Now that the NHL lockout is over and the next NHL season is a go, the next question now is how much hockey will fans get in HD?

Last year the CBC aired only the all star game and skills competition in HD.  But HD CBC was unveiled last spring to subscriber based services like satellite and cable but only over the air in Toronto and Montreal.  Unconfirmed rumors say the CBC has promised to broadcast at least the first game in the Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada double header.  This means Canada will get a whole lot of Maple Leafs in HD on Saturday night but not much else.  It’s unlikely that the CBC will be able to handle any more HD hockey if rumors that the CBC only has one broadcast truck with the HD equipment required.  But there will be plenty of other HD NHL in Canada.  TSN and CTV SportsNet are leading the charge in presenting subscribers with games in HD.  TSN easily broadcasts the most hockey in HD to subscribers but viewers complain their HD broadcasts are second rate, a little grainy and dark.  For my own experience the CHL’s championship games the Memorial Cup broadcast on CTV SportsNet were some of the best live HD broadcasts I’ve seen.  It’s a sure bet that the CTV SportsNet HD broadcasts will be high quality. 

Unfortunately for US fans of NHL there will be very limited HD hockey.  ABC and ESPN hockey contract expired the last season.  While ABC will not broadcast any games ESPN has picked up only 40 games to be broadcast on ESPN2 which has an HD feed.  The NHL has recently secured a deal with NBC.  NHL President Gary Bettman views the deal through his rosy beer goggles.

``The future for us on (U.S.) national television couldn't be more bright,'' Bettman said. ``We couldn't be more thrilled.''  I don’t know Bettman, sounds like a bit of an exaggeration.  Wouldn’t it have been better to have ABC and ESPN fighting over the NHL broadcast rights?

The NHL’s HD games in the US are going to be limited but this isn’t much of a loss in a country that watches more celebrity poker than Hockey.  In Canada however there will be a lot of hockey broadcast in HD, even if HD viewing is a bit Leafs-centric.  Non-Leafs fans in Canada can take heart though, it’s guaranteed there will be two teams broadcast on HNIC in HD every week, the Leafs and whoever the Leafs are playing that night.