On the Fantasy Draft, the Commish’s Radio Show, and a Few Other Things From Thursday’s All-Star Coverage

I have a few things that I want to discuss, but don’t have enough material to let stand alone, with regards to everything that went on Thursday. So, it seems best to just do it with bullet points, as they’ll never let you down.

• The All-Star Fantasy Draft remains entertaining, leave it alone. I have a lot of ideas for how the Draft (which, as many have pointed out, is taking place in reality and is in no way a fantasy), including encouraging trades, dropping the pretense of making sure defensemen and goalies are taken by a certain round, a more neutral (i.e. maybe something that looks more like NHL Network than TSN or NBC, so neither network would look awkward simulcasting the other) broadcast, celebrity (in hockey terms) captains, and a number of other things that range from fairly sane (why not add one hockey legend to each team?) to egregiously stupid (why not let the next to last player picked get the car, and let the last two players standing debate on air why they should be picked? I mean, why not?). The fact is, though, that this event is very entertaining, James Duthie is the perfect host for this sort of thing, and the players with human qualities seems to have fun (i.e. everyone but Phil Kessel, whom my 13-year old brother observed, “hates talking). Don’t mess with this at all. It’s one of the best moments on the NHL game schedule.
• Haven’t we all learned that reading people’s tweets isn’t in any way interesting? I feel for Alyonka Larionov, who had her on-screen time limited to two silly, frivolous segments in which she read various players’ tweets. Having them roll on a bottom line graphic is fine, but reading them on the air just seems pointless to me, as it does whenever any other network broadcasting anything tries to do it. Twitter may be the biggest thing on earth, but it has no place in television.
• Cheers to NBC for at least throwing on a pre-draft show. The network is putting some effort into All-Star weekend for the first time, and part of that includes an episode of NHL Overtime from Ottawa tonight, and (in what was a surprise to me) a pre-show for the draft in which Liam McHugh, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones broke down the night to come, while Pierre McGuire conducted interviews. It was a nice, easy way to spend the half-hour before the draft.
• Commissioner Bettman’s radio show should be broadcast on NHL Network. The league’s television arm broadcast a light hour of NHL Live with EJ Hradek, Barry Melrose and Kevin Weekes before handing it over to something that I don’t believe has occurred before – a television simulcast of Commissioner Bettman’s radio show, The NHL Hour. I’ll confess to not having listened to the show in some time, and Bettman remains a bit nervous looking on television (though he’s certainly self-deprecating about it), I’ll admit I really enjoyed the show. The commissioner simply spending time answering questions from children was fun, and having Wayne Gretzky on to finish it up was a nice touch. I hope NHL Network eventually finds a way to get the show on the air on a more permanent basis, because it is a unique program.

NBC Gets Beaten By Replay of AFC Championship Game on Tuesday, is Colorado to Blame?

Look, I’m not in the business of shaming the NHL for it’s ratings. You all know I look on the positive side of things when it comes to who’s watching on NBC Sports Net. But the numbers for NBCSp’s broadcast of the Wild/Avalanche game were downright embarrassing.

The network, televising only it’s fourth game west of Dallas this season, and it’s seventh west of Minnesota, drew just 190,000 viewers for the match-up, marking NBC/VERSUS’ lowest numbers for an exclusive match-up during the 2011-12 season, lowering a limbo stick already set by the Avalanche earlier this year (SJ/COL 12/13/11: 193,000). The game was notably beaten by a replay of the AFC Championship Game between New England and Baltimore on NFL Network (202,000). The league and the network need to find a new tentpole team out west, because the Avs are dead weight when it comes to viewership.

Elsewhere, the numbers were better. Monday night’s Blues/Red Wings game, despite not airing in the Detroit market (where it aired on FSN), drew 429,000 viewers, which may be a season high for a non-exclusive game. The Red Wings getting blown out in Montreal two nights later (where it did air exclusively in Detroit) drew much lower digits, scoring 241,000 viewers. The important thing, however, is that it beat the NFC Championship Game repeat on NFL Network that night (193,000). At least we can hang our hats on that.

