NHL Network to Present Pre-Game, Post-Game, Movies, College Hockey as Part of Winter Classic Coverage

NEW YORK – NHL Network™ is providing hockey fans an unprecedented amount of exclusive programming surrounding the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, the much-anticipated outdoor match-up between longtime rivals the Philadelphia Flyers® and Boston Bruins® at Fenway Park, on New Year’s Day.  NHL Network’s planned coverage of this one-of-a-kind event includes a variety of pre- and post-event programming, complete live coverage of the team practices, and special outdoor and pond hockey-themed shows.  For a complete program schedule, visit www.nhlnetwork.com.

On game day, NHL Network’s pre- and post-event coverage includes the NHL On The Fly: 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Pregame Show presented by Vizio at 11:00 a.m. ET and the NHL On The Fly: 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Postgame Show presented by Vizio immediately following the game.  Both programs will be presented in HD.  The live, 90-minute pregame show will preview the game and break down key match-ups.  The postgame show will feature highlights, interviews and press conferences with all the major players.  Also, U.S. Olympic Team General Manager Brian Burke will be on the NHL Network’s Fenway Park set minutes after the U.S. Olympic Team roster is announced.  NHL Network’s hockey experts follow with analysis and a breakdown of what to expect in Vancouver.

NHL Network’s on-site presence at Fenway Park begins on Thursday, December 31, when it televises NHL On The Fly: 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Practice Coverage presented by Vizio at 11:00 a.m. ET.  The network presents four-and-a-half hours of live coverage, all in HD, including both team practices in full, as the Flyers and Bruins hit the ice at Fenway for the first time.

As a special tribute to hockey played outdoors, on Wednesday, December 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network televises Pond Hockey: A Documentary Film.  This celebration of outdoor hockey, lovingly crafted by filmmaker Tommy Haines, centers on the U.S. Pond Hockey Championship in Minneapolis.  The HD documentary features interviews with hockey luminaries like Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.

The 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic programming begins Christmas Day when NHL Network televises an outdoor game marathon featuring re-broadcasts of the first two NHL Winter Classics in Buffalo and Chicago as well as outdoor events played in Las Vegas and Edmonton.  The marathon will include behind-the-scenes documentaries on the 2008 and 2009 NHL Winter Classic events.

The special programming on NHL Network continues well after New Year’s Day with special hockey events such as Sun Life Frozen Fenway – the outdoor games between the Northeastern and New Hampshire women’s teams and the Boston College and Boston University men’s teams Jan. 8 at Fenway Park for U.S. viewers.  Both games will be presented in HD.  Also, special encore presentations of the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic are scheduled for Saturday, January 9 starting at noon ET, with the NBC telecast followed by the CBC telecast at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Hartnell, Savard to Appear on Drew Carey-hosted Game Show Where Points May or May Not Matter

From NHL.com:

Boston Bruins center Marc Savard and Philadelphia Flyers left wing Scott Hartnell are guests on the Wednesday, Dec. 23 edition of the Emmy Award-winning “The Price Is Right” (11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET; 10 a.m.-11 a.m. PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Savard and Hartnell will help host Drew Carey present a special 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® showcase.

The 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic-themed showcase includes a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Boston’s Fenway Park, including air travel and hotel accommodations, two tickets to the outdoor game and other assorted NHL prizes. Each studio audience member will receive an NHL Winter Classic puck.

You Stay Classy, Paul Steigerwald

Paul Steigerwald is generally not one of my favorite broadcasters.  Last night, however, he used his opportunity to call Marty Brodeur’s all-time shutout record setting game to make fun of one of the game’s legendary characters, Hobey Baker.  Pensburgh has the scoop:

You think that was a bad joke? Listen to this zinger by Paul Steigerwald on FSN (with about 1:40 left in the game) Referring to how hard former Hobey Baker trophy winner Mike Mottau got hit, Steiggy quiped: “Not as hard as Hobey Baker went down though — he went down in a plane crash!” He then laughed and apologized for joking about “how he left us” before laughing some more. Yes!

In what world does Steigerwald think this is funny?  In what world does anyone find this funny?  We typically have a pretty sick sense of humor, but come on man.  Not cool.

