Watch first episode of ‘NHL All Access’ as it's worth your time (Review)

After doing “24/7” with HBO and “Road To The NHL Winter Classic” with EPIX, it’s the NHL’s turn to take its talents to Showtime, where “All Access: Quest For The Stanley Cup” is airing for the next few Fridays.

We interviewed producer Ross Greenburg about the new project earlier this week, and he explained some of the inspirations and objectives for it.

So is it worth your time?

Very much so, especially because it’s only going to take 30 minutes of that time.

That sets it apart from the previous hour-long shows, as does the time in the season in which its set. There isn’t much fat to cut here: No pointless scenes of players talking during meals or home visits, whose intentional staging made “The Hills” look like it was filmed with a surveillance camera by comparison. Outside of one trip to Matt Cullen’s house, it’s all on the ice and in the dressing room.

And that’s where it should be when the stakes are so high. This isn’t some manufactured drama before an outdoor game. These are the final four Stanley Cup Playoff teams. Three of their stories will end. One will raise the Cup.

If your favorite parts of other NHL reality series are the coaches cursing in the locker room and the players’ reactions on the ice and the way the cameras take us inside controversial moments – like, in this episode, the Ryan Callahan hit on Kris Letang – then you’re going to lap this up.

It also manages to squeeze in some “24/7”-esque narratives like the city of St. Louis as a struggling sports town and the quests of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for that elusive Cup.

But it’s much more about the games that have been played, which does make it veer a little too close to an “NFL Films” weekly recap show. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you’re living and breathing these playoff games you might find about a third of it to be mundane.

Give it a look. It’s a great way to dig deeper into these playoffs. Fans and media have great access; Showtime’s the only one with all of it.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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