same? I don't know if these games are broadcast in other countries but I would imagine if they are then the coverage would focus on their countries team. Why does TSN have to call games like they are impartial?? It's a canadian broadcast man! People are becoming far too critical of this stuff. I'd be pissed if I was watching these games and not getting the coverage of our canadian kids since I am a canadian. They talk a lot about other teams players during the games and if I want to know more about a player from another country...I DO SOME BLOODY RESEARCH. We have the internet at our finger tips, use it! We have posters from other countries on this very board who have loads of info about their countries players, ask them about them. I dont get it...it's a canadian broadcast not an international broadcast, of course they are gonna chear for canada, they're canadian!! (except maguire, but he's an adopted canadian)

You are not ignorant sir... You are correct. I fully expect to hear homerism when it come to Team Canada on a Canadian TV station playing in a tournament here in Canada with 95% of its viewing audience being Canadian. What a freakin shocker!

Do other countries not send media to the games? Can you not listen to their broadcast if the Canadian one is so bad?

My only complaint is not being able to see box scores anywhere for the games. Although, that is probably not TSN's fault. More coverage would be great, but does the extra cost to them add enough value? Perhaps not.

I can't be that critical as I love the fact that I can watch games on tsn.ca. I'm loading up the Canada vs. USA game now. I missed the first half of the game when it was live (grocery shopping with the wife when it was live).

When the tournament was in Vancouver, the only game I could get tickets to was Norway vs Switzerland. I had lots of fun, but I couldn't watch something like that on TV.

Don't watch a Canadian station then?

Wait....the WJC's are broadcast on a US network?

While I can understand why someone watching TSN from outside Canada might find the broadcast biased, I don't understand why they would be surprised by this.

I remember being in Cancun a few years back, when I watched the Sens play the Islanders on ESPN's Mexican channel. Being in Mexico....I was just very happy to see the game on TV at all, and I certainly didn't complain because the play by play and colour guys spoke Spanish.

how are those even remotely similar situations? lol

You are not ignorant sir... You are correct. I fully expect to hear homerism when it come to Team Canada on a Canadian TV station playing in a tournament here in Canada with 95% of its viewing audience being Canadian. What a freakin shocker!

Do other countries not send media to the games? Can you not listen to their broadcast if the Canadian one is so bad?

LeafsTV is less biased in their coverage of Leafs games (which is a service only to Torontonians and Leafs fans) than TSN is in their coverage of the WJCs

just because you cater to something or someone, doesnt mean you have to be do a poor job

A bit off topic, but while were on the subject of media quality, I just wanted to give a thumbs up to the Ottawa Citizen for their complete, in-depth coverage during the tournament. I would have thought the Sun would be the go to paper on Sports, but I guess that label ends in Toronto. The Suns website section dedicated to the tournament was useless as well.

The main problem I have with TSN is not that they're homers when it comes to calling the games, or that they concentrate on Canada about 90% of the time, it's that they ignore a huge part of the tournament, barely report on games that they don't broadcast, and pretend that it's a four team tournament from the get go. It simply bad journalism. It's not a useful source for complete information on the tournament. They didn't even have the relegation round scores on their ticker. Do they not think anyone would like to know who's getting kicked out of the tournament? And as much as Canadian broadcasters should be catering to Canadian interests, one must also remember that it's a country of immigrants, and that there are people either directly from or descended from all of these countries, who care very much as to how the other countries are doing, and in that TSN fails greatly.

Correct.

As far as the Broadcasting teams, they were competent but were doing the strict minmum. Only Maguire seemed to have some knowledge of the players from the other countries but the guy didn't seem to want to be there. Zero enthousiasm when it was not the Canadians. Like he was afraid to look like a traitor or something. His words had disdain for most of non-Canadians players. I knew he was a shill but not as much.

TSN's biased homering broadcast has made me hate Team Canada and Canadians with a passion.

....and I'm born and raised Canadian.

you hate yourself? Might want to go talk to M.D

LeafsTV is less biased in their coverage of Leafs games (which is a service only to Torontonians and Leafs fans) than TSN is in their coverage of the WJCs

just because you cater to something or someone, doesnt mean you have to be do a poor job


In a business you cater to your customer. In this case it is primarily the Canadian audience. Pumping up Canada is not doing a poor job as far as their customers are concerned. You should push your own sports media to cover the event in that case. Here in Vancouver we have a couple Punjabi announcers to help cater to one of the many diverse cultures we have in the Lower Mainland. It can be done.

wait... I thought, reading other threads, that people in sweden didnt stay up for the game and that americans didnt care about this tournament.:sarcasm:
People complaining about the coverage by the largest canadian sports network, with an all canadian crew, who went to training camp and team building trips with the team. I heard many times during the broadcast pierre and gord refer to the other countries play by play guys, each country seemed to have their own guys, so why watch the canadian feed, pay for the channel from the country you are supporting.