(Source: @TVSportsRatings) 

Viewer Numbers to Date for the NHL on NBC Sports Network, 2011-12 Season

October 6
7:00 Boston vs. Philadelphia – 874,000
10:00 Pittsburgh vs. Vancouver – 342,000

October 7
1:00 NY Rangers vs. Los Angeles – 101,000

October 8
1:00 NY Rangers vs. Anaheim – 124,000

October 10
7:00 Tampa Bay vs. Washington – 162,000

October 11
7:30 Florida vs. Pittsburgh – 216,000

October 12
7:30 Boston vs. Carolina – 312,000

October 17
7:30 Colorado vs. Toronto – 218,000

October 18
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota – 286,000

October 25
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Buffalo – 338,000

October 31
7:00 San Jose vs. NY Rangers – 169,000

November 1
7:30 Anaheim vs. Washington – 258,000

November 2
7:30 Philadelphia vs. Buffalo – 558,000

November 14
7:00 Buffalo vs. Montreal – 323,000

November 15
7:30 Colorado vs. Pittsburgh – 392,000

November 21
7:30 NY Islanders vs. Pittsburgh – 198,000

November 22
7:30 Los Angeles vs. St. Louis – 245,000

November 28
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota – 232,000

November 29
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. NY Rangers – 394,000

November 30
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Detroit – 393,000

December 5
8:00 Phoenix vs. Chicago – 302,000 viewers

December 6
7:30 Detroit vs. St. Louis – 259,000

December 7
7:30 Philadelphia vs. Buffalo – 585,000

December 12
7:30 New Jersey vs. Tampa Bay – 201,000

December 13
9:00 San Jose vs. Colorado – 193,000

December 14
7:30 Chicago vs. Minnesota – 540,000

January 2
8:00 San Jose vs. Vancouver – 267,000

January 3
8:00 Detroit vs. Dallas – 188,000

January 4
7:30 Boston vs. New Jersey – 435,000

January 8
7:30 Detroit vs. Chicago – 587,000 

January 10
7:30 San Jose vs. Minnesota – 237,000 

January 11
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. Washington – 526,000

January 15
7:30 NY Rangers vs. Montreal – 202,000

January 16
7:30 Dallas vs. St. Louis - 238,000

January 17
7:30 Nashville vs. NY Rangers - 224,000

January 18
7:30 Buffalo vs. Chicago - 466,000 

January 23
7:30 St. Louis vs. Detroit – 429,000 

January 24
9:00 Minnesota vs. Colorado – 190,000

Janaury 25
7:30 Detroit vs. Montreal – 241,000

Your Complete Guide to NHL All-Star Television Coverage in the U.S.

Thursday, January 26
5:00 p.m. NHL Live (NHL Network)
6:00 p.m. The NHL Hour with Commissioner Gary Bettman (NHL Network)
7:00 p.m. All-Star Fantasy Draft Pre-Show (NHL Network)
7:30 p.m. Fantasy Draft Pre-Show (NBC Sports)
8:00 p.m. 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft (NBC Sports)
9:30 p.m. NHL Tonight at the All-Star Fantasy Draft (NHL Network)

Friday, January 27
3:00 p.m. NHL All-Star Media Day (NHL Network)
6:00 p.m. NHL Tonight (NHL Network)
10:00 p.m. NHL Overtime live from Ottawa (NBC Sports)

 Saturday, January 28
4:00 p.m. Super-Skills Pre-Show (NHL Network)
7:00 p.m. NHL Super-Skills Competition (NBC Sports)
9:30 p.m. NHL Tonight (NHL Network)

Sunday, January 29
1:00 p.m. All-Star Pre-Game Show (NHL Network)
4:00 p.m. NHL All-Star Game (NBC Sports)
7:00 p.m. NHL Tonight (NHL Network)

NBC Rips Off At Least 10 Lazy Papers I Did in High School, Presents You the Science of NHL Hockey

Of course, I kid, as these actually look like some work was put into them. From the esteemed Chris Botta of the New York Times:

NBC News and NBC Sports have produced a series of 10 educational segments called, “Science of N.H.L. Hockey,” that will debut during NBC Sports Network’s coverage of the All-Star festivities this weekend.

