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The front office of the NHL might have been almost as disappointed as NBC, fans at the Belmont Stakes and the owners of I’ll Have Another.

The prospect of a Triple Crown race — and its huge ratings implications — evaporated when I’ll Have Another was scratched from the Belmont on Friday. It might have made for the largest audience lead-in for NBC’s other big property Saturday night: Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final.

“I’m disappointed for them,” said John Collins, the NHL’s chief operating officer. “It was a great story: Triple Crown is always fun. Brings a lot of new eyeballs.”

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