The St. Louis Blues vs. the Chicago Blackhawks was one of the most highly anticipated series of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. So the start times for the Central time zone teams’ games were manipulated to fit the broadcast needs of NBC’s cable networks.

Game 5 of their series had an 8:42 p.m. local start time in St. Louis, which is admittedly ridiculous.

In the third period of that game, Blackhawks play-by-play man Pat Foley cut an epic promo on the NHL, ripping the start times of the series’ games.

(Keep in mind that as a cost-cutting measure, NBCSN uses Comcast SportsNet feeds for first-round matchups, so the national feed was the Comcast SportsNet Chicago one, featuring Foley and Eddie Olczyk.)

“Eddie, we’ve had a tremendous series between two great teams here. And it has been compelling theater: The two teams have been tied or one-goal games 96 percent of the time so far. But this is the third time in five games that a start time of 8:42 [p.m.] local was mandated. I can say with certainty: Players can not stand these late starts. Coaches can not stand them. Most importantly, the fans can’t stand them.

“So as we approach midnight – AGAIN – on a work night, a school night, a simple question: An 8:42 puck drop …”

Alas, that was the end of the rant, as the next thing we heard was a Honda commercial.

Did NBCSN cut off Foley? It was around the time for a TV timeout in the third period, which made it odd that the network didn’t cut away early after the stoppage in play. Whatever the reasoning, the optics are a little bad for the NHL’s television partner.

Kudos to the venerable Pat Foley for the best “get off my lawn!” rant of the postseason.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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