By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Officials at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh are being criticized by NHL executives for booking multiple events this week, including Tuesday night's WWE Smackdown TV taping, during the NHL Playoffs.

The AP reports that WWE's event on Tuesday night interrupted the playoffs series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, forcing the two teams to play back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow night.

"It is a shame that both teams will have to play back to back games ... because the Pittsburgh building — against NHL rules — booked a series of concerts and forced the league to alter the playoff schedule," said Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. "This is bad for the league, both fan bases and for the players."

Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer agreed with Leonsis that it's unfortunate, but tried to defend Pittsburgh's arena situation causing back-to-back games during the grueling Playoffs stretch.

"It has happened before, it is sometimes unavoidable, and it impacts both teams equally," Leonsis said. "The NHL has to consider building availability and national television preferences when making the playoff schedule."

Caldwell's Analysis: WWE could get some chatter during the back-to-back TV broadcasts this weekend, which would certainly help the company's exposure to a sports audience. There's no such thing as bad publicity, and WWE isn't even to blame in this case.

Link: AP news story.

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