Photo : Patrick Smith ( Getty )

When the St. Louis Blues won their first-ever Stanley Cup back in June, they said “fuck”—and all its variations—a lot. Audible to anyone watching on TV at home was “fuckin-a,” “fuck yeah,” “fuckin’ right,” “holy fuck,” and “let’s fuckin’ go” as the team took turns raising the Cup, until NBC finally cut off their microphones upon a return from a commercial break.


A teeny handful of hockey fans were put off enough by the f-bombs to complain to the Federal Communications Commission. One FOIA request later, and these are their stories, starting with this first one from little Onaway, Michigan—a city that even I, a psychotically devoted Michigander, had never heard of.

Stanley cup playoffs on nbc. F bomb dropped multiple times. This is not acceptable. Children are watching. 10min delay?


That one is nice enough. It offers a clear solution to the perceived problem, with a question mark even included to avoid sounding like they’re trying to tell NBC how to do their jobs, though 10 minutes seems like it might be excessive for live sports.

In Lombard, Illinois, however, they don’t seem so flexible.

NBC once AGAIN allowed at least 10 F-bombs, clearly audible, a few loudly, during prime time coverage of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. Federal law prohibits obscene, indecent and profane content from being broadcast on the radio or TV. ENFORCE THIS LAW, LEVY HEFTY FINES, and make them public to ensure future compliance or this deliberate, disgusting show never ends.

A viewer from Greeneville, Tennessee, is disappointed that NBC wasn’t apologetic enough for letting the fucks slip through.

In watching the broadcast of Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals last night, NBC showed several St. Louis players celebrating their championship that they had just won. When showing players celebrating, NBC chose not to use a 7 second delay, and allowed vulgar language to be broadcasted several times. Players were broadcasted using the word “Fuck”, and many children watched this game. NBC has chosen not to use a delay for several years now when broadcasting championship celebrations, and showed little remorse in their actions last night. They should be reprimanded given their multiple past violations of obscenity guidelines.


In Oswego, Illinois, a grandparent made a count of exactly how many players said “fuck,” and was forced to deny their grandson the ability to watch the remainder of the celebrations. (As someone who gets a lot of emails complaining that their kid read a blog where I used a bad word, I feel a small measure of sympathy for the predicament these adults find themselves in.)

During the presentation of the Stanley Cup last night there were an unacceptable amount of f-bombs dropped heard from on ice audio. This audio feed should have been cut off but wasn’t. Five of the first seven players raising the cup decided to do this in one form or another. I then changed channels to avoid further exposure to grandson watching. Producer / director should have cut on ice audio after first player did this.


Bell Canyon, California, meanwhile, is home to a real comedian.

During the postgame show of the Stanley cup on NBC, the network broadcast numerous instances of hockey players, and even training staff, screaming the word “F!@#” I was absolutely horrified by hearing these terrible words from professionals. There were also a couple of middle fingers from the stands. I had to take a shower after hearing those foul words because I felt so dirty and violated. The NHL needs to take make sure its players act in a manner that is respectful of law enforcement, respectful of decency, and promotes respectful treatment of women, similar to the NFL and how all of their players act.


Stop wasting the FCC’s time! Just get right to the point, like this viewer from Havertown, Pennsylvania.

Maybe F—-S were said

Maybe facts were said during Game 7. Who’s to say? Who is truly our final arbiter of truth in the NHL?


Anyway, here’s a funny typo from Park Hills, Missouri.

Foul language allowed multiple times without editing for odscene language.

And that’s it. That’s all the complaints, which really pales in comparison to the outcry over, for example, the Super Bowl halftime show this year. Hockey fans are just tougher, I guess.