Its like watching CNN and complaining that there isnt enough pro-Iraq coverage

High Marks
Production
McKenzie
Duthie

Passing Marks
Miller - Canada-US continously mis-represented the skirmish in front of US bench, JVR hitting the camera when everyone from the first replay saw that he was sucker punched by Della Rovere

Failing Marks
McGuire - he is the only reason that I get no pleasure watching Canada win. He has single handedly ruined the WJC experience for me with his one sided commentating.
I would give the same marks. I'm not bothered by a play-by-play guy missing one play, and McGuire didn't go so far as to ruin it for me, it was still an awesome tourney and I enjoyed it immensely. But those are fair marks IMHO. Overall TSN once again did a great job promoting the tournament, and I think it's right that they promote and support Team Canada first and foremost amongst the teams in the tournament.

Usually I love their coverage but this year they seemed to be poor. The announcers crossed the line from passive cheering to blatant cheerleading and their complete lack of coverage of anything non-canada seemed to zap the excitement out. It was very rare for anything to be said about anybody not on Canada. Beyond that, it is impossible to find any information on tournament awards. They mention Tavares being named mvp, but nothing else. I give their ranking a C. Brutal display for a network that usually delivers, especially on this tournament.

It seemed about the same as every year which runs in the range of somewhat rational to "OMG, Canada is like super hawt!"

I thought it kind of sucked they didn't show the bronze medal presentation. I watched a bronze medal game, I'd like to at least see the medals handed out. Would have cost them, what, 10, 15 minutes tops?

Was it me, or was Miller more fanboyish than usual? I thought he had quite a few over the top moments, which was surprising to me since he's normally so even tempered.

it is certainly understandable that the commentators would have a canada-centric perspective, however after the blatant and inexcusable cheerleading following the 2002 gold medal loss to Russia (where Gord Miller and the rest of the team were mocking Medvedev over the air for being fat) they received a lot of criticism, and have managed to keep it in check until this season. The play that sums this up to me more than any other was the semi-final against Russia when Canada tied it up. They made it sound like Tavares was Jesus Christ being resurrected for blindly and desperatly throwing the puck towards the net and it resulted in a goal. There was absolutely no mention whatsoever of the ridiculousness of the Russian defender swimming on the ice when all he had to do was clear the puck with nobody around him, instead it was ALL canada when in reality Tavares and to a lesser extent Eberle had little to do with the outcome.

All things considered, I thought TSN did their usual good job.

However - I absolutely hate the end zone camera angles used on power plays. You can't see plays developing. If anyone from TSN is reading this - please stop this, except for instant replays.

All things considered, I thought TSN did their usual good job.

However - I absolutely hate the end zone camera angles used on power plays. You can't see plays developing. If anyone from TSN is reading this - please stop this, except for instant replays.

What he said. I'm surprised it took so long in this thread for someone to mention this.

how are those even remotely similar situations? lol

They both took place in North America? ... lol.

Seriously though....

The similarity is that networks tailor a broadcast towards their primary audience. That means ESPN announcing an NHL game in Spanish, for the benefits of Mexican viewers.....or TSN offering up a heavily slanted perspective towards Canada's team, for the benefit of their primary audience, which is a Canadian audience.

I suppose I could have hit a message board and complained about the lack of English on Mexican TV, while watching the Sens play during my Cancun visit......but what would be the point? That would be as unreasonable a complaint, as the suggestions by those who believe that TSN should be less Canada-centric in their coverage of the WJC.

Just my opinion of course.

lol u got to watch the juniors who cares about what they say.

All things considered, I thought TSN did their usual good job.

However - I absolutely hate the end zone camera angles used on power plays. You can't see plays developing. If anyone from TSN is reading this - please stop this, except for instant replays.

add me to this camp -- I have hated them since they came in a few years back and since the directors seem to be getting lazier we see the whole thing from the fore-shortened angle that's nice for the occasional POV shots, but should never be used as a regular viewing position. You can't see the flow of the play or the puck.

However - I absolutely hate the end zone camera angles used on power plays. You can't see plays developing. If anyone from TSN is reading this - please stop this, except for instant replays.
In HD I don't mind them, but in standard def. I agree they're awful.

They both took place in North America? ... lol.

Seriously though....

The similarity is that networks tailor a broadcast towards their primary audience. That means ESPN announcing an NHL game in Spanish, for the benefits of Mexican viewers.....or TSN offering up a heavily slanted perspective towards Canada's team, for the benefit of their primary audience, which is a Canadian audience.

I suppose I could have hit a message board and complained about the lack of English on Mexican TV, while watching the Sens play during my Cancun visit......but what would be the point? That would be as unreasonable a complaint, as the suggestions by those who believe that TSN should be less Canada-centric in their coverage of the WJC.

Just my opinion of course.

Agreed. And the homerism wasn't even that bad.

Do people honestly think that other networks in other countries would be substantially more objective? Especially if their country hosted the tournament?