The videos, which feature the N.H.L. players Matt Moulson, Pekka Rinne, Brenden Morrow, Erik Johnson and Jaroslav Halak, were made as a learning tool for teachers and students to use in the classroom. Created in conjunction with NBC Learn (the educational arm of NBC News), the N.H.L. and the National Science Foundation, the segments, which will be aligned to lesson plans and national and state education standards, are available to the public free of cost.

“Hockey is my lifelong sport of passion,” said Sam Flood, executive producer of NBC Sports. “To be able to help people understand how a slap shot takes off, that really excites me as a producer and as a hockey player. The segments have frame-by-frame breakdowns so viewers can really see and understand the science behind the movements.”

During the broadcast of the All-Star Skills Competition on NBC Sports Network on Saturday night, Flood plans to show the segment on the science of the slap shot before Zdeno Chara and the rest of the players take part in the Hardest Shot competition.

The segments will be available on NBCLearn.com, NBCSports.com, Science360.com and NHL.com and will be broadcast on NHL Network and on arena scoreboards throughout the league.

Here’s NBC’s press release about the program:

New York, NY—Jan 26, 2012—NBC News’ educational arm, NBC Learn, and the NBC Sports Group are teaming up with the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to release “Science of NHL Hockey”— an informative 10-part video series exploring the science behind the fastest game on ice that will be distributed across several NBCU platforms. Made especially for students and teachers to use in the classroom, these videos will be aligned to lesson plans and national state education standards, and are available to the public cost-free on NBCLearn.com, NBCSports.com and Science360.gov. NBC News’ Lester Holt narrates the series.

The “Science of NHL Hockey” videos will debut during NBC Sports Network’s all-encompassing coverage of the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend from Ottawa January 26-29, including a select number of videos airing throughout the Honda SuperSkills Competition on Sat., January 28, from 7-9:30 p.m. ET. The NHL will feature the videos on NHL.com, NHL Network in the U.S. and Canada and in a number of arenas throughout the League. The series will also appear in retail venues across the country, including Wovenmedia outlets, and on American Airlines in-flight entertainment and NBC’s affiliate stations.

This collaboration between NBC Learn, NBC Sports and NSF uses the universal appeal of hockey to drive an understanding of complicated scientific concepts. Students and teachers see how the principles of science enable players to perform actions such as quickly stopping on ice, passing the puck to a teammate, shooting a slap shot and making a great save.

The science is broken down by capturing the athletes’ movements with a state-of-the-art, high-speed Phantom camera, which has the ability to capture movement at rates of up to 10,000 frames per second. These dynamic visuals allow for frame-by-frame illustrations of specific scientific principles such as Newton’s Three Laws of Motion, kinematics and velocity. Other video episodes analyze the hockey science behind reflexes and reaction time, statistics, vectors, linear motion, geometry and more.

NBC Sports Group oversaw the Phantom video shoot in September 2011 during the yearly media tour sponsored by the NHL and its players association. NBC Sports Group also provided research and technical support throughout the project.

Current NHL players who participated in the video series include:

Jaroslav Halak, Goaltender, St. Louis Blues

Erik Johnson, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche

Brenden Morrow, Left Wing, Dallas Stars

Matt Moulson, Left Wing, New York Islanders

Pekka Rinne, Goaltender, Nashville Predators

In each video, an NSF-supported scientist explains a selected scientific principle, while NHL athletes describe how the principle applies to their respective positions. Series scientists supported by NSF are: Edward Burger, Williams College; Irene Fonseca, Carnegie Mellon; Jim Gates, University of Maryland; Robert Gehrz, University of Minnesota; and Patricia Shewokis, Drexel University. The videos also include actual game footage provided by the NHL, and the lesson plans that accompany the videos will be provided by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

“Science of NHL Hockey” follows in the footsteps of the “Science of NFL Football” and “Science of the Olympic Winter Games” collections, which are part of an ongoing “Science of Sports” collaboration with the NSF that was awarded a 2010 Sports Emmy for “Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming.”

