The inability of FSN Pittsburgh to carry any of the playoff games between the Penguins and Ottawa Senators in high definition brought a hail of criticism from viewers with HD sets.

FSN will carry as many as five first-round games. NBC already has carried one game in HD. If there is a sixth game, it will be on NBC in HD. Versus also is carrying some Penguins playoff games in HD, but those games are blacked out in Pittsburgh because of contractual commitments to FSN.

FSN executive producer Shawn McClintock provided this explanation.

"Everything runs through our facility in Houston. They have limited capacity. Additionally, it can be challenging to find an available truck on such short notice. With the quick turnaround, we could not pull it off for the first round.

"In the event the Penguins advance, we're making plans to cover as many games as we can in HD."

FSN likely will be limited to a maximum of three games in the second round. In all likelihood, NBC will take its allotted two and Versus will do the same.

McClintock emphasized FSN has a strong commitment to HD coverage of the Penguins and Pirates. He pointed out that FSN did 10 Penguins games in HD last season and 25 this season. It plans to do 35 next season. With the Pirates, FSN's high-definition coverage went from seven in 2005 to 27 last year and will go to 40 this season.