Escape from Bob Cole

We all know Bob Cole is well past his expiry date, but CBC still insists on wheeling him out. Unlike days of Lafleurvian yore when the Habs might be broadcast on CBC's French channel, unless you have RDS, we're sort of stuck with Bob "Boston player passes to Boston player" Cole doing the B's-Habs series...or are we? The good news is anyone with a digital terminal or a dish can still catch the series and avoid Cole altogether.

On Shaw anyway turn on the usual Channel 280 (you know the one where the Nux PPV games are usually on) and you get TV Free Cole. You may have to brush up on your Chinese dialects, but hockey is still hockey in any language. Yes, the CBC which has experimented with broadcasting games in different languages this year has decided to go all Mandarin for this year's playoffs on its alternate feed.

Ah, it's like the Mother Corp of hockey broadcasting has finally joined the 21st century and the puck truly does rise in the Far East.

Carey Price's ode to Patrick Roy showboating that turned the game the B's way was all the sweeter in Mandarin.