“Wayne Gretzky once said, ‘The only way a kid is going to practice is if it’s total fun for him… and it was for me,’” said Morris Aizenman, Senior Scientist for NSF’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. “‘Science of NHL Hockey’ is an NSF and NBC Learn project that continues our effort to make science total fun for students. We hope, after watching these videos that students will also want to learn and practice science.”

“Building on the innovative partnership that NBC Learn has with NSF and NBC Sports, we are thrilled to expand the ‘Science of Sports’ franchise to include hockey,” said Soraya Gage, Executive Producer of NBC Learn. “These one-of-a-kind videos have set a new precedent for teaching science in the classroom, by literally breaking down concepts and illustrating their real life application through sports.”

“The NHL is excited to partner with NBC and the National Science Foundation on this special project,” said Charles Coplin, Executive Vice President of Content for the NHL. “Students, teachers and NHL fans everywhere will experience hockey in a unique way through the spectacular footage captured during filming with the players.”

“It was exciting to be part of a unique project that utilizes hockey to help educate students on science and physics,” said Brenden Morrow of the Dallas Stars. “It was fun to participate in and was very interesting. I learned a lot myself.”

Mike Milbury Will Park His Car in Harvard Yard on NBC’s Friday Night Ice This Week

Things have calmed down for Mike Milbury since the Christmas holidays, and he’ll be busier than ever on NBC Sports Network this weekend.

Before heading up to Ottawa for the NHL All-Star Game, Milbury will work his second color assignment of the season for NBC, as he’ll call the Harvard-Yale showdown Friday night on the network. Joining him in the booth will be Washington Capitals radio play-by-play man John Walton. Milbury also worked an early season Islanders-Bruins telecast on the network when it was known as VERSUS.

Milbury will then head up to the All-Star Game as a studio analyst on the Skills Competition and the game itself Saturday and Sunday. NBC will already be up there, airing a mid-season recap episode of NHL Overtime live from Ottawa after Harvard-Yale.

CBC Will Be All Over the All-Star Weekend

The biggest stars in hockey are coming this weekend to CBC’s HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, home to the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition and the Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game in Ottawa, Ont. Features during the game include a special edition of Coach’s Corner with the legendary Don Cherry and Ron MacLean during the first intermission, and a live performance from Grammy-nominated Canadian superstar artist Drake during the second intermission.

Coverage begins Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5 p.m. ET, with HNIC Game Day, hosted by PJ Stock and Andi Petrillo, followed at 6:30 p.m. ET by the pre-game show Scotiabank Hockey Tonight. The stars then hit the ice at 7 p.m. ET for the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition, with host Ron MacLean alongside Kelly Hrudey. Jim Hughson calls the action and Craig Simpson, Glenn Healy, Scott Oake and Elliotte Friedman bring reports and interviews from ice level. The NHL’s top talents showcase their skills in six events, including the NHL Fastest Skater, NHL Breakaway Challenge, NHL Accuracy Shootout, NHL Skills Challenge Relay, NHL Hardest Shot and NHL Elimination Shootout.

Then on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. ET, the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game takes centre stage on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA with host Ron Maclean setting the stage for the marquee matchup. Jim Hughson will once again provide play-by-play with analysis from Craig Simpson and Glenn Healy at ice level. Rink side reporters Scott Oake and Elliotte Freidman bring viewers into the game with stories and interviews from your favourite NHL Stars.

During both the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game and Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition players will be wired for sound, allowing fans a first person insight into all the action as it occurs.

The weekend’s NHL festivities will also be streamed live and on-demand at CBCSports.ca, your online destination for exclusive blogs, content and live chats using the #NHLAllStar hashtag, photos, and Twitter-based polls. There will also be a dedicated page for the Skills Competition, including drills, official rules and competitors, and complete coverage of all the events surrounding the All-Star Game Weekend.

