The 49th parallel has never looked so significant.

While Canadian fans were enjoying the standard high-quality broadcast from CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Saturday afternoon -- more on the afternoon part later -- fans south of the border were shut out as the Ottawa-Buffalo game went to overtime.

You would think American-based fans would be used to this by now. After years of neglect from ESPN, bashing from the radio and print media, and general substandard coverage, it would be hard for things to get worse. Yet they did.

By now, most hockey fans are aware NBC broke away from the game, which started at 11 a.m. pacific time, at 1:42 p.m. pacific time. The Preakness, which is a horse race for those of you who are not as Hoof Hearted as Versus' Keith Jones, was set to begin.

Set to begin at 3:15 p.m. pacific time, that is.

Curiously, the hockey game was scheduled until 2 p.m. pacific time on NBC, yet the broadcast ended 18 minutes early.

The broadcast was moved to Versus, which provided limited success. First of all, an 11 a.m. start is early -- very early. Hockey is a night game, and many long-time fans are not into watching games before lunch. Personally, I am part of that group, so I did what I always do with afternoon playoff games.

I TiVoed it.

And I am not the only one. I have yet to talk to a west coast resident who watched the game live. It is simply too early in the day -- for many of us, sports are simply not the same at that time of day. That is just one of many reasons I prefer the CFL to the NFL, the latter of which I almost never watch. But that is another column for another website.

The second group of people affected was those watching in bars. In Southern California, asking for a hockey game on television can be hazardous to your health if there are Dodger, Laker, or Raider fans nearby. Yet as the Ducks have progressed, most bars actually showed Saturday's game. True, Anaheim was not playing, but interest in the sport is -- or was – increasing through the team’s playoff run.

Again, an informal survey of several bars showed none of them figured out where the game was moved until overtime was over. NBC gave a very quick briefing on the screen as to where the game would go, but if anyone was looking away (and that is a pretty good chance right after the end of a period), they missed the announcement.

There was no ticker on the bottom of the Preakness coverage telling hockey fans where to watch the game. When 20 minutes or more passed, most bartenders and patrons realized the game had moved, but did not know where.

After all, stations like MSNBC, CNBC, and USA Network -- all owned by NBC -- would have been the first guess for many people.

No, it was on Versus. To be honest, if the game was going to move, this makes sense. The channel is one of the few American channels that believes in the NHL, so why not give them some bonus coverage?

The only issue is carriage. Although I have long been an advocate of people getting DirecTV or Dish Network if their cable company does not carry Versus -- FCC regulations prohibit condo associations and homeowners associations from preventing the installation of these dishes -- the fact remains, not all people who receive NBC also receive Versus.

If people knew prior to the game there was a risk of this happening, they could have made arrangements. People with no cable or no Versus could have gone to a local bar, a friend's house, or made other plans.

On 17 minutes notice, that is not possible.

The irony of the whole thing is the game was played at a game time set by NBC. CBC certainly does not like afternoon games -- it kills ratings in Canada. Canadians watch hockey at night. Afternoons are for enjoying the day -- getting out of the house. Saturday night is for hockey.

NBC has arrogantly dismissed this tradition by insisting on afternoon games. Yet here is a case where had the game been played at 5 p.m. pacific time/8 p.m. eastern time, the horse race would have been over. Like most hockey fans, I have no clue what NBC shows Saturday in prime time -- and from this point on, most hockey fans will avoid NBC altogether -- but I cannot imagine it is so vital that it cannot be pre-empted for the conference finals.

If NBC wanted the game in the day, they had an obligation to the league and the league's fans to follow the game through.

NBC Universal's Brian Walker told the Globe and Mail the decision to leave the game early will not be repeated, but he also stated the contract with the Preakness required them to leave the game.

In other words, it will not be repeated unless it is repeated.

Hockey fans deserve better. The NBC experiment has been flawed since day one. The games get low ratings, yet nobody recognizes the morning/afternoon game times are the reason. Even the NFL gets higher ratings for Sunday night and Monday night games than they do for Sunday afternoon games.

Even if all games are on pay-per-view, the league must re-establish credibility by playing the games at night and showing the game in entirety. Being on network television -- with these constraints -- is simply not worth the consequences.

With or without Anze Kopitar, the Los Angeles Kings are playing some entertaining hockey.

Yes, those Los Angeles Kings. The team that has spent much of the season battling for last place in the Western Conference has been downright entertaining since Christmas.

