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One of the most common frustrations for Ottawa Senators fans in recent seasons has been the inability to watch certain games on TV. You might settle in for a game, knowing you’re a TSN subscriber living in the Ottawa viewing region, only to see the dreaded message: The scheduled program is not available in your region. In other words, the Ottawa program you're paying for in Ottawa is not available to you in Ottawa.

The problem has already resurfaced this year, most recently during Tuesday night’s preseason game in Toronto. Ian Mendes, the Senators’ vice president of communications, addressed the issue in his website column on Monday.

The root of the problem, Mendes explained, comes from how internet providers register IP addresses. Some Ottawa residents are being mistakenly identified as living elsewhere in Ontario.

"Your internet cable provider thinks you’re trying to watch a TSN 5 game from out-of-market, even though you live within a stone’s throw of Canadian Tire Centre," Mendes wrote. "If you try and stream the game on your phone – using regular data – you’ll be fine because it will register that your device is in Ottawa. But try watching the game off Wi-Fi on that same phone and boom, you’re back to the same problem. It might think you’re in Kitchener."

Mendes said some fans have been able to work around the issue by contacting their internet service provider and asking them to ‘whitelist’ their IP address, or to watch the game using your cable provider’s app on your phone using data – and stream to your television."

That latter workaround, of course, only makes sense for fans with unlimited data plans.

No English Radio or TV in Quebec City on Sunday

Broadcast challenges also popped up during Sunday’s preseason Senators game in Quebec City, where fans had no access to English TV or radio coverage. With TSN’s Sunday lineup packed with big events — the Ryder Cup, NFL football, and baseball pennant races — the Senators’ preseason tilt against the New Jersey Devils’ split squad didn’t quite make the cut.

So that's what happened with the English TV coverage.

As for radio, because neither team had an English TV crew on site, TSN 1200’s radio broadcasters — who no longer travel for road games — had no easy access to a video feed to call the game back home in Ottawa.

Ottawa Senators Radio Play-By-Play Team Won't Travel To Road Games This SeasonThe sports broadcast industry has undergone significant changes over the past several years, and it now appears to have finally impacted the Ottawa Senators.

That left the Senators and the station trying to set up their own video feed, a plan that never came together.

"We faced a lot of glitches. Our on-site team and the technical team back at TSN 1200 probably spent the better part of six hours trying to figure out a solution on Sunday. Without getting into all the boring technical stuff, I will simply say we could not provide TSN 1200 with a feed they felt comfortable with having Dean and Gord call the game from back in Ottawa."

More potential trouble ahead Thursday in St. Louis

And the broadcast problems this week may not be over. On Thursday, the Senators play the Blues in St. Louis — and that game also isn’t being broadcast by TSN or any TV network. And in Ottawa, no video feed also means no English radio feed. But they're on it. So please do not adjust your set.

"We’ll try and find a solution that works, but please know we’re trying our best behind the scenes on this stuff," Mendes said.

With the Enterprise Center being a full NHL arena equipped with proven broadcast technology, maybe there’s hope that the hookup will be smoother than it was on Sunday. 

If they can set up a clean video feed, fans could get an English radio call on TSN 1200 and possibly simulcast with video on the Senators’ website, which would suit most fans just fine.

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The Florida Panthers' “2025 Stanley Cup Championship Film,” which celebrates their repeat win, will premiere exclusively on ESPN on Thursday, Oct. 2 and Friday, Oct. 3.

The one-hour film debuts Oct. 2 on ESPN+ and Oct. 3 on ESPN2, and additional airings will include Sportsnet and Prime Video in Canada. The NHL’s YouTube channel will display the film in the coming weeks.

The film will allow Panthers fans and NHL fans to relive the Panthers' glory as they went on to win their second Stanley Cup. 

Per the Panthers' press release:

Produced by NHL Productions, the film unveils the emotional roller coaster, major in-season acquisitions and thrilling on-ice competition on the Panthers’ journey to becoming the seventh team in NHL history to win consecutive titles. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gets the star treatment as he leads his team through the drama and intensity of a second straight Stanley Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, mic’d up moments throughout the rivalry and sit-down interviews with powerhouse players Seth Jones, Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart and more, the show gives fans a firsthand look at the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions.

The Panthers embark on chasing the coveted third consecutive Stanley Cup this season, with their regular season set to begin on Oct. 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Panthers will start the season without Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, their top two forwards, which makes the challenge of repeating much harder. 

