NHL no-variety show.

NBC will finish its regular season run of NHL games with Rangers/Penguins this Sunday and Red Wings/Blackhawks the week after. When the season is over, NBC will have aired ten regular season games — all of which involved either the Rangers, Penguins or Red Wings.

The Rangers, Penguins and Red Wings are considered three of the biggest draws in the NHL. The Penguins have the biggest star in the league, Sidney Crosby. The Rangers are from New York, the #1 media market in the country. The Red Wings are a perennial playoff team, and have the best record in the Western Conference.

While it may be understandable that NBC would feature those big name teams, it is also understandable that fans in other cities would tune out.

In the past, NBC — and ABC previously — aired as many as three games regionally, meaning as many as six different markets had a vested interest in watching NBC’s weekly telecast. With NBC airing only one game per week, fans of teams not playing on the network have little reason to watch.

The NHL is very much a regional sport, and less star driven than other sports like the NBA. While LeBron versus Kobe gave ABC its second NBA best rating of the season, Crosby versus Ovechkin provided no bump in ratings for NBC, as Penguins/Capitals put up the same rating as almost every other NHL telecast on NBC this season: 0.8.

If NBC exercises its option to air NHL games next season, the network may be better served by featuring as many teams in as many markets as possible.