Remember last summer, when NBC announced their national NHL broadcast schedule and the Islanders had a grand total of zero appearances, while the Great Buffalo Tank Army was set to get more airtime than The Voice? Criticism ensued and eventually, the Islanders were flexed into a couple of random games at the end of the season to shut everyone up.
No need to do so this year as the team will be part of five NBCSN broadcasts including one "Wednesday Night Rivalry" game against the Rangers from Barclays Center.
NBC has announced their schedule of 105 games across the big network and NBCSN, the most ever broadcast by The Peacock. All the games will also be streamed via the NBCSports Live Extra app, according to the release.
The Islanders' national games are below:
Date | Away | Home | Network | Time |
Wed., Nov. 25 | Philadelphia | N.Y. Islanders | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. |
Wed, Dec. 2 | N.Y. Rangers | N.Y. Islanders | NBCSN | 8:00 p.m. |
Thurs., Feb. 4 | N.Y. Islanders | Washington | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. |
Tues., March 8 | Pittsburgh | N.Y. Islanders | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. |
Mon., March 21 | Philadelphia | N.Y. Islanders | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. |
The two against the Flyers are part of eighteen (18!) appearances by Philadelphia on the network that owns them. The defending champion Blackhawks have 21 scheduled appearances, although neither is one of their first two games of the season, which are both against the Islanders.
A nationally broadcast game is still kind of a big deal for a team like the Islanders that's continuing to build their rep. The "Rivalry Night" game is also a plus, and is one of the few scheduled match-ups that constitutes a recognized rivalry.
Did you know the Rangers and Blackhawks are rivals? Yup. Says so right there. In fact, they get TWO (2) Rivalry Night games because that's just how big of an unrivaled rivalry those two rivals have. Rivals!
Check your local listings for the NBCSN channel near you. Or just listen for the sounds of Mike Milbury braying on about heart or something.
AN UPDATE via SBN hockey honcho Travis details the total NBC appearances for all teams. Sorry, Senators, Jets, Canucks and Flames.
Here’s how often all 30 NHL teams appear on NBC-NBCSN next year: Chicago → 21 PHI/PIT → 18 Detroit → 16 Full list: pic.twitter.com/a48f5bNFxA
— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) July 27, 2015