Islanders Get Pre-Game Show

Neil Best of Newsday is reporting on his Watchdog blog that MSG+ will be adding a pre-game show to Islanders telecasts starting this Saturday night.

Obviously the economics weren't that hard to overcome. I do wonder what the tipping point was. Perhaps the Islanders are covering some of the production costs? The team already produces Islanders Illustrated, so it's not that much of a stretch. But I hope MSG did step up and do the right thing here. I never liked the argument that no one watches pre-game shows. If the Rangers and Devils have one, the Isles should too. And now they do.

A pre-game program dedicated to all things Islanders is particularly important with the post-game show now diluted by coverage of all three teams at once. The starts of games have almost seemed rushed with so little time between the beginning of on-air coverage and the opening faceoff. Tuning in at 6:30, 6:35, or even 6:45 for a 7:08 game is a much better warmup for the night's action.