The Washington Capitals got blown out on national TV on Sunday, but there was one positive.
During the third period, ESPN’s play-by-play crew of Steve Levy and Ray Ferraro discussed Alex Ovechkin’s legendary durability. Ovechkin has played in 1,291 games during his 18-year career in the NHL and only missed 47 of them.
The duo was very impressed.
The NHL announced the broadcasting schedule of its national TV partners on Wednesday.
The Washington Capitals will feature on national TV 13 times next season, including their Opening Night, home opener against the Boston Bruins on October 12.
By Chris Cerullo 3 months ago
Since being introduced by the Capitals in September, Biscuit has been number one in our hearts. Now he’s the top dog in an ESPN ranking.
Tuesday, the Sports Leader released a top 10 list of the NHL’s top hockey dogs. Biscuit was first due to his versatility and overwhelming cute factor.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is starting to remind us of the Evgeny Kuznetsov of yore.
After showing off his speed and his shot during his two-goal game against the Avs on the ice, Kuznetsov grabbed some headphones and joined ESPN+’s Bob Wischusen and Cassie Campbell-Pascall off of it from the Capitals bench.
It was a Classic Kuzy interview.
Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche (who I think will win the Cup) will not be on NBC Sports Washington. It’s also not gong to be on ESPN or TNT or SpikeTV or whatever. It’s something new:
The game is on ESPN+/Hulu. Let’s figure out what that means together.
Note: This story has been updated. If you don’t want to unpack the whole thing, here are two helpful links:
By Peter Hassett 1 year ago
The NHL returned to ESPN for the first time in 17 years as the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Pittsburgh Penguins in their banner-raising game on Tuesday. While the telecast of the game had some hits and misses, the storytelling from the Sports Leader remains second to none.
Ahead of the game, ESPN released a six-minute and 13-second feature on its iconic theme song. Narrated by pop singer and Leafs fan Justin Bieber, the story, entitled Harmony walks hockey fans through the song’s popularity and how composer Bob Christianson found “genius in G minor.”
ESPN+ is quickly turning into a hockey lover’s dream.
Friday, the sports streaming giant announced that it had come to an agreement with the KHL to air more than 130 games this season. The agreement includes two KHL games per week, plus the entirety of the KHL postseason and Gagarin Cup Finals.
ESPN is known for its fun and ridiculous sports commercials — Late Nite Filings, anyone? — but the network decided to take a different tack in its first campaign promoting the return of the NHL this season. The ad is entitled All for Hockey and it’s super serious.
“‘All for Hockey’ embraces the intersection of hockey and humanity, telling the story of the game of hockey from the perspective of a wide variety of fans,” the sports leader said in a press release. “ESPN worked with agency Fallon and director Michael Lawrence to capture that sentiment, focusing on creating real intimacy in each scene.”
Take a look for yourself.
The NHL announced the broadcasting schedule of its new national TV partners, ESPN and Turner Sports, on Thursday.
The Washington Capitals will land on national TV 13 times next season, including its Opening Night game against the New York Rangers on October 13.
By Ian Oland 1 year ago
A day after the NHL announced the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft and the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft will be aired on ESPN in July, the Worldwide Leader announced its commentators, analysts, and reporters for the NHL’s 2021-22 season. In March, ESPN reached a seven-year television, streaming, and media rights deal with the NHL.
According to a release from ESPN PR, ESPN’s play-by-play commentary will be led by Sean McDonough. Steve Levy, who will lead the studio team, will also do play-by-play during the season while John Buccigross (the guy behind Bucci’s overtime challenge and promoting college hawkey), Bob Wischusen, and Leah Hextall will also contribute their talents. While many sentimental hockey fans hoped Gary Thorne would return along with his longtime running mate Bill Clement — it appears at this point neither will be — there are several contributors from ESPN’s yore that will be coming back.
By Ian Oland 1 year ago
