The NBC Sports Group will send in its first line to cover the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final.
NBC and Versus will carry all of the on-ice action between the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks and Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins, while the national cable network also will present pre- and post-game shows. For those living in and around The Hub, Comcast SportsNet New England also will face-off nightly coverage.
NBC will broadcast Games 1-2, and, if necessary, Games 5-7, while Versus will present exclusive coverage of Games 3-4 of the series. Emmy-award winner Mike ‘Doc' Emrick (play-by-play) and Eddie Olczyk (analyst) will anchor NBC and Versus game coverage with analyst Pierre McGuire stationed "inside-the-glass." NBC's studio show will feature host Liam McHugh and analyst Mike Milbury for Games 1-2 and Dan Patrick with Milbury for Games 5-7, if necessary.
To wrap up each night of coverage during the best-of-seven series, Versus will air the Hockey Central postgame with the latest highlights, news, analysis and player interviews, live on-location from either the TD Garden in Boston or Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The shows will be hosted by either Bill Patrick or McHugh with Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick serving as analysts, as well as Darren Pang working as the in-arena reporter. Additionally, before its Games 3-4 coverage, Versus will present a Hockey Central pregame show 30 minutes prior to puck-drop with Bill Patrick as host, alongside Jones and Milbury.
For its part, CSN New England's nightly coverage of the Bruins-Canucks series will begin at 6 p.m. (ET) with Chevrolet SportsNet Central. Anchors/reporters Mike Giardi and Kevin Walsh along with CSNNE.com Bruins insider Joe Haggerty will provide extensive nightly reports. The Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Bob Beers and NBC Sports Group hockey analysts are expected to contribute to the RSN's nightly and game-night coverage.
On NESN, the RSN owned in part by the Bruins, its expanded coverage began with a special series preview edition of Bruins Face-Off Live on May 31 at 5:30 p.m. NESN.com will also augment its Bruins coverage for the Stanley Cup Final with more daily reports, expert opinions, cutting-edge analysis, original videos and other interactive features.
NESN's daily live Bruins programming will consist of pre and post-game coverage before and after every contest, plus special editions of Bruins Face-Off Live airing on the team's off days. For Boston's home games, Bruins Face-Off Livepresented by Hess will continue to originate from NESN's TD Garden studio. After each game, Ace Ticket Bruins Overtime Live will feature interviews and instant reaction from NESN's team of hockey analysts.
NESN's Bruins studio host Kathryn Tappen will be joined by studio analysts Gord Kluzak, Barry Pederson, and play-by-play voice Jack Edwards throughout the series. Bruins game analyst Andy Brickley, rink-side reporter Naoko Funayama and NESN.com beat writer Doug Flynn will travel with the team to deliver in-arena coverage from Vancouver.
