If there was ever a day that should have been great for Southern California hockey fans, Thursday was that day.

One night after the Anaheim Ducks knocked off the Calgary Flames in Cowtown to advance to the second round, the discussion should have centered around the play on the ice.

Unfortunately, in today's modern times, that is not possible. A litany of absurd television decisions has caused enough stress among Ducks fans that some are wondering whether winning the first round was a good thing after all.

Most obvious is the ridiculous game times in the second round. With all four lower-seeded teams winning in the opening round, Anaheim has home ice for the second round. It would seem that is a good thing, but when the schedules were released, it is obvious that is not the case.

The Ducks and their fans are rewarded by two of their first three home games starting at noon. Yes -- hockey, the one sport that mercifully has eschewed afternoon games through the game's history -- has given the team with home ice two noon games.

Afternoon games are bad enough as players tend to be out of their normal biorhythm, but a lunch time game is downright absurd. The whole point of a home game is comfort -- players sleep in their own beds and go about their normal game day routines. Starting a game seven and a half hours earlier than a normal game completely eliminates that advantage.

In addition, most crowds are not as enthusiastic during afternoon games. Yes, NFL crowds are rowdy, but that comes from the pre-game libations more than anything. Do not count on the rowdy tailgating to happen for the weekend games in Anaheim, as summer daytime weekend traffic can often be worse than rush hour.

If more than half the seats are filled at game time, it will be a miracle. And if they are not, it is not the fault of the fans. Rather, it is the fault of NBC, the network that has foolishly timed their game times all season long so most of their broadcasts actually start in the morning on the west coast.

To top off the absurdity, consider this is a Western Conference series, and yet it is being played at a time that is more convenient in the Eastern Time zone. For fans in Southern California and Colorado's Front Range, it is more than a bit of an inconvenience. Both regions are places where people take pride in their outdoor activities, and few people are interested in watching television on a warm spring afternoon.

If this is what having an NBC contract means, the NHL needs to terminate the contract with NBC immediately, if not sooner. NBC's picture quality has been the worst seen in decades, a sign they are simply not using a good enough satellite link. Many fans wonder how CBC and OLN can broadcast a game in quality good enough to clearly make out players' numbers from a distant center ice camera, yet on NBC, the picture is so fuzzy it can actually be hard to tell the teams apart.

The NBC fiasco must come to an end. Between inconvenient game times and brutal picture quality, NHL fans would be better served by watching the game on the Center Ice package.

Even if the NBC issue could be resolved -- something that looks unlikely -- the NHL has another television headache on their hands in Southern California. Unable to get all playoff games on their normal station, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, the Ducks put two first round games on KDOC, an independent station from Anaheim. Unfortunately, KDOC is not available on all Southern California cable systems, and even the most powerful antenna can be powerless to pick up the station from some locales. For example, the entire San Diego metropolitan area is shut out, as the station is not offered to cable or satellite customers for the area's 3 million-plus residents.

When the games are on a local station, OLN's broadcast is blacked out. Game seven was one of those games. In other words, San Diego residents were unable to watch game seven, as the broadcast was blacked out on OLN because it was on KDOC. However, San Diego residents do not receive KDOC.

OLN reportedly received more than 300 angry phone calls from San Diego Wednesday night, but nobody seems to know who is to blame for the fiasco.

The NHL has rebounded better than any other league has from a year-long lockout, but these television issues could alienate many fans. The casual fan does not, and should not, accept absurd blackouts and inconvenient game times. The die-hard fan may take time off work and drive a couple of hours to watch a game on television, but that can not be a long-term solution.

The NHL needs to stand up to NBC and inform them hockey is traditionally a night game. Canadian viewers, most of whom greatly dislike afternoon games, deserve better. CBC and TSN do not make incredulous game time demands as NBC does, and for that, Canadian fans and networks get tossed aside as if they were unimportant. This comes despite ratings that indicate a higher total number of people -- not just percent of population -- tend to watch in Canada than in the United States.

In reality, the heart of the game is in Canada, and that may be truer today than ever before. A story three years ago in the American media expressed shock that a playoff game involving the Ottawa Senators received less than half the television ratings of most regular season Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.

What the American media did not say is the game was an afternoon game. Canadian fans tend to be more steadfast in their dislike of afternoon games than American fans, and rightfully so. Hockey is traditionally a night game, and afternoon games simply do not have the same excitement for many true fans.

In an ideal world, Canadian telecasts would be available to American viewers, and contracts such as the deal with NBC would not be needed. Since that is unlikely to happen, it is time for the NHL to stand up for the fans in arenas and all fans who dislike afternoon games.

Tell NBC the games are in the evening, and that is final. The amount of casual fans picked up by having a game on NBC -- as if anyone does not have cable or satellite these days anyway -- is far less than the number of fans who are being alienated by inconvenient game times.