When I was a kid Satellite Hotstove was the most boring 15 in the entire world. It was the time to get up and play mini sticks, go make popcorn, grab a bowl of ice-cream, anything but stay infront of the TV.
For those of you unaware, Satellite Hotstove is the piece that airs in between the second and third periods of Hockey Night Canada on CBC.
The first intermission was great. It was Coach's Corner. This was a simple time for me. Hockey is the religion and for a young kid who wants to be a tough player Don Cherry is God. I watched Rock 'Em Sock 'Em like it was the bible on tape. Now I know this is essentially like someone coming out and saying "Ya I always wanted to be a bounty hunter so Dog is my god." Its insane. Don Cherry, much like Dog the Bounty hunter is a nutjob. He is a racist. I always knew this but as a kid it never quite registered that the way he talked about "those damn Russians" was incredibly prejudice. But now to hear him speak is just ridiculous. He loves to cry on air about soldiers that have died and complain about whining players. Still he has a wonderful sense of fashion.
But when it came to the second intermission it was awful. SOOOOOOOO boring. To the point where I don't think I have watched a second intermission broadcast in years. Apparently, after just googling it CBC dropped Al Strachan from the broadcast in 2009. I was convinced he was still on it. He went away for a few years but then came back, this time without a moustache. So its been atleast a year and a half since I have watched a satellite hotstove. When I was a kid, they used to all be in different cities (hence the name I am assuming) and they spoke about issues going on in the league. But there was something about it. It just didn't work. There was no heated discussion, they just droned on about whatever was happening in the city they were in. This was not the kind of television I wanted to watch.
I just watched my first Satellite Hotstove in who knows how long and I found it mildly entertaining. It seems like CBC has updated itself and made the broadcast much more current. The satellite connection is gone. There is now a news bench much like every other halftime show in sports and 4 guys discussing the game. How did Hockey not do this sooner? Football has always had this as far as I can remember. Its just the most intuitive way of doing it.
They now have Ron McClean play the Chris Berman role and anchor a panel of "experts" who discuss the game. Its pretty good. They are all there in person so they can get heated and really get into it.
But its far from perfect. They need to drop Mike Milbury. He's nuts. Atleast as far as I have seen (one show). They also need some big, yet reasonable personalities... the Keyshawn Johnson of Hockey. I am thinking Mark Messier. I also saw Mike Peca on TSN, he wasn't bad. Get another coach in there, Mike Milbury is not enough if you are really set on keeping him.
Thats all...
Oh wait... its no longer called Satellite Hotstove... now its just "The Hotstove"
Also I can't find an image of the old Hotstove logo. Its like the CBC wants to delete it from history... or I am making up its existence and it was nothing like this at all...
So... This is me giving my congratulations to CBC for creating an intermission show I actually want to watch.
Keep improving it and maybe hockey will grow in popularity south of the border.
