When Rogers signed a 12-year, $5.2-billion contract to have Sportsnet be the exclusive distributor of national NHL broadcasts in Canada, it didn’t see this season coming. With all seven Canadian teams out of the playoff race — and they have been for some time — ratings have plummeted.

“This is a historically bad year for Canadian team performance in the NHL,” said Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties at Rogers. “It’s clearly affecting our ratings this year, which has an impact on our revenue. But we can’t overreact to that.”

The 7 p.m. game on Hockey Night In Canada is averaging 1.66 million viewers, down 16 per cent from last year. That’s on top of another 16 per cent drop from 2013-14.

The Leafs, once good for about 700,000 viewers mid-week on a regional or local broadcast, are treading water lately between 300,000 and 400,000. They have averaged 411,700 on Sportsnet, down 23 per cent.

“They lost money last year, and they’ll lose this year,” said Brian Cooper, the president and chief executive of S&E Sponsorship Group. “This is a long-term play for Rogers. It’s going to be in years 5, 6, 7, 8 that you’ll see the investment paying off. But they’ll take a hit this year.”

While the Leafs have created some buzz with their call-ups, there hasn’t been a correlating rise in ratings. Toronto was on a recent Sunday night Hometown Hockey national broadcast, playing the Red Wings in an Original Six game, and drew an average of 524,000. The same night the final of the Brier, Canada’s men’s curling championship, drew 1.16 million.

“A lot of Leaf fans took a little bit of a year off,” Moore said. “Now they’re seeing some guys whose names they would put on the back of a jersey they’d buy.”

Still, that’s in the future. The here and now isn’t great.

Rogers announced some 200 job cuts in January, and Sportsnet recently let go on-air and behind-the-scenes talent, including Vancouver-based host James Cybulski and Toronto reporter Hugh Burrill.

“I don’t think there’s a direct correlation between the layoffs and the performance of the Canadian teams,” Moore said. “The media landscape has been changing for a while.”

Some fear more cuts are to come with Sportsnet getting fewer eyeballs on its TV screens. (There has been a considerable uptick in subscriptions in web-based viewing through GameCentre. The paid subscriber base rose 88 per cent, with daily users up 45 per cent over last year.)

The challenge for Sportsnet is how to approach the Stanley Cup playoffs. There was some scuttlebutt that Sportsnet would only produce two series in the first round, not the four their contract calls for, as a means to save money. “That’s not the case,” Moore said. “As far as producing, we’ll still produce at least four.”

But there will be a change in Sportsnet’s focus.

“We’re clearly going into the playoffs with a bit of a different attitude,” Moore said. “We’re talking stars first, and . . . (we’ll) do an even better job covering the Stanley Cup tournament as a tournament.”

That means a steady diet of Sidney Crosby, Steve Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, Drew Doughty and the stories surrounding them.

“People are going to be following the stars and how they do,” Cooper said. “The league is going that way in developing a star system. There’s never been a star system. It’s always been about the team.”

Still, it looks as if Sportsnet’s hockey ratings won’t be what they were last year, when five Canadian teams made the first round. The casual fan will watch something else. Maybe the Blue Jays. Maybe the Raptors.

Mighty Pens

Sidney Crosby appears to have put the Penguins on his back, single-handedly carrying them into the playoffs. He had two assists in a win over the Capitals on Sunday — Pittsburgh’s sixth straight win — and has 20 points in a 12-game points streak. The Penguins have moved from a precarious wild-card position to a solid second in the Atlantic.

“It’s really tight. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night. It’s a fun time of year,” Crosby said. “We’ve been in different positions. We’ve been on the side that Washington is in, where you’re kind of counting down the games to the playoffs.

“This position is not a bad one either, where you’re fighting, clawing to get in. We’re playing quicker. We’re executing a lot better.”

Crosby is now third in the NHL scoring race, with 76 points in 71 games. Remember, he had only two goals and seven assists in his first 18 games.