The NHL saw several players get placed on waivers on Sep. 29, and one of them is a former New Jersey Devils forward.

According to PuckPedia, the New York Rangers have placed former Devils forward Justin Dowling on waivers. 

Dowling's time with the Devils officially ended this off-season when he signed a two-year contract with the Rangers in free agency. Now, assuming he clears waivers, he should start the season down in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Dowling played in 52 games this past season with the Devils, where he recorded two goals, five assists, seven points, 51 hits, and a minus-6 rating. This was after he scored one goal in two games with the Devils during the 2023-24 season. 

In 152 career NHL games over seven seasons split between the Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, and Devils, Dowling has posted nine goals, 17 assists, and 26 points. 

In what is shaping up to be a race to the bottom in the battle for a roster spot on defense, injured Philadelphia Flyers prospect Oliver Bonk is, unfortunately, missing out on a big opportunity.

Players like Helge Grans and Noah Juulsen, two favorites for a roster spot due to their right-handedness, have largely flattered to deceive or played poorly outright in training camp and the preseason thus far.

Egor Zamula appears to have plateaued, and Emil Andrae has only appeared in one preseason game to this point; he'll play against Boston on Monday night.

An underwhelming roster battle has left the Flyers in a precarious position with only a few preseason games left on the schedule, and you have to wonder what a healthy Bonk could have done for himself going against this group.

Bonk, 20, was deemed day-to-day by the Flyers with an upper-body injury on Thursday, along with forwards Lane Pederson and Karsen Dorwart, and has technically been day-to-day since the Flyers' first announcement on Sept. 18.

Flyers Roster Battles Leaving Much to Be Desired Early in NHL PreseasonThrough three NHL preseason games, several Philadelphia Flyers roster battles look far from being decided any time soon.

The 2023 first-round pick was meant to play in the rookie series games against the New York Rangers, too, only to be held out of those before training camp started.

Considering Bonk was also left off the ice during development camp in July to recover from a long season, he's quietly missed a decent amount of on-ice development with NHL coaches and NHL-caliber players this year.

The timing of it all has been awful, frankly, as Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to miss time well into the start of the season (potentially as late as November as of now)

Given that Ristolainen will inevitably return at some point, this would have been an easy opportunity to see Bonk play a month or so's worth of NHL games and how he holds up doing so.

The same premise applied to Grans, in a way, where the 23-year-old is no longer waivers-exempt. If the Flyers want to get a real good look at Grans, there was no better time to do so than while Ristolainen can't play.

By all accounts, it would seem that Bonk is destined to start his 2025-26 campaign - his first as a professional player - in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Most likely, he would've spent most of the season there anyway, but you can't help but feel a healthy Bonk makes this Flyers team out of training camp to glean some valuable experience while Ristolainen is on the shelf.

Seven teams placed a combined 22 players on NHL waivers Monday.

The Vancouver Canucks placed Jiri Patera, MacKenzie MacEachern, Joe Labate and Jimmy Schuldt on waivers.

The New York Rangers' four are Anton Blidh, Justin Dowling, Trey Fix-Wolansky and Derrick Pouliot.

The Minnesota Wild waived Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Ben Gleason, Ben Jones and Matt Kiersted.

In Nashville, the Predators waived Kevin Gravel, Jake Lucchini, Matt Murray, Navrin Mutter and Jordan Oesterle.

The Hurricanes have Skyler Brind'Amour and Ronan Seeley on waivers as well, while the Philadelphia Flyers waived Helge Grans. The Winnipeg Jets round out the waiver action with Phillip Di Giuseppe and Mason Shaw.

PuckPedia reported the waiver wire news.

For each player, the other 31 NHL teams can put in a claim for them in the next 24 hours, by 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Patera, 26, was claimed off waivers twice last year. After signing a two-year contract worth $775,000 annually with the Canucks on July 1, 2024, the Boston Bruins claimed the goaltender in early October while they awaited a new contract for starter Jeremy Swayman. Five days later, the Canucks claimed him back.

Dowling, 34, has played 152 career NHL games, including 52 last season with the New Jersey Devils. The center put up seven points with them and 26 in his career.

Aube-Kubel, 29, is a Stanley Cup champion, playing 14 playoff games for the Avalanche when they won in 2022. The right winger has played 304 career NHL games, putting up 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points. Last season, he played 22 games split between the Buffalo Sabres and Rangers, recording two points.

