ESPN National Hockey Night
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the video game named after this ESPN program, see ESPN National Hockey Night (game)
| ESPN National Hockey Night | |
|---|---|
| Format | Hockey |
| Starring | Gary Thorne Bill Clement John Davidson see below |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 180+ minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPN (1992–2004) |
ESPN National Hockey Night was ESPN's weekly television broadcasts of National Hockey League regular season games and coverage of playoff games, broadcast from 1992 to 2004. ESPN had been slated to broadcast games for the 2004–05 NHL season, but the season's cancellation combined with the NHL reaching an agreement with OLN (now Versus) to broadcast games for the 2005–06 NHL season effectively ended National Hockey Night after the 2003–04 NHL season.
Contents |
[edit] Coverage overview
From its debut in 1992 until the 2001–02 NHL season, weekly regular season games were broadcast on Sundays (between NFL and baseball seasons), Wednesdays, and Fridays, and were titled Sunday/Wednesday/Friday Night Hockey. Prior to the 1999, these telecasts were non-exclusive, meaning they were blacked out in the regions of the competing teams, and an alternate game was shown in these affected areas. Beginning in 1999–2000 season, ESPN was permitted two exclusive telecasts per team per season. When ESPN started broadcasting NBA games on Wednesday nights in 2002, the weekly hockey broadcasts were moved to Thursday and the broadcasts renamed to Thursday Night Hockey. Beginning in 1993–94, up to five games per week were also shown on ESPN2.
During the Stanley Cup playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 provided almost nightly coverage, often carrying games on both channels simultaneously. Games in the first two rounds were non-exclusive, while telecasts in the Conference Finals and Finals were exclusive.
[edit] Recent news
An article in the Sports Business Journal on July 30, 2007 reported that the NHL was entering preliminary talks with ESPN to begin broadcasting games as soon as the 2008–2009 season. It would be the first time since the pre-lockout days that the NHL had an affiliation with ESPN. The main obstacle from making this a reality is the deal the NHL has with exclusive cable rights holder, Versus, a deal which expires in 2011. The NHL could give Versus an incentive package to drop the "exclusive" status, and allow both networks to cover hockey games.
[edit] Personalities
[edit] Broadcast teams
| Season | Broadcasters |
|---|---|
| 1992–93 | |
| 1993–94 | |
| 1994–95 | |
| 1995–96 | |
| 1996–97 | |
| 1997–98 | |
| 1998–99 | |
| 1999–00 | |
| 2000–01 | |
| 2001–02 | |
| 2002–03 | |
| 2003–04 |
[edit] Studio personalities
- Chris Berman: Host
- Scotty Bowman: Analyst
- John Buccigross: Host
- Brian Engblom: Analyst
- Ray Ferraro: Analyst
- E.J. Hradek: Insider
- Steve Levy: Host
- Barry Melrose: Analyst
- Ed Olczyk: Analyst
- Darren Pang: Analyst
- Bill Patrick: Host
- Bill Pidto: Host
- John Saunders: Host
[edit] See also
- NHL 2Night
- The NHL on ABC
- The NHL on Versus
- The NHL on FOX
- The NHL on NBC
- The NHL on SportsChannel America
- Hockey Night in Canada
- List of programs broadcast by ESPN
- List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters
[edit] External links
| Preceded by USA Network |
NHL pay television carrier in the United States 1985 - 1988 |
Succeeded by SportsChannel America |
| Preceded by SportsChannel America and NBC |
NHL pay television carrier (with NBC from 1993-1994, ABC from 1992-1994 and 1999-2004, and FOX from 1994-1999) in the United States 1992 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Versus and NBC |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||||
| Atlantic | Northeast | Southeast | Central | Northwest | Pacific |
| New Jersey Devils | Boston Bruins | Atlanta Thrashers | Chicago Blackhawks | Calgary Flames | Anaheim Ducks |
| New York Islanders | Buffalo Sabres | Carolina Hurricanes | Columbus Blue Jackets | Colorado Avalanche | Dallas Stars |
| New York Rangers | Montreal Canadiens | Florida Panthers | Detroit Red Wings | Edmonton Oilers | Los Angeles Kings |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Ottawa Senators | Tampa Bay Lightning | Nashville Predators | Minnesota Wild | Phoenix Coyotes |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Toronto Maple Leafs | Washington Capitals | St. Louis Blues | Vancouver Canucks | San Jose Sharks |
| Seasons (structure) · Stanley Cup (Playoffs–Champions) · Presidents' Trophy · All-Star Game · Draft · Players (Association) · All-Star Teams · Awards | |||||
| History · Timeline · Defunct teams · NHA · Original Six · 1967 Expansion · WHA · Streaks · Droughts · Hall of Fame (members) · Rivalries · Arenas · Rules · Violence | |||||
| Category · Portal | |||||
