Despite Los Angeles Kings Claim, NBC Says Stanley Cup Finals Game 4 Will Air On NBC Sports Network

The Stanley Cup will be in the building Wednesday night for Game 4 and, suddenly, people care that the game will be on NBC Sports Network rather than NBC.

The practice of Games 3 and 4 airing on cable -- now NBCSN, previously Versus -- has been in place since 2009, and Los Angeles fans clearly aren't satisfied by the chance that they could hoist the Stanley Cup on a network with inferior market penetration as compared to NBC proper or a network like ESPN.

Totally understandable. Apparently, their concerns have been heard:

Game 4 will now be on NBC! No more complaining!

— LA Kings (@LAKings) June 5, 2012

However, the Kings may have jumped the gun with this announcement. A PR rep for NBC Sports has told SBNation.com that there are -- as of now -- no plans to air the game on NBC in any American market, and that Game 4 between Los Angeles and New Jersey is still scheduled for NBC Sports Network on Wednesday.

One of two things could still happen:

1. NBC will switch a potential sweep game of the Stanley Cup Finals from their cable network to the broadcast network, or ...
2. The NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, KNBC, will pick up the game for that market only.

It doesn't appear as though either will happen. According to NBC Sports on Twitter, confirming what they told us minutes ago:

Confirming...Game 4 is on NBC Sports Network...everywhere #stanleycup

— NBCSportsPR (@NBCSportsPR) June 5, 2012