For the first time ever, fans attending the NHL All-Star weekend festivities will be able to enjoy the CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA experience at Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair from the Ottawa Convention Centre, beginning Thursday, Jan. 26, at 3 p.m. ET. Adults and children of all ages will have the opportunity to meet the stars of CBC and CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, take pictures on the set, make the call on some of hockey’s most legendary plays, win prizes and much, much more. Photos and videos collected at the booth will be added to the live blog on CBCSports.ca NHL All-Star site and social networks.

Here’s Where and When the AHL All-Star Game Will Air in Each NHL Market

(NOTE: LIVE means that the Skills Competition will air Sunday at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. ET, and the game will air on Monday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Anaheim/Los Angeles
Time Warner Cable SoCal 101
Skills -  LIVE
Game – Monday, 8 p.m. PT (4-hour delay)

Boston
CSN New England
Skills & Game – LIVE

Buffalo
Time Warner Cable SportsNet
Skills & Game – LIVE

Carolina/Nashville
Comcast Sports Southeast
Game – Live

Chicago
CSN Chicago
Skills – Monday, 1:30 p.m. CT
Game – Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. CT

Colorado
Altitude
Skills & Game – LIVE

Columbus
FS Ohio
Skills – LIVE

Dallas
FS Southwest Plus
Game – LIVE

Detroit
FS Detroit
Skills & Game – LIVE

Florida/Tampa Bay
Sun Sports
Skills – Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET
Game – Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET

New Jersey/New York
MSG Plus
Skills – Monday, 3:00 p.m. ET
Game – LIVE

Philadelphia
The Comcast Network
Skills & Game – LIVE

Phoenix
FS Arizona
Game – Monday, 10:30 p.m. MT (5 1/2 hour delay)

Pittsburgh
ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Skills – Monday, 5:00 p.m. ET
Game – LIVE

San Jose
CSN California
Skills – Monday, 2:00 p.m. PT
Game – LIVE

St. Louis
FS Midwest
Skills & Game – LIVE

Washington
CSN Mid-Atlantic
Skills & Game – LIVE

NHL Network will air the Skills & Game back-to-back from 1-5 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Spotsnet will air the game live in Canada. ESPN America will air the game live and the skills on delay in Europe. The entire AHL All-Star TV network is available here. If anyone can identify a network that would air the game in Minnesota, I’d appreciate it.

Last Week’s NBC Sports Net Numbers Led By Sabres-Blackhawks

Monday, January 16
Dallas vs. St. Louis – 238,000 viewers

Tuesday, January 17
Nashville vs. NY Rangers – 224,000 viewers

Wednesday, January 18
Buffalo vs. Chicago – 466,000 viewers 

Viewer Numbers to Date for the NHL on NBC Sports Network, 2011-12 Season

October 6
7:00 Boston vs. Philadelphia – 874,000
10:00 Pittsburgh vs. Vancouver – 342,000

October 7
1:00 NY Rangers vs. Los Angeles – 101,000

October 8
1:00 NY Rangers vs. Anaheim – 124,000

October 10
7:00 Tampa Bay vs. Washington – 162,000

October 11
7:30 Florida vs. Pittsburgh – 216,000

October 12
7:30 Boston vs. Carolina – 312,000

October 17
7:30 Colorado vs. Toronto – 218,000

October 18
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota – 286,000

October 25
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Buffalo – 338,000

October 31
7:00 San Jose vs. NY Rangers – 169,000

November 1
7:30 Anaheim vs. Washington – 258,000

November 2
7:30 Philadelphia vs. Buffalo – 558,000

November 14
7:00 Buffalo vs. Montreal – 323,000

November 15
7:30 Colorado vs. Pittsburgh – 392,000

November 21
7:30 NY Islanders vs. Pittsburgh – 198,000

November 22
7:30 Los Angeles vs. St. Louis – 245,000

November 28
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota – 232,000

November 29
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. NY Rangers – 394,000

