00:00Oh, no, we got to wake up at 8 a.m. to watch a sporting event.
00:03Well, me and Joe waking up early each and every day, Monday through Friday,
00:06making sure you got those sporting events on deck for the night
00:09and also what happened the previous night.
00:10But how about this?
00:11We thought people would rise to the occasion, and they did,
00:14and it was a fantastic game.
00:16Front office sports with a tweet yesterday.
00:17The United States 2-1 overtime win over Canada averaged 20.7 million viewers.
00:22It's the second most watched hockey game in NBC Sports history,
00:26and it was played on a Sunday morning, Joe, at 8 a.m.
00:30Shout out to the people who like hockey.
00:32Yeah, we told you, right, Don?
00:34I mean, bars were opening up out west there at 5 a.m. in the morning to get it going.
00:39They were suspending any sort of alcohol rules in New York and other places.
00:44So, yeah, it was a kind of must-watch situation there that was going to be a –
00:50you knew it was going to be good for the ratings for NBC.
00:54But overall, just like that, dude, I hate to say it, Donnie,
00:58is NBC not the go-to sports network right now?
01:03I mean, they have come a long – they used to be.
01:06Then they went away and tried to get away from sports,
01:08and now they've got it back, and they are just crushing it.
01:12They are crushing it at this point.
01:13Coverage was fantastic.
01:15Ratings were sky high.
01:16And also, this was a game, once again, played at 8 a.m. Eastern in the United States here,
01:21which means that was 8 a.m.
01:22Not across the board, Joe, 8 a.m. in the New York marketplace out on the west coast here.
01:26You wanted to watch it.
01:27That was a 5 a.m. start, which, again, Olympics have their tradition.
01:30Not going to push back the closing ceremonies because they want to watch a hockey game
01:34and make sure the U.S. and Canada have the right time zone here.
01:36It's played when it's played, depending on where the games are, which they were in Italy.
01:40But I would – like, Joe, what would those ratings have honestly been if that game was played
01:44at like 1 o'clock in the afternoon or 2 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon?
01:47It probably would have got into that $30 million to $40 million range here because, again,
01:51much as people are casual hockey fans, some are going to wake up at 5, 6, or 7 a.m.
01:55to watch that game.
01:56Like, oh, I'll catch the replay a little bit later.
01:58Just check my phone at this point.
01:59Those ratings would have been absolutely fantastic to see if the game was played a little bit later.
02:04Yeah.
02:06Listen, they could – it could not have worked out any better.
02:09Now they've got to figure out, of course, you know, the time won't necessarily be an issue
02:14for the upcoming Summer Olympics, Donnie, even though it'll be out in L.A.,
02:18but I think they'll have an easier time figuring out how to get everything scheduled then.
02:23Oh, yeah.
02:24Big primetime ratings in L.A.
02:25We look forward to that in 2028 here.
02:28But how about this?
02:28The Secretary of Defense, the new one, Connor Hellebuck here,
02:31holding up a little placard there.
02:33Secretary of Defense, gold medal here.
02:35He deserved every bit of it.
02:36It was absolutely outstanding.
02:38And probably the primary reason why the U.S. Olympic team went gold.
02:43Yeah, I mean, listen, the fact that he didn't get the MVP was a little suspect to begin with,
02:48but not that he didn't deserve it.
02:52And he certainly deserves that.
02:54Timing is everything.
02:55And, boy, the right guy at the right spot, the right moment.
02:58That's exactly – and he delivered, too.
03:01A lot of guys would not have delivered.
03:02He did, though.
03:03So kudos to him.
03:05Colgate has an ad here for Jack Hughes,
03:08who lost his teeth during a high-sticking event here in that gold medal game.
03:12And what I want to say about this, too, Joe, it's great.
03:14He's going to capitalize on it.
03:16But, my goodness, like, is he – should he just not –
03:18like, you know, Michael Strahan has, like, the part in his teeth.
03:20Like, that's just his thing.
03:21Should he not actually get this fixed and just let this run until he retires
03:25to get his teeth fixed again?
03:26Like, this is an iconic look right now, Joe.
03:29It is an iconic – and he'll, you know, he'll capitalize on it for sure.
03:32But, you know, listen, get him replaced.
03:34They'll probably get knocked out again at some point in your career,
03:37and then you can get him replaced again.
