Fans, you might not necessarily be watching the current Detroit Red Wings/Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup Final on NBC Sports or on VERSUS, DIRECTV 603, but guess what? The folks at awfulannouncing.com and the Globe and Mail in Toronto report that the National Hockey League will extend its deal with NBC for 2 more years. Ratings for the first 2 games of the Stanley Cup Finals, which aired last weekend on the "Peacock" instead of VERSUS due to the much anticipated premiere of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien", are actually up 11% from a year ago when Detroit & Pittsburgh also took part. NBC averaged a 3.0 rating over the weekend for Games 1 & 2 of this series. Reports say that the extension will be a continuation of the current NHL/NBC deal, in which the "Peacock" doesn't necessarily pay a rights' fee, but a revenue-split arrangement they've had since the year after the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out the entire season. With the series tied at 2, NBC's coverage resumes Saturday night with Game 5 and will have the remaining games of the NHL season on its air in prime time.

Im really curious how much they made off the Hawks last year. Bettman of course said "The Hawks are no more important a market than any other" yet they have the highest attendance and likely one of the higher viewerships. I guess we will get our answers when we see how many Hawks games are put on 5.

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I fully anticipate there will be a number of Blackhawk games on NBC Sports next season. Also, I'm reading & hearing that Boston's Fenway Park will be the site of the third "Winter Classic"...

I hope so as I think they deserve some props for putting hockey back on the map in this city. As for Fenway, I think it was probably better to do it up in Canada again.

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I think they said in July they would confirm where next year's Winter Classic would be, and after this year's Finals, I think the NHL is starting to gain more momentum to get more people watching. My guess is the Bruins would play the Rangers or Red Wings.

I'd bet that the Bruins play the Canadians if it is at Fenway...arguably Boston's biggest rival historically as well as gets a large portion of Canadian fans amped for the game.

It is being reported that it will be in Boston and that the Bruins would play the Flyers.

Reents, I think it makes a lot of sense, and there's been talk of Canada also getting a "Winter Classic" game of its own January 1st. Calgary could be the site...