The word has come down from NBC executives:  Game one of Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals will be on the network for regulation and one overtime period.  After that, coverage will switch over to Versus because NBC will begin coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

This announcement gives me (and other interested people) some bad flashbacks to the 2007 Kentucky Derby.  The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres were going overtime in game 5 with the Sens up 3-1 in the series.  Before the game got to the first period of overtime, NBC switched to pre-race coverage of the Derby and sent the NHL game to Versus.

The puck will drop on game one at 1 PM Eastern.  NBC has pre-race coverage of the Kentucky Derby scheduled to start at 4 PM Eastern with the “Run for the Roses” actually starting shortly after 6:00.  I know that networks have their bottom line to consider, not just the fans (not that they much care about fans), but can anyone in their right mind think that 2 hours of pre-race coverage would be a bigger ratings draw than playoff overtime?  Most of the people watching the pre-race show will just be there waiting for the race to be run and not for the pre-race show itself.

By the way, the game will be broadcast in Canada on the CBC.  Canadians everywhere will be able to watch the whole game without fear.