This is your TV deal, NHL

Joe Yerdon summed it up perfectly with this tweet:

NHL Broadcast partner my ass.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll do a quick recap.

The first stage of the Tour de California was on Versus, tentatively scheduled to end at 7 PM, right before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

I say tentatively because Versus apparently isn't all that interested in broadcasting hockey games.

Instead of, you know, cutting to the hockey game, Versus decides to keep it on cycling for an extra five or six minutes. Why? To show the podium ceremony.

You can't make this stuff up. As I said on Twitter, this is YOUR TV deal, Mr. Bettman. On a network that obviously still doesn't seem that interested in hockey. (I'll even throw NBC in there as well -- as it was pointed out to me that today was the first time an article from Pro Hockey Talk made it on the NBCSports.com homepage.)

I realize that yes, viewers did not miss any of the action, but still, I would not be happy if I'm an NHL exec right now.

I really can't say anything other than that this league still continues to amaze me, night in and night out.