TSN Takes Over Thursday and Friday at the All-Star Game

Toronto, ON (January 23, 2012) – Hockey’s brightest stars are aligned this week on TSN, as Canada’s Sports Leader heads to Ottawa and delivers comprehensive coverage of NHL All-Star Weekend across all of its industry-leading platforms: TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Radio and TSN Mobile TV.

For the second year in a row, TSN kicks off coverage with its highly-anticipated live broadcast of the MOLSON CANADIAN NHL ALL-STAR PLAYER FANTASY DRAFT on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET, featuring the league’s top 38 All-Star players and 12 rookies being selected playground style to two squads by All-Star captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara for Saturday’s skill competition and Sunday’s ultimate game of pick-up hockey – the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. Last year, TSN’s broadcast of the first-ever NHL ALL-STAR PLAYER FANTASY DRAFT delivered an average audience of 1.5 million viewers* and a Gemini Award win for James Duthie in the Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast category.

Along with airing on TSN, the MOLSON CANADIAN NHL ALL-STAR PLAYER FANTASY DRAFT is available live on TSN Mobile TV and on NBC Sports Network in the U.S. Fans can also catch the 19-round DRAFT on-demand on TSN.ca.

Fans are then well-served with two hours of hockey talk on Friday, as TSN goes inside the NHL players’ media availability during the 2012 NHL ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY special beginning at 4 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN Mobile TV.

Throughout the weekend, TSN continues to celebrate Canada’s favourite pastime on all of the network’s programs including Canada’s most-watched sports news program SPORTSCENTRE, OFF THE RECORD WITH MICHAEL LANDSBERG, THAT’S HOCKEY and TSN THE REPORTERS WITH DAVE HODGE. TSN.ca keeps fans up-to-date on the all the latest news and notes from the nation’s capital with All-Star columns, blogs, live chats and more.

TSN’s Alyonka Larionov continues the conversation on TSN’s Fan Page on Facebook and on Twitter, taking fans behind-the-scenes at NHL All-Star Weekend with exclusive photos, videos and player interviews. Fans can join in by following Larionov and the rest of TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders on Twitter, and by tweeting using the hashtag #TSN and #AllStarDraft.

Below is an overview of NHL All-Star Weekend programming on TSN:

• MOLSON CANADIAN NHL ALL-STAR PLAYER FANTASY DRAFT – Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN Mobile TV

TSN’s James Duthie hosts the 19-round player draft from the Théâtre du Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, QC, as fans await the answers to two of the night’s most important questions: who will be the first player selected and who will be the last? Joining Duthie at the DRAFT is the NHL ON TSN panel with Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie and analysts Marc Crawford and Aaron Ward. The trio will provide pre- and post-draft commentary.

The broadcast includes a feature on Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, along with select players wearing microphones during the draft and TSN’s Alyonka Larionov backstage in the players’ green room to give fans exclusive access inside the event. Among the 38 marquee NHLers up for grabs are Jonathan Toews, Alex Ovechkin, Jarome Iginla, Claude Giroux, Tim Thomas and Phil Kessel, who was the final pick in last year’s draft. Henrik Lundqvist joins Alfredsson on his team as an assistant captain, while Joffrey Lupul has assistant captain honours on Chara’s team.

• 2012 NHL ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY – Friday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN Mobile TV

For the first time, TSN takes fans inside the NHL players’ media availability session at All-Star Weekend with the network’s 2012 NHL ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY special live from the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. James Duthie hosts the two-hour original TSN production alongside a panel featuring Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun, plus analysts Marc Crawford, Aaron Ward and Pierre McGuire. The show includes player interviews, discussion and debate on all the hot-button issues surrounding the NHL, and social media monitoring by TSN’s Alyonka Larionov, who will have her finger on the pulse of what the players are saying online about the 2012 NHL All-Star Game.

SPORTSCENTRE

TSN’s flagship sports news program is on site in Ottawa covering NHL All-Star Weekend from all angles. SPORTSCENTRE’s Brent Wallace, Ryan Rishaug and John Lu file stories from the nation’s capital beginning Thursday, while TSN’s roster of hockey experts and Insiders check in with All-Star news, notes and analysis of the big game. TSN’s Cabral Richards also gets in on the action on Friday with a CABBIE PRESENTS segment featuring Philadelphia Flyers forward and All-Star player Claude Giroux.

OFF THE RECORD WITH MICHAEL LANDSBERG

OFF THE RECORD touches down in Ottawa for two episodes on Thursday, Jan. 26 and Friday, Jan. 27. Host Michael Landsberg is joined by an all-star roster of guests including Alyonka Larionov and The Sheepdogs on Thursday, as they tackle all the news coming out of NHL All-Star Weekend. OTR airs on Thursday in its regular timeslot at 5 p.m. ET and then moves to a special time on Friday at 7 p.m. ET to wrap up NHL All-Star Media Day.

THAT’S HOCKEY

Host Gino Reda is live from the nation’s capital on Thursday, Jan. 26 and Friday, Jan. 27, bringing fans player interviews and all the latest news from NHL All-Star Weekend. Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Reda on Friday to look at which Canadian teams will be buying and selling come the NHL Trade Deadline on February 27. THAT’S HOCKEY airs weeknights at 7 p.m. ET on TSN.

TSN THE REPORTERS WITH DAVE HODGE

Dave Hodge looks at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game and all other headline news from the world of sports with his esteemed panel of journalists including Sports Illustrated’s Michael Farber, National Post’s Bruce Arthur and Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons. THE REPORTERS airs Sundays at 10 a.m. ET on TSN.

TSN.ca

Along with having the MOLSON CANADIAN NHL ALL-STAR PLAYER FANTASY DRAFT and the 2012 NHL ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY on-demand, Canada’s industry-leading sports website has live blogs during the DRAFT, skills competition and All-Star Game, plus news, notes, columns and analysis from TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders in Ottawa.

TSN RADIO

TSN Radio in Toronto (AM 1050), Montreal (AM 990) and Winnipeg (AM 1290), along with Bell Media sports radio stations Team 1040 in Vancouver and Team 1200 in Ottawa, have end-to-end coverage of NHL All-Star Weekend featuring TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders.

TSN Radio 1050’s James Cybulski returns to his hometown to host his afternoon drive show, CYBULSKI & COMPANY, on Friday, Jan. 27 from the 2012 NHL ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY in Ottawa. Joining Cybulski on location is TSN Radio 1290’s afternoon drive show, HUSTLER & LAWLESS, as the show reports live from the nation’s capital throughout NHL All-Star Weekend. In addition, TSN Radio 1290 and TSN Radio 990 will have live coverage of the 2012 NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 29.