TORONTO & EDMONTON—The puck dropped on the NHL’s return to play this past weekend, with the first slate of games for the adapted NHL Playoffs taking place on Aug. 1 and 2. After previewing some of the elements of the broadcasts, fans got their first real look at how a hockey game without fans would be presented to them.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 24 teams participating in the NHL’s restart are divided into two hub cities—12 Eastern Conference teams in Toronto, 12 western Conference teams in Edmonton—where they will play all of their games with no fans in attendance. This has allowed for some creativity by the broadcasters on how to present game action as well as other elements for fan engagement.

There are 32 cameras setup throughout the arenas for the broadcasts, slightly more than a traditional game pre-COVID. This includes a “JitaCam,” a 360-degree camera with a rotating arm that provides a different type of angle from underneath the main scoreboards. As things get deeper into the playoffs, the broadcasters are expected to experiment more with utilizing these different angles and setups for presenting game action.

The league has also changed the look of the arenas for new visual offerings. Seats in the lower section have been covered, and a number of large video monitors have been installed in the corners of the rinks, providing visual content from the individual teams and league. Broadcasters would also use these screens for outros to commercials, sometimes having replays of goals or big plays shown on them. 

Visuals aren’t the only thing being added to the broadcasts. Using a library of sounds provided by EA Sports, which creates the officially-licensed NHL hockey video game, there was some base crowd noise that was used during play. Teams’ also got a reminder of home as goal horns and songs that are used in their home arenas would be played when they scored. There would also be shots of fans cheering from home for their team on a few occasions worked into the broadcast.

Beyond the look of things on the ice, the announcing crew has also had some adjustments made to it. Most notable is the rinkside reporters. NBC’s Brian Boucher and Pierre McGuire were both placed in Plexiglas-contained areas along the benches. Also, Doc Emrick, NBC’s lead broadcaster for the NHL, was broadcasting remotely from his home rather than in Toronto or Edmonton. Then, interviews taking place during intermission were done over Zoom.

“What’s interesting here is how COVID is essentially creating the opportunity and the environment in which broadcasters can try things a little bit differently,” Mike Naraine, an assistant professor with Brock University’s department of sport management told the Preeceville Progress. “(They can) add a couple more pieces to the pie that they wouldn’t traditionally have that opportunity to (do) for fear of ostracizing the audience.”

It’s not just the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton that are attempting to provide a different look for fans. The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have created a second-screen viewing experience for their fans using Tata Consultancy Services. Developed as a companion to the normal NBC Sports Philadelphia and NBC Sports Network broadcasts, Flyers Home Ice is meant to deliver Flyers in-arena content to simulate the experience of being in the team’s home arena.

The NHL Playoffs will take place from now until October.

This story utilized reports from the Preeceville Progress and NHL.com. 

SECAUCUS, N.J.—Every night during the National Hockey League regular and post-season, the NHL Network keeps millions of TV subscribers glued to their sets with hours of pre-game, in-game, and postgame programming. During “NHL Tonight,” the network’s flagship nightly studio program, the combined on-air and behind-the-scenes crews are constantly watching every single game live; grabbing highlights and news hooks as they happen.

The NHL Network’s live studio shows broadcast from a dedicated space known as “The Rink.”

The result is a madcap yet disciplined production environment where the “NHL Tonight” production unit puts together their live show seemingly as it happens. “We literally don’t know what’s coming next past 15 seconds,” said Josh Bernstein, the NHL Network’s senior coordinating producer. “But thanks to the professionalism and dedication of our on- and off-air talent, the resulting content always looks polished and compelling.”

Here’s the kicker: The advanced production technology that underlies the NHL Network’s broadcasts comes from Major League Baseball, of all sports. Thanks to a 2015 media rights agreement between MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM is MLB’s digital business) and the NHL, the NHL Network has moved from its former Toronto headquarters to facilities in Secaucus, N.J. that are shared with MLB Network. “We’re actually in the same building, right down the hall from each other,” said Bernstein.

PLAYING WELL TOGETHER
At first glance, it may seem strange to think that MLB Network and the NHL Network could make good production partners. But they do, for a very simple reason: They follow a similar format of producing comprehensive live studio programming with real-time replay and analysis, plus post-game highlights and news coverage across each league.

MLB Network has put considerable thought into developing its advanced production systems. A case in point is MLB’s “DIAMOND” media asset management system. DIAMOND was designed internally with Boolean Consulting to precisely support MLB Network’s approach to producing live studio content, including the incorporation of live replays, archival footage on demand, and statistical/graphical analysis overlaid on top of video in real-time. DIAMOND also allows the attachment of metadata and tags to game footage, making it accessible and searchable on the web and mobile platforms.

When the NHL signed on with MLBAM, “our challenge was to reconfigure DIAMOND to specifically fit the NHL Network’s production needs, rather than just make it adapt to MLB’s system,” said Tab Butler, MLB Network’s senior director of media management and post production. “So we rebuilt the system with the NHL in mind, right down to replacing the ‘Base on Balls’ feature with ‘Shots on Goal.’” The resulting cloud-based media asset management system, which connects to the NHL’s video archives in New York City, has been appropriately named “DIAMOND On Ice.”

A second similarity between the production goals at NHL Network and MLB Network is the use of Piero, Ericsson’s real-time sports 3D graphics system. Piero allows NHL Network producers and editors to quickly create and display meaningful 3D analytical graphics on top of just-recorded game content.

STATE-OF-THE-ART NHL
The NHL Network’s live studio shows come from a dedicated space known as “The Rink.” Visually, The Rink, with its multiperson anchor desk, looks spectacular. The set is framed by four 30-foot angled arches, with 14-foot tall studio walls etched with the names of the past 10 Stanley Cup Champions. Behind the 10-foot long desk, which sits on a hockey rink-style floor, there’s a back wall LED display that measures 20x12 feet. Along one of The Rink’s side walls, you’ll find a 98-inch monitor hanging within a 7-foot goal design piece lined with five lights along the crossbar.

“We’ve made the most of our space by using three Sony P-1 cameras with Canon lenses; all mounted on a Ross Video Furio robotic camera system with lifts and tracks,” said Butler. “The Furio system allows us to preprogram sophisticated camera moves that really bring the broadcast to life, conserving technical space to accommodate a larger set.” Editing is done using DIAMOND On Ice and Adobe Premiere. Switching is done on a Grass Valley Kayenne switcher in a nearby NHL Network control room, the same switcher used by MLB Network, so that both networks can use any control room should the need arise. Also deployed are Grass Valley’s Nvision video router, NetApp E-Series disk storage for production editing, and EVS XT3 video servers for fast turnaround of live highlights.

ENGLEWOOD, CALIF.—Hockey fans can now catch OT hockey on the OTT service Sling TV, as it announced a deal to carry the NHL Network as part of its Sports Extra package. This is the first time that the NHL Network has been available by an OTT provider, according to Sling’s press release.

NHL Network provides live games, coverage of live events, and studio shows including “NHL Now,” “NHL Tonight,” and “On the Fly.” Sling TV will offer more than 75 games throughout the rest of the 2016-2017 NHL season, though games will still be subject to local blackouts depending on the users location.

The Sports Extra package is available for Sling Orange subscribers at $5 per month, or $10 per month for Sling Blue subscribers. Sling TV subscribers already with Sports Extra will receive the NHL Network at no additional cost.