Amazon is looking for a tag for the Canadiens’ games

NHL training camps will open in about a month, and the regular season will begin in six weeks. Is it SeptemberOctober yet?

We know that 45 of the Canadiens' 84 games will be broadcast on RDS. These are mainly games on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturday afternoons, and Sundays.

Amazon announced a few weeks ago that Prime Video will broadcast 21 games on Wednesday nights, including seven involving the Canadiens. This will be the only way to legally watch those seven games in Canada.

What about the other 32 games? We're still waiting for the official announcement from Quebecor, but it's no secret anymore: TVA Sports will be the broadcaster for those 32 games.

Who's doing what?

There shouldn't be any major changes regarding commentary and analysis on RDS and TVA Sports. Pierre Houde and Marc Denis will continue to team up on RDS, while Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime are expected to be on duty on Mondays and Saturdays on TVA Sports. However, if Lalime is still dealing with health issues, Alexandre Picard will step in to fill the gap.

On Prime Video, there are many options.

According to my sources, it wouldn't be surprising to see Amazon ask RDS or TVA Sports to produce the 21 games that will be broadcast in French on its app.

Since TVA Sports, Amazon, and the NHL are partners, I'd put my money on TVA Sports rather than RDS.

However, don't necessarily expect to see Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime calling all the games on Prime Video. They could put together a new team specifically for Amazon—one that might include people from RDS, TVA Sports, or other media outlets.

People who are already closely tied to the Canadiens… or not!

Could Félix Séguin provide play-by-play commentary alongside Marc Denis, for example? That would be surprising. Very surprising!

However, we could very well see employees from both networks hosting, calling the game, providing analysis, and/or appearing during intermissions.

Plus, I know Amazon would love to find one or two “new talents” to call or analyze the games broadcast on Prime Video. In fact, I've heard the names Anthony Marcotte, Sébastien Goulet, and Jasmin Leroux being mentioned.

FrédéricClaudine Douville Lord's name has also been mentioned to me; he already calls LPHF games on Prime Video. However, there would likely be some reluctance to hire someone primarily known as a soccer guy to call Canadiens hockey games.

Finally, someone at RDS made me realize that with 45 games instead of 60, there will also be 15 fewer assignments for analysts, hosts, and panelists before and during the games. As a result, Bell Media might decide to let one or two regulars go in order to continue offering its specialists a decent salary.

Could Guy Carbonneau be let go? Could Danièle Sauvageau be assigned exclusively to women's hockey? Will the Bruno Gervais–Maxime Talbot duo continue to be heard on the air at RDS?

But above all: Will TVA Sports invite any of these people to join its staff?

A lot will be decided in the coming weeks. And the season is just around the corner, as I'm sure you'll recall.