And while they are not in the playoff race, their 5-4-7 since the start of February is not exactly embarrassing. Consider for the past several games, they have been playing without the services of Calder Trophy candidate Anze Kopitar, who continues to struggle with a nagging back ailment.

Since veteran goalie Sean Burke arrived on the scene, the Kings have been receiving solid goaltending from Burke and Mathieu Garon. Scoring goals has not been the problem, as Los Angeles has tallied a respectable 192 goals this season. The difference now is Garon and Burke are keeping them out of the net, something the squad struggled with through the first half of the season.

With forwards like Kopitar, Alexander Frolov, and Michael Cammalleri, Los Angeles will have plenty of firepower next season. If Patrick O'Sullivan improves on an often-shaky rookie season and develops as many expect, the Kings could be an offensive juggernaut within a couple of years.

Indications are highly touted blueliner Jack Johnson will leave the University of Michigan prior to next season in order to join the Kings. If Johnson signs ings and general manager Dean Lombardi can find a couple of solid free agents -- preferably one forward and one defenseman -- Los Angeles could become next year's Pittsburgh.

It's a Dogs' life

Okay, so the team is known as the Long Beach Ice Dogs. Still, it does not mean canines are big fans of the California ECHL franchise.

In any case, fans will be allowed to bring their dogs to Saturday's Ice Dogs game against Alaska. Teams such as the Utah Grizzlies and the now-defunct San Diego Gulls have tried this in the past, but generally, the negative feedback far outweighs positive feedback.

Thankfully, the teams typically limit the dogs to a certain part of the arena -- three sections in this case -- but there is a myriad of problems. Those with allergies will struggle, and since dander can last for several months, those seats could be off-limits for some time.

As any dog owner knows, it is not uncommon for dogs to start barking when they are around other dogs. Put a few dozen -- or few hundred -- dogs in one place, and it could be noisy. Not the type of noise that adds to a game, but the type of noise that distracts fans. That is, unless the dogs truly are fans and know when to bark. Considering this will be the first game for many dogs (if not all of them), that is unlikely.

What if a dog bites a fan at the game? In a lawsuit-happy world, this one seems a lot more legitimate than many other lawsuits. After all, a dog is not a normal or expected hazard at a hockey game.

The Ice Dogs struggle to draw large crowds, but this is not the way to improve attendance. Only two-legged fans count in the attendance numbers anyway.

Exclusively Showing Poker Network?

There is some discussion that ESPN actually carried some hockey highlights last week. Apparently, the Chris Simon incident got some airtime on the Exclusively Showing Poker Network.

Yawn.

Why does anyone care what ESPN thinks anyway? They have ignored hockey for years, and the coverage is next to nothing since the NHL broke off talks with the network and wisely bolted for Versus (then known as OLN).

Then again, maybe things have changed. Like many hockey fans, I have not watched ESPN in months, other than overseeing a bit of coverage in a bar.

To the folks at ESPN -- if you decide to cover hockey again, take out an ad in The Hockey News or on XM Home Ice 204. Until then, millions of hockey fans will not be watching.

It's Hockey Night in Canada. Why is it Hockey Morning in the United States?

On the topic of television -- is anyone watching NBC games that start at 9:30 in the morning on the west coast? Are hockey fans even awake that early after a long Saturday night of watching hockey?

NBC's game times continue to be the reason for low ratings. Hockey is a night game, not an afternoon game. And when games start at noon or earlier, forget about getting decent ratings. We are not NFL fans, we are not conditioned to drinking our morning coffee while watching the game, and we do not care to adapt.

The ramifications carry over beyond the day of the game as well. In several cases, a team playing early Sunday also was forced to play early Saturday in order to avoid a Saturday night-Sunday morning schedule situation. Even the teams that are not on NBC are getting a bad deal in this situation.

To top it off, hockey players are finely tuned machines and creatures of habit. The difference between a normal 7 to 8 pm start and the early afternoon start can play a major factor in the outcome. Several NHLers, including Anaheim's Teemu Selanne, have expressed their disdain for afternoon games, noting the games are often less intense and entertaining.

Hockey is a night sport. Looking at the prime time lineup of most major American networks, it is mindboggling they cannot fit in the NHL into an evening schedule. Forget so-called reality television which is nothing other than average people (in other words, not highly-paid actors) playing roles in a pre-determined outcome. The NHL, and sports in general, is true reality television.

And above all, it is a game meant to be played in the evening. Hopefully the NHL and NBC keep this in mind come playoff time.