This is what puckheads were hoping for when the NHL signed its new contract with the NBC Sports Group last year. There will be wall-to-wall hockey on both NBC and the NBC Sports Network in the last seven days of the regular season. A total of 11 games on the combined networks including a tripleheader next Saturday, April 7 on the very last day before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
NBC will utilize its regular crews of Mike Emrick, Dave Strader, Eddie Olcyzk, Pierre McGuire and Brian Engblom and also employ TSN’s Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro as well as local NHL announcers John Forslund, Rick Peckham and Joe Micheletti for the stretch run.
We have the NBC Sports press release.
11 GAMES IN SEVEN DAYS CONCLUDES NBC SPORTS GROUP’S NHL REGULAR-SEASON COVERAGE
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Begins Final-Week coverage this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Triple-Header across NBC & NBC Sports Network concludes Regular-Season coverage on Saturday, April 7NEW YORK – Mar. 29, 2012 – With NHL teams fighting to either make the playoffs or jockeying for crucial playoff positioning, the NBC Sports Group will conclude the 2011-12 NHL regular season with its most comprehensive final week of coverage ever, presenting 11 games over the final seven nights of the season across NBC and the NBC Sports Network.
Final-week coverage begins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC with the Philadelphia Flyers traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in the NHL Game of the Week. Later that night, the NBC Sports Network will air primetime coverage of the Rangers taking on the Bruins at 7 p.m. ET in New York.
After six more games are aired on the NBC Sports Network from Monday-Friday, the NBC Sports Group’s regular-season coverage concludes with a tripleheader on Saturday, April 7, beginning with Chicago at Detroit at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. NBC Sports Network will follow with Philadelphia at Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. ET and Washington at New York at 6:30 p.m. ET.
NBC Sports Group Final-Week NHL Schedule (all times ET, subject to change):
Sunday, April 1
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh — 12:30 p.m., NBC
Boston at New York Rangers — 7 p.m., NBCSNMonday, April 2
Washington at Tampa Bay — 7 p.m., NBCSNTuesday, April 3
Pittsburgh at Boston — 7:30 p.m., NBCSN
Anaheim at Vancouver — 10 p.m., NBCSNWednesday, April 4
Detroit at St. Louis — 7:30 p.m., NBCSThursday, April 5
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh — 7 p.m., NBCSNFriday, April 6
Phoenix at St. Louis — 7:30 p.m., NBCSNSaturday, April 7
Chicago at Detroit — 1 p.m., NBC
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh — 4 p.m., NBCSN
Washington at New York Rangers — 6:30 p.m., NBCSNCOMMENTATORS: The team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (‘Inside the Glass’ analyst) will call the action for Sunday’s game on NBC, NBC Sports Network’s Wednesday night game and NBC’s Saturday game in Detroit.
Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (‘Inside the Glass’ analyst) will call Sunday’s game in New York. Rick Peckham (play-by-play) and McGuire will serve as announcers for Monday’s primetime coverage, with Strader and Engblom teaming up again for Tuesday’s game in Boston, as well as games in Pittsburgh on both Thursday and Saturday.
John Forslund (play-by-play) and Joe Micheletti (analyst) will be in St. Louis for Friday’s coverage, and Gord Miller (play-by-play) and Ray Ferraro (‘Inside the Glass’ analyst) will call New York’s last game of the regular season on Saturday night.
Liam McHugh and analyst Mike Milbury will cover all the intermissions for NBC Sports’ coverage. Additionally, McHugh hosts NHL Live and NBC Sports Network’s pre- and post-game studio show, where he is joined by analysts Milbury and Keith Jones.
That will do it.