Gravel, 33, is in his fourth season with the Predators organization. The defenseman played 61 AHL games last year and six NHL contests, recording one point in the top level. He's been in 139 career NHL games, recording a goal and 15 points.

Brind'Amour, a 26-year-old center, played most of last season for the AHL's Chicago Wolves, scoring 24 points in 68 games. The son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour played his first two NHL games at the end of the regular season, scoring once.

Grans, 23, played his first six NHL games in 2024-25, recording an assist. The defenseman was a second-round pick in 2020 for the Los Angeles Kings, which traded him to Philadelphia in 2023.

Di Giuseppe, 31, played the last three seasons with the Canucks organization before signing a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Jets this summer. He has 28 goals and 53 assists for 81 points in 302 career NHL games, including a goal and six points in 20 games last year.

All 23 players who were placed on waivers on Sunday cleared, making them eligible to be sent to the minors. They include Montreal Canadiens prospect Sean Farrell, Columbus Blue Jackets veterans Hudson Fasching and Brendan Gaunce and Dallas Stars bubble defenseman Kyle Capobianco.

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed four players on waivers in order to send them down to the Abbotsford Canucks. The four players are goaltender Jiří Patera, defenceman Jimmy Schuldt, as well as forwards Joseph LaBate and MacKenzie MacEachern. In total, 22 players were placed on waivers across the NHL, including former Canucks forward Phillip Di Giuseppe, who was signed this off-season by the Winnipeg Jets. 

LaBate, MacEachern and Schuldt were all signed by Vancouver this past off-season. As for Patera, he joined the organization during the 2024 off-season. All four players were projected to be sent to the AHL and should play big roles for Abbotsford this season. 

Sending these four players down on Monday also ensures that they will be ready for the AHL Canucks' Training Camp. This year, Abbotsford will hold practices at the Abbotsford Centre from October 1 to 3, while a scrimmage will be played at the Chilliwack Coliseum on October 4. According to the Canucks, all Abbotsford Training Camp events will be open to the public.

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As for the NHL club, Vancouver has two more pre-season games before they kick off the 2025-26 season on October 9. The Canucks will take on the Calgary Flames on October 1 before playing their final pre-season game against the Edmonton Oilers on October 3. Game time for Wednesday is scheduled for 6:00 pm PT from the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Guessing what's gonna happen in the NHL is a precarious business but we do it every year because it's fan-type fun.

What makes it even more fun is when we're in a position to compare last year's genius picks with the ones our heavily-admired pollsters say this time around.

Here's what The Hockey News Yearbook forecasters wrote about our Met Area teams  at this time last year.

The Devils would finish on top of the Met Division with the Rangers right behind. The Islanders were tabbed for fourth in the Met.

The Panthers were tabbed to lead the Atlantic Division but not to win the 2025 Stanley Cup.

Edmonton and Dallas got the nods in the Pacific and Central Divisions. And The Hockey News projected a New Jersey-Dallas Final with a Stars Cup win.

Nice try all around, guys, and now we go to this season: Of the trio of Met teams, The Devils are placed second, Rangers fourth and Islanders – Yikes! – seventh!  Florida gets top billing again in the Atlantic while the Canes lead the Met. 

The Never Ending Issue of Officiating, What Else Is New?Altogether now – one, two, three – WE LOVE THE REFEREES! Dead silence. That's not fair.

On the other side, Dallas is slotted first in the Central Division with Edmonton rulers of the Pacific.

The Hockey News Yearbook has Vegas defeating Carolina in the Cup Final. The Maven's Off-The-Wall Predictions Come In The Adjoining Column: (Hint: You may not like all of them; neither do I!)

The Philadelphia Flyers have placed defenseman Helge Grans on waivers, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reports. 

Grans was one of the Flyers' prospects looking to earn a spot on the NHL roster out of training camp. However, now that Grans has been put on waivers, the rest of the league has the opportunity to claim him if they wish to. 

If Grans clears waivers, the Flyers will be able to assign him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, with Grans being a big and still young right-shot defenseman, it is fair to wonder if another team could claim him. 

Grans played in his first six NHL games this past season with the Flyers, where he recorded one assist and two penalty minutes. In 66 games during the 2024-25 season with the Phantoms, he recorded eight goals, 15 assists, 23 points, and 42 penalty minutes.