For the third-straight season, the NCAA has announced a schedule of games to be aired nationwide in Canada and each game will feature multiple BCHL alums.
Canadian viewers will be treated to 37 regular-season games in 2016-17, including coverage of marquee events like Frozen Fenway in January and the Beanpot from Boston in February. Coverage begins this Friday on TSN with the Friendship Four from Belfast, Northern Ireland where as many as 29 BCHL alums could play, including nine B.C.-born players.
“We are excited that TSN will once again be making so many NCAA games available to hockey fans in Canada,” said College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Mike Snee. “Close to 30 per cent of all NCAA hockey players are Canadian, including three NHL first-round draft picks in 2016. Our partnership with TSN allows these young players to be more closely followed in their hometowns and shows what makes playing for your school a unique and special experience.”
The first televised games on TSN’s 2016-17 NCAA hockey schedule are Friday from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Massachusetts, Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence and Vermont will compete in the Friendship Four. Friday’s games are set for 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. PT and will be available on TSN2 and TSN GO. For those with extra channels, several games will be available on Big Ten Network (BTN) and CBS Sports Network (CBSSN).
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COMPLETE CANADIAN TV SCHEDULE
“TSN’s significant coverage of NCAA hockey is great news for the hockey fan in Canada,” said Craig Button, TSN’s Director of Scouting and a former NHL general manager. “The games are intense and the players are very skilled, with many of them headed to the NHL in the near future. NCAA hockey is highly entertaining and fun to watch.”
TSN’s schedule showcases teams from all six NCAA Division I conferences and many of the nearly 200 NHL draft picks currently playing at the NCAA level. // //
Three Canadian players taken in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft are featured in the schedule, including Nashville Predators draft pick Dante Fabbro of Boston University, whose team will appear at least three times.
“I’ve only been at Boston University for a few months but I can already see why playing NCAA hockey makes such a lasting impression on players who have done it,” said Fabbro, a native of New Westminster, B.C., who played for the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. “It will be great that my friends and family back home will be able to see what it’s like and watch me play.”
TSN’s expanded coverage of NCAA hockey is available for live streaming and on-demand viewing to TSN subscribers through TSN GO. Seven games this season have already been made available on TSN GO.
