Fresh off its coverage of the National Hockey League All-Star Game, ESPN on Saturday will lace up for the first NHL Stadium Series outdoor-game telecast to air live on ABC.
The Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes will face off February 18 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, home of the North Carolina State Wolfpack football team. ESPN executives said the venue provides a unique opportunity to use technology to give viewers new options for game-watching.
“We are certainly very familiar with Carter-Finley Stadium for N.C. State football, so we’re going to lean on our past experiences at that stadium to help us build out a production plan for the game,” ESPN senior manager of programming and acquisitions Eric Loh said. “We are going to roll up our sleeves and put on a great production because this is going to be a spectacle.”
ESPN’s coverage plans include a drone that will hover over the stadium during the game — something that can’t be done during indoor hockey games, ESPN senior VP of production and remote events Mark Gross said. Aerial shots will be used in an alternate feed on ESPN Plus that will show all 12 players on the ice at the same time during play.
We are going to roll up our sleeves and put on a great production because this is going to be a spectacle.”
— Eric Loh, ESPN
The “All 12” technical offering follows the use of the “Puck Possessor” feature in ESPN Plus’s feed of the February 4 NHL All-Star Game. The player who controlled the puck was identified by electronically placing his name above his head.
“As with anything, we’re still learning how to best present hockey and we’ve learned a lot so far,” Gross said. “We’re going to have the opportunity to mix in a number of different elements between the game and between intermissions that showcase the enormity of the event. It’s not just another regular-season hockey game — this is special and it will look great under the lights in primetime.”
The Stadium Series event is one of four primetime ABC telecasts the network has on tap for the second half of the NHL season, up from one that aired in the second half of last season, according to Loh. Overall, ESPN is hoping the primetime telecasts will help build momentum heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“ESPN and ABC have certainly turned into a destination for hockey fans throughout the year,” Loh said. ■