November 30
7:30 Tampa Bay vs. Detroit – 393,000

December 5
8:00 Phoenix vs. Chicago – 302,000 viewers

December 6
7:30 Detroit vs. St. Louis – 259,000

December 7
7:30 Philadelphia vs. Buffalo – 585,000

December 12
7:30 New Jersey vs. Tampa Bay – 201,000

December 13
9:00 San Jose vs. Colorado – 193,000

December 14
7:30 Chicago vs. Minnesota – 540,000

January 2
8:00 San Jose vs. Vancouver – 267,000

January 3
8:00 Detroit vs. Dallas – 188,000

January 4
7:30 Boston vs. New Jersey – 435,000

January 8
7:30 Detroit vs. Chicago – 587,000 

January 10
7:30 San Jose vs. Minnesota – 237,000 

January 11
7:30 Pittsburgh vs. Washington – 526,000

January 15
7:30 NY Rangers vs. Montreal – 202,000

January 16
7:30 Dallas vs. St. Louis - 238,000

January 17
7:30 Nashville vs. NY Rangers - 224,000

January 18
7:30 Buffalo vs. Chicago - 466,000 

(Source: John Ourand)

NHL Network Will Be Free Across Canada During Blowout Coverage of the All-Star Game

NEW YORK (January 24, 2012) — Live on-site coverage from NHL Network of all the festivities surrounding the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend in Ottawa begins on Thursday, Jan. 26, delivering 16.5 hours of live coverage.

The NHL Network team in Ottawa includes NHL Tonight hosts Kathryn Tappen and Brian Duff, analysts Barry Melrose, Kevin Weekes, Mike Johnson and EJ Hradek and reporter Heidi Androl. Joining the NHL Network team as special guest is the online sensation Joey The Junior Reporter of Blackhawks TV. The 6-year old Illinois native will bring his sharp interviewing skills to Ottawa, where he will ask the “hard-hitting” questions of the NHL’s biggest stars. For a look at Joey in action interviewing members of the Chicago Blackhawks, click here.

NHL Network will broadcast live from the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair™ at the Ottawa Convention Centre on Thursday, Jan. 26, and Friday, Jan. 27, with roving talent filing remote reports from the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ and the NHL All-Star Media Day Presented By Allstate Insurance. The NHL Network set moves to Scotiabank Place arena on Saturday, Jan. 28, and Sunday, Jan. 29.

A free preview of NHL Network will be available on participating television services providers throughout Canada, including Bell TV, Rogers, Shaw and Shaw Direct, through Feb. 3. (Not available in all areas.)

NHL Network content also will be available to stream through NHL.com, keeping fans apprised of all the activity in Ottawa around 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend on the platform of their choice. For the latest NHL All-Star news, visit NHL.com and its dedicated microsite for the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend, NHL.com/allstar.

NHL Network broadcast coverage in Ottawa is as follows (all times

Eastern):

Thursday, January 26

5-7 p.m. Cisco NHL Live at NHL All-Star Weekend featuring NHL Hour with

Commissioner Gary Bettman during the second hour live from Scotiabank

Fan Fair™

7-8 p.m. 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft Pre-Show

9:30-11 p.m. NHL Tonight (2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Fantasy

Draft Edition)

Midnight 2012 NHL Player All-Star Fantasy Draft (re-air)

 

Friday, January 27

3-6 p.m. NHL All-Star Media Day Presented By Allstate Insurance

6-7 p.m. NHL Tonight (NHL All-Star Media Day Recap)

7-8:30 p.m. 2012 NHL Player All-Star Fantasy Draft (re-air)

8:30-10 p.m. 2012 NHL Player All-Star Fantasy Draft (re-air)

 

Saturday, January 28

4-7 p.m. 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition Pre-Show

9-10 p.m. NHL Tonight (2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills

Competition Recap)

11p.m. – 1a.m. 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition

(re-air in U.S. only)

 

Sunday, January 29

10a.m.-12p.m. 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition

(re-air in U.S. only)

1-4 p.m. 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game Pre-Game Show

7-8 p.m. NHL Tonight (2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game Edition)

11p.m.-1a.m. 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game (re-air in U.S. only)

Drake Headlines Surprisingly Formidable All-Star Performers List

NEW YORK (January 24, 2012) – The 2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star

Game in will feature performances from Grammy Award-nominated and

multi-platinum selling recording artist Drake; singer and rapper Outasight;

and winner of the inaugural season of NBC’s “The Voice,” Javier Colon, the

National Hockey League announced today. Live television coverage of the

2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa will be

provided by CBC and RDS in Canada and the NBC Sports Network in the United

States at 4 p.m. ET.