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Optimus Reim

Former Leafs goaltender James Reimer has won three straight games for the San Jose Sharks, including a 25-shot shutout Sunday. It’s his second shutout for the Sharks in four appearances in teal. His last shutout with the Leafs had been Oct. 29, 2013 against Edmonton. Reimer is 3-1-0 with a .951 save percentage and 1.27 goals-against average in San Jose, and the Sharks have won six of their last eight games. He officially remains Martin Jones’ backup. “That’s a great luxury to have, both guys playing the way they are right now,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said.

Meeting expectations

Ryan Johansen has met the high expectations of him since coming to Nashville in a Jan. 6 trade for defenceman Seth Jones. He has 22 points in 32 games, and the Predators have 40 points in those games, putting them among the NHL’s top 10 teams over the last two-plus months. “You always want to be looked upon as a key guy and a difference-maker type player,” Johansen told the Tennessean. “They made it very clear that I was the top-line centre that they had been looking for, and for me, that’s the perfect opportunity. I can go out there and just do my thing and have fun.”

Brothers in arms

Brothers Eric and Marc Staal, reunited on the New York Rangers, relived with the New York Daily News the night in 2011 when Eric, then with the Hurricanes, concussed his younger brother with a hard hit. “I apologized right away,” Eric said. “I felt bad. You have a half-second to react, but right after the hit, I knew it was him. Hockey is physical and aggressive. In hindsight, seeing what he went through that year after the hit, I regret it.” Marc said he didn’t understand why Eric felt an apology was necessary. “I blame myself more than anyone,” Marc said. “He caught me hard, I was in a vulnerable position, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

Killer Stamkos

The Tampa Bay Lightning have killed penalties at a pretty good rate all year, 84.1 per cent, putting them in the top five. One reason, at least lately, is Steven Stamkos has been killing penalties regularly since early February. “He’s earned the right to kill penalties and he’s done a heck of a job,” head coach Jon Cooper said. Stamkos, who has one short-handed goal, loves the development. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve been given an opportunity to do it, about 25 games ago. I’ve been working really hard at it. It’s a big pat of the game and a big reason why our team has been successful. We’ve had a pretty solid PK. You take pride in that.”

Flame on fire

Flames coach Bob Hartley challenged Sean Monahan a few weeks ago to be better and finish the season strong. Monahan has responded with nine goals in 13 games. “In our situation, with young players, it’s about our culture,” Hartley said. “To win at this level, it’s the toughest thing you can teach. At other levels, consistency is not a must. At the NHL level, if you’re not consistent, you’re not going to be successful.”

Milestones

Sharks forward Patrick Marleau is the fourth active player to surpass 1,400 games, joining Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla and Shane Doan . . . Marleau also became the ninth player in NHL history to play in as many games with one franchise . . . Stars head coach Lindy Ruff coached his 1,402nd career regular-season game, passing Ron Wilson (1,401) for sole possession of fifth place on the NHL’s all-time list . . . Columbus’s John Tortorella coached his 1,001st career game to move past Roger Neilson (1,000) and into sole possession of 25th place in NHL history . . . Coyotes captain Shane Doan played in his 1,457th career game to tie Glen Wesley for 22nd place in NHL history.

And also

University of Michigan forwards J.T. Compher, Kyle Connor and Tyler Motte became the first linemates in history to be named among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, awarded to the top player in U.S. college hockey. Harvard senior forward Jimmy Vesey, a Nashville pick the Leafs are believed to be interested in, is also among the 2016 finalists . . . Devils forward Devante Smith-Pelly has seven goals in nine games since joining the team . . . Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood, a third-round selection in 2010, became the first New Jersey goaltender to win in his NHL debut since Martin Brodeur in 1992 . . . Montreal defenceman Alexei Emelin has played 63 games without scoring; the Penguins’ Brian Dumoulin has gone 72.

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