The Lightning is far enough into the playoffs that, finally, ESPN and ABC care.
The networks care because they have to care, but for Lightning fans, it means a chance to listen to their hockey team's games called by the big-time professionals at the big-time networks. It's a step up. It's prime time, baby.
Or is it?
After a season of following the Lightning on Sunshine, does the switch to ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 thrill viewers? Or is it a mere nuisance, robbing fans of the familiar voices they have grown to respect and enjoy, Rick Peckham and Bobby Taylor?
Judging by the Lightning message boards at sunshinenetwork.com, fans will dearly miss Peckham and Taylor. And for good reason.
The two did an exceptional job this season and showed in the playoffs that while they lack the gloss of their contemporaries on ABC/ESPN, they bring a knowledge about the Lightning (as well as Taylor's always informative telestrator) that can't be matched.
Think about it: instead of two guys who followed the team for 70 games, the broadcasts are turned over to announcers who likely paid little heed to the Lightning this season, focusing instead on the constant New York-Detroit-Colorado fare offered viewers of ABC.
At sunshinenetwork.com, there is an entire thread devoted to how ESPN, ummm, stinks, and another thanking Sunshine for its hockey coverage.
To be fair to ESPN, its announcers are unlikely to provide the same folksy homerism that Peckham and Taylor bring because they do a national broadcast. But posters at the Lightning online forum seem mostly to object to homerism for the other team, particularly during the Montreal series.
"Literally 95 percent of the comments were subtly or strongly pro-Canadiens, such as you would expect watching their home broadcast - not a nationwide feed on ESPN," wrote Henri99.
They take offense when the Lightning isn't picked, another perceived slap in the face from the national media. And most of their bile is saved for ESPN studio analysts Barry Melrose and Ray Ferraro, citing repeated instances of them hyping other players and ignoring the Lightning.
Sunshine has heard the same complaints, as well as fans lamenting the exit of Peckham and Taylor now that ABC/ESPN take over. With Lightning fever at a pitch, and realizing the popularity of its announcers, the network will give viewers what they want. Beginning Saturday, it will provide live pregame and postgame coverage of the playoff games.
Bravo. Pregame shows will air a half hour before each game, and postgame coverage will immediately follow the games, providing viewers the same in-depth coverage that helped Sunshine pull in record ratings the past few weeks.
The Lightning is the new kid on the NHL playoff block, a big reason why it hasn't been embraced by the national networks like teams from other long-standing hockey towns.
Sunshine has presented the Lightning as a serious Stanley Cup contender with bonafide stars and will continue to do so the rest of the postseason.
Maybe some viewers will get their wish and ABC and ESPN will, too.
