ESPN's "SportsCenter" set showcases the NHL logo on Oct. 7, 2015. Credit: ESPN Images/Nick Caito
NBC has spent a decade-and-a-half as the NHL’s dutiful dating partner, always showing up on time, polite and dressed properly, making Mom and Dad comfortable before evenings out that did not end too late.
And yet, many in and around hockey never could quit the flashier, sexier, more distracted option always lurking at the cool kids’ table.
They pined for a lost era before a messy breakup with "SportsCenter," when it took less than Mathew Barzal scoring from between his legs to make the nightly highlights.