 

Drake will perform during the second intermission of the Tim Hortons

NHL® All-Star Game. Outasight will perform his hit single, “Tonight is the

Night,” during the NHL All-Star player introductions. Colon and long-time

Ottawa Senators anthem singer, Lyndon Slewidge, will perform the U.S. and

Canadian national anthems, respectively.

 

Drake released his second studio album, Take Care, in November 2011

and it debuted on the BILLBOARD Top 200 chart at No. 1 with more than

630,000 units sold. The critically acclaimed sophomore album was the

follow-up to Drake’s first studio album Thank Me Later, which also debuted

at number one on the BILLBOARD Albums chart in 2010 and went platinum.

Originally from Toronto, Drake is a two-time Juno Award winner and is

currently nominated for three 2012 Grammy awards.

 

Born Richard Andrew in Yonkers, New York, Outasight weaves together

the cadenced sounds of popular hip-hop and indie rock with the poignant

sensibility of classic pop and soul music to create a fresh, new sound that

is all his own. His single, “Tonight Is The Night,” is one of the hottest

songs in the country, climbing both the pop radio and iTunes charts at a

rapid pace. The single gained momentum when it was added to the soundtrack

for Pepsi’s “Music Icons” TV campaign. Outasight is currently planning to

release his debut full length album with Warner Bros. Records.

 

Colon captivated America as winner of the first season of NBC’s hit

television show, “The Voice.” After touring with The Derek Trucks Band for

two years, he released two major label albums via Capital Records— Javier

in 2003 and Left of Center in 2006. Both releases illustrated a daring

creativity that expanded beyond the confines of pop music, while still

retaining an undeniable sense of melody. Colon eventually split with

Capitol and released The Truth – Acoustic EP on his own label, Javier Colon

Music, in 2010. Original song and debut single, “Stitch By Stitch,” not

only clenched the top prize on “The Voice” for Colon, but it also became

something of a phenomenon. During the first week of its digital release,

the song exceeded sales of 145,000 and peaked at No. 17 on the BILLBOARD

Hot 100 chart. His Universal Republic debut album, Come Through For You was

released on November 21. Colon writes his own music, constantly keeping

himself open to inspiration.

 

Slewidge, who is an Ontario Provincial Police officer by day, has

served as the Senators’ official anthem singer since the 1992-93 season.

 

IMG Media, the production arm of the global sports, entertainment and

media company, IMG, will produce the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities,

including the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game, under the helm of

executive producer, Steve Mayer.

 

About 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend

The 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend comes to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, Jan.

26 through Jan. 29. The excitement begins with the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL

All-Star Player Fantasy DraftTM on Thursday, Jan. 26, televised live on TSN

and RDS in Canada and NBC Sports Network in the United States at 8 p.m.,

ET, from the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau-Ottawa, Quebec.

 

The players take the ice in the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star

Skills CompetitionTM, at Scotiabank Place on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.,

ET, and for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game, at Scotiabank Place on

Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m., ET. Live television coverage of both events will

be provided by CBC and RDS in Canada and NBC Sports Network in the United

States.

 

Fans in the Ottawa area are encouraged to take part in the

festivities at the 2012 Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair™, a three-day fan festival

at the Ottawa Convention Centre, Jan. 26-28.

 

For the latest NHL All-Star news and exclusive content, visit NHL.com

and its dedicated microsite for the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend,

NHL.com/allstar. Follow the NHL on Twitter (@NHL) and on Facebook

(Facebook.com/NHL).