Where are the Wings?

I don't want this to be another NHL-bashing post. Killing the NHL for everything they do is very popular, and although I usually agree with those people, I'm going to avoid it this time.

BUT WHY CAN'T I WATCH THE RED WINGS PLAY!!

Versus. We all know it was a horrible mistake for the NHL to go with this network for their cable coverage. The channel is fine, and I like the coverage...when I can watch it. By cable company is really, really bad. That being said, I don't get Versus (like many people in the country.) Hence I flipped to FSN Detroit, expecting to see the Wings taking on the Stars in Game 1 of the confrence finals.

Instead, I found the Tigers. Now I enjoy Tigers games just fine, but there's 162 of them. There is at maximum, 7 Western Conference Finals games. The law of averages determines that the Wings game was the bigger event...except that it was on Versus.

This got me to thinking, why doesn't the NHL try to negotiate a local TV package for areas not covered under Versus massive umbrella. I'm thinking similar to what the NFL does.

Monday Night Football is broadcast by ESPN. Everybody has ESPN. But the NFL, always thinking, makes sure that the game is broadcast on local TV networks in the cities that the local teams are playing. Why? For the seven people out there that still don't have cable TV. Now if the NFL is willing to do this when their games are on ESPN, why can't the NHL do something like this when their games are playing on Versus?

It seems like it would be a relatively cheap way to make sure everyone that needs to see the game does, and to maintain a fan base, which in markets like Detroit right now, is important.

Please, do something NHL. It's a rare occasion that I actually want to watch hockey, please don't make it impossible to do so when I want to.