Vancouver not a part of NBC's "diverse" hockey schedule

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      Diversity has always been a tricky concept for anything NHL-related. 

      How can a league almost exclusively played, coached, managed, owned and covered by white men claim any sort of diversity? Well, according to NBC Sports, diverse apparently means "a bit more Canadian than usual." 

      The release highlights the whopping three games each that will feature the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers. And yes, NBC would be absolutely bonkers not to highlight two of the NHL's most marketable young stars in Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. In fact, you can bet that those two are the reason that NBC has taken this (incredibly small) pivot towards Canadian teams in the first place. It's certainly not due to any noble pursuit of diversity. 

      The fact that this is the most diverse schedule put out by the American broadcast network is hilarious, as other than the six games featuring two of the league's biggest stars, there's little else on offer from Canada on NBC's docket. Sure, the Canadiens get their eight games, up from four last year, but Ottawa gets only one after a trip to the conference finals last year. Vancouver, Winnipeg and Calgary? Zero. All the American teams have at least one game. 

      Is this really a huge deal for Vancouver fans, seeing as fans in the city (or in Canada for the most part) won't have trouble catching the games? Well, not really, but NBC's schedule more often than not dictates what clubs are important to the league and/or relevant. It's also a shame for Canucks fans behind enemy lines in the U.S. who have to see the Blackhawks 17(!) times. 

      Canucks fans can probably take solace in the fact that even when the team was undeniably good, they weren't getting much respect from NBC. The 2011-12 schedule had but one Canucks game broadcast on the network. 

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