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. 

NEW YORK—The NHL’s return is just a week away, and the picture is becoming clearer of what hockey will look like in this unusual period, specifically for TV audiences.

In a conference call on July 23, the NHL provided details of what the two hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto would be like for players, personnel and for the broadcast production of games. Rather than try to recreate a normal hockey broadcast experience with faux fans—like what Fox is planning for its MLB broadcasts—the NHL is instead opting for an entire new presentation for TV audiences.

“Rather than taking advantage of virtual fans or cardboard cutouts or putting teddy bears in the stands, we’ve decided that we’re going to do something that really caters to the fans at home, the fans that are enjoying the television experience,” said Steve Mayer, NHL senior executive vice president and chief content officer. “We want to educate them. We want to entertain them. We want to visually excite them.”

First and foremost, this will include an increase in the number of cameras being used by broadcasters (NBC in Toronto and SportsNet in Edmonton). There will now be 32 cameras following game action, an increase of 12 from normal productions, per Mayer.

In addition, the league plans to use video, audio and lighting that will create different looks for each game. There will be LED screens, monitors and stages around the ice for what is described as a “unique television-friendly look.”

The 24 participating teams have also contributed to the effort by providing goal songs, goal horns, in-arena music compilations and motivational videos. The NHL also plans to feature specially produced videos from fans that will replicate chants that are often heard in teams’ home arenas.

EA Sports, who creates the annual NHL video game, is also partnering with the league for use of its library of in-game sounds to mimic crowd noise.

These new features will debut when the puck drops on the first official games of the NHL Qualifying Round on Aug. 1.

NEW YORK—The National Hockey League’s return to the ice is ready for fans’ TV viewing pleasure, as the NHL has released the official game and broadcast schedule for the qualifying rounds of the 2020 NHL playoffs.

The NHL, which was postponed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, will feature eight best-of-five series games between teams No. 5-12  in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, as well as round robin games between each conference’s top four teams, to determine final playoff seeding and first-round matchups.

The games will be played in two hub cities in Canada to protect against the risk of spreading COVID-19. The Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto and the Western Conference teams will be in Edmonton. All game times provided by the NHL are ET.

NBC Sports will handle the U.S. broadcasts of the games and air them on NBC, NBC Sports Network and USA Network. In Canada, the games will air on SN and its affiliated stations, TVAS and CBC. A total of 21 games will also be available for streaming on NHL.com, though local blackouts will apply.

For these opening qualifying round and round robin games, the NHL has scheduled up to 10 hours of game action a day, with games starting as early as noon and as late as 10:30 p.m. (again, all ET).

Games will start on Aug. 1 with the New York Rangers taking on the Carolina Hurricanes. Times are set for all games between Aug. 1-5, with official times for games Aug. 6-9 to be determined.

The NHL joins MLB and the NBA as sports leagues that are returning over the next week after month-long hiatuses because of COVID-19.

For the full schedule, visit nhl.com. 

STAMFORD, CONN.—The pursuit of Lord Stanley’s cup is becoming a live streaming hit for NBC Sports Digital thanks to increased connected TV consumption during the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NBC reports that connected TVs accounted for 204,000 uniques and 68 million minutes of live streaming for the 39 first round games; this is a 98 percent increase for unqiues and 78 percent increase for minutes from the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs’ first round, which featured 42 games.

Overall, the first round of the playoffs delivered 798,000 total unique users and 134 million minutes, per NBC, each of which is a 19 percent increase over 2016.

NBC has also released the top five most-streamed games from the first round based on minutes:

1. Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maples Leafs – Game 6: 7.9 million minutes

2. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators – Game 3: 6.4 million minutes

3. Maples Leafs vs. Capitals – Game 2: 6.3 million minutes

4. St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild – Game 5: 5.4 million minutes

5. Blackhawks vs. Predators – Game 4: 4.5 million minutes