The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are fierce rivals on the ice and have been for decades. However, Flames defenseman Troy Stecher is not concerned with that rivalry right now.
The NHL and ESPN have received a ton of criticism over the decision to give Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights a 10 PM ET start time. This criticism became more prominent as 10 PM ET inched closer.
Stecher took to Twitter to vent his frustration with this decision on Sunday night. “👏🏼 ESPN. Missed three goals in the opening three minutes of an elimination NHL playoff game because we had to finish out a 9-1 MLB blowout. #GrowTheGame,” he wrote.
In ESPN's defense, the network did show some of the beginning of Game 6 via a split screen as a pitcher warmed up for the Cardinals on one side of the screen. Sunday Night Baseball commentator Karl Ravich even made an on-the-fly goal call. However, that fact likely does little to quell the frustration of hockey fans.
The NHL reportedly asked for the game to be moved to an earlier time slot. However, ESPN decided against moving their Sunday Night Baseball game to ESPN 2. They also declined to trade games with TNT.
Game 6 between the Oilers and Golden Knights got off to a wild start, as Stecher alluded to. Edmonton and Vegas combined for three goals in the opening three minutes, with the Oilers taking a 2-1 lead.
If the Oilers pull out the win, they will force a winner-take-all Game 7 in Vegas. An Edmonton loss, however, sees the Vegas Golden Knights advance to the Western Conference Finals.
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