NBC is preparing to put your Sunday on ice

FROM THE MORNING CALL

With the start of March Madness still a month away, and the NBA playoffs set to start a month after that, the middle of February offers an opportunity for ice hockey to swoop in and corner the indoor sports fan market.

Trying to build on the success of its New Year's Day "Winter Classic," NBC Sports has put together "Hockey Day in America" for Sunday.

It's a nine-hour block of pucks — and likely brawls — that begins at noon with a preview show that will lead into regional coverage at 12:30. Flyers-Rangers is among the three regional games.

That leads into the 3:30 national game between the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago and Pittsburgh.

And then it's over to Versus at 6 p.m. for the outdoor "Heritage Classic" matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames from McMahon Stadium, home to the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders.

In between game coverage, NBC plans to deliver sidebar features that will tell you why you should be passionate about ice hockey, if you aren't already.

"The genesis for this comes through 'Hockey Day in Canada' and just watching what has been done in Canada through the years and the passion they have for that sport," Versus executive producer Sam Flood said. "I was up in Canada for the Olympics last year and saw 'Hockey Day in Canada' on CBC and had been thinking for awhile about a way to celebrate hockey in a bigger and better way here in the U.S."

While all of the games have playoff implications, NBC wants to dig beyond the standings and appeal to the people who crave the ice.

"This sport is about parents across the country who get in their cars at 6 a.m., pull their little tykes out of bed, throw them in the backseat and drive them to the rink so they get to be part of the greatest game in the world," Flood said. "And that's what we're going to celebrate — the hockey moms and the hockey dads who sacrifice so much to get their kids out to the rink. It's the ritual of hockey."

For some reason, outdoor games resonate better than those played in arenas. Maybe it's because each outdoor venue has a different personality, while every arena seems the same on TV.

That's why even though it's on Versus, the Montreal-Calgary will probably garner a large audience.

"It's hockey back at its true roots," said former Flyers player and Comcast commentator Keith Jones, who will be an analyst for Versus. "Playing on the pond is something we all did as kids. To be there and celebrate hockey with two teams that are fighting for playoff spots, one in the East and one in the West in Montreal and Calgary, I can't imagine that we could have asked for more."

It'll be interesting to see how the special NHL day fares in the ratings against the Daytona 500 and the usual batch of basketball.

We do know the Flyers game will be well received in Philadelphia.

After reaching the Stanley Cup finals last spring and owning the NHL's best record entering the final two months of the season, Philly fans seem all Flyered up.

Comcast SportsNet put out a release saying that Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay delivered a 3.7 household rating (112,000 households), making it the highest-rated regular season Flyers game on Comcast since October 22, 2002 vs. Buffalo.

In February, the Flyers are averaging a 2.8 rating (85,000 households), which is a 40 percent increase in viewership from February of 2010.

NEED A FOOTBALL FIX?

The NFL Network's exclusive coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine begins a week from today and promises more than 30 hours of live programming from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. For six days, the network will provide an up-close look at the more than 325 NFL prospects looking to impress.

Lehigh offensive lineman Will Rackley will be among those trying to secure a top-round draft selection with a strong performance in Indy.

DUTCH TREAT

Although female baseball fans may think that having Darren Daulton on the radio is a waste of his talents, the former Phillies catcher will be back on 97.5 FM, the Phanatic, this season with his "Talkin' Baseball With Dutch" show. It will air 6-7 p.m. weeknights.

THUMBS UP

ESPN's "The Sports Reporters," once the gold standard of national sports-talk gabfests, has received a bit of a tuneup with a new opening and graphics coming in and out of commercials. ESPN seems like it is trying to brand the show, which began in 1988, as "SR" but that may not be as easy as shortening "Pardon the Interruption" to "PTI."

The show needed some new energy after losing its home at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. Now if they could only get Mitch Albom to lighten up once in a while.

THUMBS DOWN

New York's WPIX-Channel 11 made the most of a homeS-court advantage to show wedding photos of its news anchor, Jodi Applegate, marrying Yankees TV voice Michael Kay at the Plaza Hotel last weekend. Several photos were shown at the end of Sunday night's news broadcast. Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani officiated the ceremony and several Yankees were in attendance, including manager Joe Girardi.

Didn't mind one or two shots, especially since Applegate works there, but it seemed like WPIX showed the same ones over and over again as filler.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-finetuning-0215-20110216,0,7872138.column