Amazon, which is on a path to control the world, has turned its attention to hockey.
There was some grumbling when Amazon Prime Video launched Prime Monday Night Hockey with the game between the Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins. Fans complained about having to pay $9.99 a month on top of what they are already paying for TSN or RDS.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who was in Montreal to support the new product and throw water on the suggestion that Quebec City might be in line for an expansion franchise, noted the financial impact of the new package would be minimal because Prime has more subscribers in Canada than TSN or RDS.
Bettman was not asked how many TSN subscribers don’t have Prime.
Amazon, which has increased its sports programming in recent years, is riding a trend that has seen viewers moving from Rogers, which owns the Canadian national TV rights to the NHL. The 26-game package allows Amazon to test the waters before it makes a bid of its own for the Canadian rights when the current deal expires in 2026.
Amazon paid $1 billion for the rights to NFL Thursday night Football and, starting next season, it will stream 66 NBA games, including the Emirates Cup in-season tournament and the first two rounds of the playoffs.
If the production values are any indication, Amazon is serious about hockey.
The streaming service started the month with Faceoff: In the NHL, a six-part docuseries taking fans behind the scenes at the 2024 playoffs.
The series begins with an examination of the friendship between Boston’s David Pastrnak and the Leafs’ William Nylander, which goes back to their junior hockey days in Sweden and ends with a distraught Connor McDavid refusing to return to the ice to accept the Conn Smythe Trophy after the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Florida Panthers in the final.
The filmmakers had unprecedented access to the players on and off the ice — teams reportedly faced fines if they didn’t co-operate — and the result is compelling. Its professionalism makes the Crave series on the Canadiens look like a school project.
NHL.com described Faceoff as a ”binge-worthy series for everyone” but you might have to explain to your youngsters why their heroes have turned profanity into an art form.
Amazon and the NHL have teamed up for another docuseries, Game 7, which looks at classic deciding games in the Stanley Cup final. All five episodes will be available on Tuesday.
As for the game coverage, it was first-rate.
John Forslund, who moved from Carolina to Seattle, handles the play-by-play with former player Jody Shelley as the analyst and Thomas Hickey (no relation) between the benches. Forslund and Shelley are both polished pros and complement excellent camera work.
Mark Messier is the best known figure on the panel between periods. He offers good analysis but he occasionally trips over his words.
Host Adnan Kirk is the veteran facilitator on the panel, which is rounded out by rookie Blake Bolden. At first glance, she’s a nod at diversity as a black woman but, like most of the women employed in similar roles by TSN and Sportsnet, she has a deep background in the game and has a smooth delivery.
Bolden was an all-American at Boston College where she was a teammate of Mike Matheson’s wife, Olympic gold medallist Emily Pfalzer. She played pro hockey in the U.S. and Sweden, winning the Clarkson Cup and the Isobel Cup. She worked as a scout for the Los Angeles Kings and is currently employed in the team’s front office.
The panel had a chance to chat with Bettman before the game and Canadiens owner Geoff Molson dropped in after the first period but, not surprisingly, they didn’t face any tough questions.
The other key member of the crew is veteran broadcaster Andi Petrillo, who was in the pregame and post-game shows and well as between-period interviews. Her interviews with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki were run-of-the-mill but she connected with Penguins defenceman Kris Letang, who talked about the thrill of coming back to his hometown and his lifelong friendship with Olympic short-track speedskaters François and Charles Hamelin.
Letang and Petrillo were back for another chat after the game. I appreciated the fact that the Prime crew stuck around after the game with the panel offering highlights and analysis.
Amazon has sold out its inventory of ad space for the season and, thankfully, there was only one commercial for a betting site. That was for FanDuel, which sponsors the out-of-town scoreboard in the second intermission.
In addition to the Monday games, Amazon also produces NHL Coast to Coast on Thursday night. Petrillo hosts the weekly whiparound studio show, which features live look-ins, highlights and expert analysis of every NHL game.
The Canadiens will make flour more appearances on Prime MNH: Nov. 18 vs. Edmonton; Dec. 9 vs. Anaheim, Jan. 6 vs. Vancouver and April 14 vs. Chicago.