Here’s the video of it.  Sigh:

ESPN Clearly Not Taking the Whole “Let’s Get More Into Hockey!” Thing

As I write this, it’s 12:23 AM and I’m performing an act of severe self-harm: I’m watching SportsCenter.  See, after the Devils MSG Plus post-game coverage of Marty Brodeur’s 104th shutout, I turned on ESPN to watch my Giants finish off the Redskins on Monday Night Football.  I figured, heck, let’s see how they treat Marty’s record.

They opened SportsCenter at 11:38 PM, with a brief mention of the University of Kentucky’s basketball win, their 2000th in history.  Then a 10-second mention of Brodeur, with promise of highlights later.

It is now 12:25 AM, and those promised highlights… still not there.  Some topics deemed more important:

• Brett Favre’s arguing with coach Brad Childress
• Redskins head coach Jim Zorn’s job security
• Endless talk of the Monday Night Football game, which was a 45-12 Giant win
• Mike Holmgren taking the Cleveland Browns Presidency job
• Another celebration of Kentucky’s 2000th win, including a “behind the numbers” segment.
• The Colts pursuit of 16-0
• Shaq’s return to Phoenix
• More talk about Giants-Redskins, including an Osi Umenyiora interview

…and finally, at 12:36 AM, 58 minutes after the show began, there are the highlights of the game.

Thanks ESPN.

(H/T to Legend of VinnyT on Twitter)

HNIC Settling In Audience-Wise

William Houston, as always, has the floor:

CBC Hockey Night In Canada pre-game: 900,000 viewers.

Hockey Night Game 1, Boston-Toronto, Minnesota-Ottawa, Montreal-New York Islanders, 1.876 million.

Hockey Night Game 2, Washington-Edmonton, 729,000.

Regional hockey, Rogers Sportsnet: Nashville-Calgary, Saturday, 214,000; St. Louis-Vancouver, Sunday, 418,000.

We’ll get back to updating the season-long numbers next week.

Your Announcers and Open Thread for Sabres-Leafs

Buffalo vs. Toronto, 7PM, VERSUS
Play by Play: Joe Beninati
Color: Darren Eliot
Reporter: Bob Harwood

Sunday Night Hawks-Wings Draws Highest Chicago Rating in 20 Years

Delaying the Announcers/Open Thread for Sabres/Leafs for an hour for this.  From the Blackhawks’ Website:

The Chicago Blackhawks shut out arch rival, the Detroit Red Wings, 3-0 last night at the United Center and in doing so, set another all-time television rating benchmark*. The 6pm Hawks telecast on WGN-TV generated an impressive 4.1 household rating, surpassing the previous high set earlier this month of a 3.3 HH rtg. New standards were set in key advertiser demographics with adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. Each posted a 3.0 rating beating previous highs of 2.8 and 2.7 respectively. WGN’s household rating is +47% ahead of last season and +111% ahead in adults 25-54.

Marty Wilke, VP/General Manager of WGN-TV said, “Our weekend broadcast schedule of the team combined with the Hawks performance on the ice has proven to be a winning combination. We are very pleased thus far and look forward to continuing this mutually beneficial partnership with the Chicago Blackhawks.”

Broadcast News: Some Huge Markets Missing Could Mean Exposure For Overlooked Ones

(NOTE: This will show up every Monday on Puck the Media. It’s something we did a couple of times last season. They were fairly popular, and people liked talking about them, so let’s try it on a more permanent basis this year.)

It’s always been difficult to judge what a big NHL market is.  Obviously, there’s anything NBC touches.  There’s the Canadian teams up there.  But is Chicago a big market?  Is Colorado still one?  Can LA be one?  Dallas?  Jersey’s been in the highest rated finals games of the decade.  St. Louis?  Minnesota?

It’s baffling to try and figure out, so we’ve decided to come up with a chart.  They’re divided into three categories:

• Golden: NBC in the states, or CBC in Canada would jump at this team no matter what.
• Silver: Could develop into a big TV team, would be second choice for Canadian networks
• Bronze: Does okay locally, but not likely a big national draw.
• Chocolate: Not gonna’ be seeing them any time soon.

