NHL loses crucial television draw in first round

Losing the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin Wednesday night was a blow to the NHL and NBC/Versus, taking out perhaps the best player in the world before the second round and replacing his team with a Canadian entry - rarely a good thing for U.S. TV ratings.

Remarkably, the top three seeds in the East are gone already - something the NBA and its refs never would allow to happen.

The news isn't all bad, though, for the NHL's TV prospects.

Despite all the upsets, of the eight teams remaining four are Original Six brand names and two others are the iconic Flyers and defending Cup champion Penguins with Sidney Crosby.