Versus? What the Heck is Versus?

The other night, I had a hankerin’ to watch the Stanley Cup Finals, since the Anaheim (formerly Mighty) Ducks were playing the Ottawa Senators. The Ducks had won Game 1 of the Finals, and I wanted to watch them in Game 2. Now, the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals are on ESPN, so I figure that the Ducks-Senators game must be on NBC or FOX or something national, so I check both of those networks, ESPN2, the local TV stations that carries Ducks games, Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2, and nada. Now, I’m thinking to myself, “There’s no way that the NHL Finals wouldn’t be on some kind of national network, right?”

Naturally, I go to NHL.com to see what channel the game is on (because it has to be on somewhere), and I see that it’s being televised only on the “Versus” network. What the heck is that? I remember hearing something about the NHL getting games on the Outdoor network or something, but the Finals couldn’t possibly be on a channel that 1) I’ve never heard of and 2) can’t be included on basic cable… could they? Yup. They can. Oh, and the Versus network used to be the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).

There is a link to find the Versus channel in your neighborhood on the NHL website, so I click on that, enter my area code and find that Time Warner Cable only carries it on their digital subscription package… which I don’t have. How is it possible that the championship games of one of the four major sports in the U.S. is carried on a channel that’s not included in basic cable? What the heck is that all about? I can see the games being carried on a TNT or ESPN/ESPN2, since those channels are established, but are you kidding me about the Versus network?

Oh well. The Ducks won Game 2 and have a 2-0 lead going into Game 3 in Ottawa tonight… In fact, the game’s on right now… on NBC. Oops… Game over. Ducks lost, 5-3. Nuts.