So here goes…

Golden Markets:

• Detroit
• NY Rangers
• Pittsburgh
• Boston
• Philadelphia
• Toronto
• Vancouver
• Montreal

Silver Markets

• Washington
• Chicago
• Colorado
• Calgary
• Edmonton
• Ottawa
• Los Angeles
• Dallas
• St. Louis

Bronze Markets

• Buffalo
• New Jersey
• Columbus
• San Jose
• Minnesota
• NY Islanders
• Tampa Bay

Chocolate Markets

• Anaheim
• Phoenix
• Nashville
• Carolina
• Florida
• Atlanta

This week’s picks and matchups are after the jump.

NBC, NHL Close to Selling Out Winter Classic Ad Inventory

Two stories from SBJ (reg. required) today, both from Tripp Mickle.

One on the ad sales for the Winter Classic from an NHL perspective:

The NHL has sold out of sponsorship inventory for the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic by adding auto insurer Geico and the U.S. Army to the list of partners and licensees associated with the event.

Collectively, the Winter Classic’s 16 partners will spend more than $10 million against the event in the form of sponsorship, media and on-site activation. NHL executives said the total is more than double what sponsors spent on the 2009 Winter Classic held at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. This year’s event will take place New Year’s Day at Boston’s Fenway Park and feature the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins.

And another about NBC’s sales:

NBC expects to sell out of 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic inventory this week with more than 60 units sold, a 20 percent increase from the ’08 and ’09 New Year’s Day broadcasts.

“It’s a continuation of an overall marketplace increase in the fourth quarter with football,” said Seth Winter, NBC’s senior vice president for ad sales. “We’re delighted. The Winter Classic is in extraordinary shape.”

NBC is in the final stages of negotiations with advertisers this week and expects to sell out of the last remaining inventory prior to the New Year’s Day game, Winter said.

NBC and the NHL have a revenue-sharing agreement through 2011. Currently, NBC handles sales for all NHL programming, and NHL sponsors commit to buy advertising as part of their sponsorship.

Great news for the NHL in a down economy, selling all their ad space for their biggest regular season event.

5 Ideas for VERSUS’ New Year’s Eve Show

When we heard about VERSUS’ New Year’s Eve show (Thursday, December 31st, 11-12:30 ET) we were conflicted, but excited.  First of all, who was going to watch this?  Why check out 90 minutes of pretty mediocre hockey chat when you can see how close Dick Clark is to the drain this year?  Won’t anyone wanting hockey chat just turn on On the Fly instead?

But you’ve gotta’ hand it to VERSUS.  This is a solid idea to throw out there.  This is them testing the waters for a potential late night hockey show, I think.  We heard that VERSUS was thinking of upping the hockey programming after the Olympic break, and maybe this is a potential preview.  Regardless, it gets VERSUS into the Winter Classic hooplah.  I’m just curious if this has anything to do with ESPN jumping into the fray and sending a crew and commentators to the game.

So, with that said, here’s 5 suggestions for the show:

1. Go After a Hockey Band, Not a “Name” Band For House of Blues Segments

VERSUS is dispatching reporter Charissa Thompson to the House of Blues in Boston for part of the show, and it’s assumed that a band will be performing as part of the shindig.  Please make sure you get The Zambonis, or some folks with hockey cred.  No one wants to see some C-level alternative rock or, worse, active rock band try to plug their new record in free Bruins/Flyers jerseys.  Either get me the Dropkick Murphys, or get me death.

2. Play Around with the Format

This can be part-NHL 2Nite, part year-in-review, part entertainment show.  Don’t stick to one thing.  It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s supposed to be 90 minutes and fun, it should be a little disjointed.  As long as it remains fun and watchable, there should be no problem here.

3. Don’t Bother Competing with the Ball Drop

It’d be nice to do something, but let’s face it, we’re all going to turn somewhere else to see the new year ring in.  Just quietly go to commercial for a few minutes at 11:58 PM and come back and wish everyone a happy new year.  It’d probably be for the best.

4. Keep it Light on the Winter Classic Sob Stories

There can be the temptation to overuse the feature stories on how all these hockey players played on frozen ponds as a kid and their parents drove them to games at 5AM and etc.  We get it.  Combine that all into one feature, don’t spread it around like some themed “Outdoor Memories” recurring segment.  It’ll just get really tiring.

5. Stick Around For Some Winter Classic Post-Game

Get people used to checking in on VERSUS on January 1st, considering there are rumors of another game featuring Canadian teams for next year.  Surely, NBC’d pass up on that game and give it to VERSUS, right?