FanHouse

Verizon Wireless has exclusive marketing and promotional rights as the "Official Wireless Service Provider" in the US for the NHL and the NHLPA. Verizon has corporately named the arena in which the Washington Capitals play half of their season. Verizon's even a sponsor for the NHL on Versus, which proves it doesn't even give a damn about audience share when it comes to reaching out to hockey fans (and their wallets).

So that's why I find it bloody baffling that Verison FiOS TV -- the telecommunications giant's fiber-optic cable television provider -- doesn't have an iota of the hockey content that its competitors offer. Which really ticks me off as a fan whose Homeowners Association makes him pay for cable if I have a satellite dish or not; meaning that unless I want to double dip in TV bills, it's me and my FiOS.

This schizo behavior was crystallized for myself and other hockey fans when Verizon -- which already doesn't offer the pay-per-view NHL Centre Ice package -- decided to join the minority and refuse to add The NHL Network this fall. Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable have it, and are adding it as the season progresses; Verizon does not and will not, according to Sharon Cohen-Hagar, a company spokesperson I interviewed this week.

"We don't have a content agreement yet. I think they're looking toward next year possibly," she said. "We're still fairly new in the TV business. I think the intent is to carry it in the future."

NHL Centre Ice is part of the iN DEMAND digital PPV network, which is owned by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner. I figured those networks would be asking for the moon in rights' fees from a competitor like Verizon, but Cohen-Hagar said, "We have shown we can negotiate for content when another cable company provides it. It's not a barrier."

Not a barrier, but also not on my cable box, just like The NHL Network. Maybe next year, or maybe Verizon's giving me lip-service. Right now, I'm paying for no less than 30 Spanish-language channels, a dozen public access networks that seem to be in a constant state of test pattern and something called "The Soundtrack Channel" that plays music videos from awful old movies -- when I'd gladly pay slightly more for The NHL Network and access to Centre Ice.

Why, as hockey fans, is our money good enough for wireless service but not for cable television?