03:38And it's just, you know, it's the life of a hockey player, Donnie.
03:41You know this.
03:42They'll just keep – rinse and repeat, so to speak.
03:46By the way, if there are any Devils fans out there, you do hear from them.
03:49Like, the Devils fans, even though Jack Hughes was on their hockey team
03:52until the Olympic gold medal round, is that what I'm hearing out here, Joe?
03:54Is that correct?
03:56Well, it could be.
03:56I mean, you know, it wasn't like – it wasn't a wealth of health for a while there.
04:01I did miss a few games with injuries, but, you know, hey,
04:04they're not going to forget it now.
04:05I can promise you that, Donnie.
04:08Ah, there they go.
04:09Those Devils back out of here.
04:10But, Joe, first time it feels like in a lifetime.
04:13The NHL is actually back in our lives tonight,
04:16and Philadelphia is going to take on the Washington Capitals here.
04:19The joke was, like, I think it was a Sanheim, who's a Flyers defenseman,
04:22who was on Team Canada.
04:24And I just – there was one person tweeting, like, okay, the Flyers are back.
04:27It's like, well, Sanheim's going to rejoin the team and meet Tocat in D.C.,
04:30and he's going to have to learn to do everything 50% slower
04:32now that he's back with the Flyers.
04:34Fantastic stuff.
04:35The Flyers are a dog tonight.
04:37The Flyers basically don't exist in Philadelphia.
04:38It's a shame.
04:40So, you know, it's interesting, Donnie.
04:42When you look at these games coming up tonight,
04:44we got 28 of the 32 teams in action, right?
04:47We did get this layoff last year, you know,
04:50a bit of a layoff with the Four Nations faceoff, right?
04:53And that first day back, 10 of the 14 games that were scheduled on that day
04:59had a combined six or more goals.
05:02Eight of those games had a combined seven or more goals.
05:06And, yeah, you had a lot of games, Donnie.
05:09Almost all of them were decided by two goals or more.
05:12So when you take this kind of time off for all teams,
05:16whether you played in the Four Nations or played in the Olympics or not,
05:20it's kind of, there tends to be a little less defense,
05:24a few more goals, not as sharp.
05:26And, yeah, I'd be looking at a lot of overs,
05:29even for your Flyers here tonight.
05:31I'd be looking at a lot of overs tonight.
05:34Six and a half there for Philadelphia and Washington.
05:36How about six and a half here for Buffalo and the New Jersey Devils?
05:39Is Hughes going to be in the arena tonight?
05:40Will he be playing?
05:41How about Tage Thompson on the opposite side?
05:44Roughly a pick-em game in New Jersey tonight.
05:46A lot of historic U.S. players on the ice here.
05:50Yeah, that's right.
05:51And if they're going, they're going here.
05:53And I do believe, even in some spots,
05:55Buffalo is the road favorite here in a few.
05:59And, of course, we'll wait to hear what the lineups are.
06:02But I'll tell you, home dogs, that first day back after a long layoff,
06:07they went 4-1 a year ago.
06:09Mike, we just want to concentrate on some of those home dogs here tonight,
06:13like even Utah taking on Colorado.
06:16How about more Olympic stars on the ice tonight?
06:18Austin Matthews and Toronto in Tampa Bay.
06:21And look at that price point out there, Joe.
06:23Minus 220s to minus 230s across the board.
06:26Tampa Bay, Toronto tonight.
06:28Woo-hoo!
06:29Yeah, well, listen, he'll get a big round of applause, I'm sure, in Tampa.
06:34I don't know what it's going to be like when he heads back to Toronto.
06:37Probably not going to go over all that well.
06:39But, listen, Tampa, easily the best team we know out of the East.
06:44The question is, and they stay healthy enough in these final, what, 25, 27 games
06:50remaining in this season.
06:52If they do, Tampa's going to be a force, that's for sure.
06:56One of the few games tonight, Joe, listed at 5.5 as a total,
06:58is Vegas taking on Los Angeles tonight.
07:00Hill versus Kemper at a minus 146 price.
07:03Now, as a favorite towards the Kings, Joe, staying under the total out there or what?
07:07Yeah, well, Jack Eichel will be back for Vegas here tonight.
07:11A lot of guys likely not playing.
07:13It's been all Kings money here so far.
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