Saturday night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning was broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada. And for a large portion of the first period, those who tuned into the game watched in an old-school way — whether they wanted to or not.
For a portion of the first period, there was no scorebug or clock shown on the television. Viewers noted that this was not a short-term glitch, either, commenting that the screen had no score or clock for more than half of the opening period.
https://twitter.com/HabsOnReddit/status/1764090850017968623
Yeah I was thinking the same. Literally more than half the period without a clock.
— RV (@forestcityRV) March 3, 2024
This was a source of frustration for viewers.
@hockeynight Great telecast tonight. https://t.co/SRpitsTKKc
— Rich Thorpe (@exit716) March 3, 2024
They are awful.
Camera misses half the face-offs, showing bench or crowd.
When there’s a scrum, it takes them forever to pan the cameras to the action.
Why not keep camera on Xhekaj/Cernak after the whistle when they were both out of the box?
— Allen Pro-Democracy (@teamblue1964) March 3, 2024
Hockey Night in Canada, which is produced by Sportsnet and airs on CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has long been a Saturday night staple in Canada.
While they haven’t always been a staple, constantly displayed scorebugs and clocks have been a fixture of sports on television for three decades now. The scorebug can certainly be more helpful in a high-scoring sport like basketball. Conversely, though, each score is more significant in hockey.
The first period of Saturday’s game was also a busy one. Joel Armia got the Canadiens on the board with a goal less than two minutes into the game. Later in the period, Montreal went up 2-0 on a goal from Jake Evans.
[Twitter user HabsOnReddit, Photo Credit: CBC/Sportsnet]
