The Beanpot starts next Monday and once again NESN has the coverage, this time with a twist…NESN’s feed of the games is being picked up by Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and will be shown there for the benefit of the families of players from that country.
BOSTON, MA –For the 7th consecutive year, NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will deliver live and exclusive high definition coverage of the 57th annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament presented by SBLI beginning on Monday, February 2nd. The first game pits #2 Boston University against Harvard at 5:00 PM followed by #11 Boston College battling #3 Northeastern University at 8:00 PM from the TD Banknorth Garden. NESN’s coverage of the Beanpot championship game on Monday, February 9th will begin with Prelude to A Championship, a live, half-hour pre-game show starting at 7:30 PM.
For the first time in tournament history, Rogers Sportsnet will distribute NESN’s coverage of the Beanpot throughout Canada with the potential to reach an additional 7.3 million homes. A total of 24 Canadians play for the four Beanpot schools.
Tom Caron and Andy Brickley return to call the games with Bob Beers and Brendan Walsh teaming up to host Prelude to a Championship and intermission coverage from NESN’s Garden HD studio. Kathryn Tappen returns to serve as the rink-side reporter contributing pre-game, intermission and post-game interviews.
“The Beanpot is a jewel on the New England sports calendar and a must-see event for college hockey fans everywhere,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer. “We are very excited that Rogers Sportsnet has committed to distributing this year’s tournament throughout Canada, making the Beanpot available in more homes than ever before.”
NESN’s 2009 Tournament coverage will be paired with the one-hour documentary ‘The Beanpot – Boston’s Tournament’. Former Bruin Lyndon Byers hosts this look back at the Beanpot’s most unforgettable moments and previews this year’s games with interviews from all four head coaches. The Beanpot – Boston’s Tournament airs February 1 at 6:30pm, February 2 at 4pm and February 3 at 7pm.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
Andy Brickley is as good a color man as there is anywhere in sports television, in my judgment. Knowledgeable, credible and concise, Brickley breaks down a hockey game better than anyone in the sport, without ever making himself bigger than the game.
His ability to provide instant, accurate analysis while play is still underway is extremely impressive to me.
Brickley was always a hockey player’s hockey player, and I am very pleased that he has become the top man in his profession.
It’s terrific to read that he will be doing the Beanpot along with Jack Edwards.
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Actually it’s terrific to read that Jack Edwards will NOT be part of the broadcast.
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Sorry. I meant “along with Tom Caron”.
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It IS good to know that Edwards will be ‘somewhere else.’ There’s only so many times you can hear ‘saucer pass up the half-wall’ before you agree that he’s just pretending he knows what he’s talking about. As an aside, the feed to Canada is great. This is the first time that Northeastern has been a college-hockey power, and a likely BU-Northeastern Final would be a barn-burner…pitting two of the top-five teams in the country.
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Jack Edwards is horrible.
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Edwards may stink, but NESN doesn’t owe its viewers anything. Only its stockholders.
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NESN’s a privately held company, Green Eyeshades.
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If NESN did have stock, I’d buy into that in a heartbeat. It’s a well-run business, and even in a down ad market, with Red Sox ratings regressing, they continue to show quarterly ad-revenue growth.
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