The NHL has announced that it will move the Winter Classic to 3 p.m., just as it did with the NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on Saturday. Due to weather concerns, the game has been pushed ahead two hours to give the ice optimum conditions. It marks the second time in two years that the game has been moved to a later time.
CBC and RDS in Canada will air the game at that time as will NBC. In addition, NBC will continue its plans to relaunch Versus as NBC Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET. However, some programming will be shuffled so that NBC Sports Talk begins at 4 p.m. Then at 6 p.m. ET, the Cold War on Ice documentary on the 1972 Summit Series will be pushed to 6 p.m. ET.
NBC will take the air at 1 p.m. as planned with two hours of pregame coverage for the Winter Classic. Bob Costas will host and be joined by analysts Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick. Then the puck will drop at 3 p.m.
We have the NBC Sports press release.
WINTER CLASSIC PROGRAMMING CHANGE
NEW TIME – 2012 NHL WINTER CLASSIC ON NBC MOVED TO 3 P.M. ET
Winter Classic Pre-Game Coverage on NBC Still Begins at 1 p.m. ET
NBC Sports Network Debuts at 4 p.m. ET With Special Edition of NBC SportsTalkPHILADELPHIA – January 1, 2012 – The 2012 NHL Winter Classic between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers from Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia, which was scheduled to air tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET, will now start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC to facilitate optimal game conditions, the NHL announced today. NBC Sports will still begin its live NHL Winter Classic pre-game coverage at 1 p.m. ET with interviews, features and other content.
The NHL said in a statement that the revised start time is based on tomorrow’s weather forecast and should offer optimal game conditions for players and fans.
NBC’s coverage of the Winter Classic will be hosted by Bob Costas, a 22-time Emmy Award-winner. He will be joined by NBC Sports Group studio analysts Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick for coverage on NBC and post-game coverage on NBC Sports Network. NBC’s game coverage will be led by Emmy Award-winner Mike “Doc” Emrick (play-by-play) Eddie Olczyk (analyst), and Pierre McGuire (inside-the-glass reporter).
The NBC Sports Network (currently VERSUS) will still launch at 4 p.m. ET with a special edition of NBC SportsTalk leading into a NHL Winter Classic post-game show at the conclusion of the game.
The new NBC Sports Network will continue with hockey-themed programming at 6 p.m. ET with the premiere of Cold War on Ice: Summit Series ’72 produced by Ross Greenburg. The documentary focuses on the hockey series played in 1972 between a team of Canadian NHL all-stars and the Soviet Union national team during the height of the Cold War.
Cold War on Ice will be followed by NHL Live at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Vancouver Canucks hosting the San Jose Sharks at 8 p.m. ET. NHL Live post-game and NHL Overtime will end the NBC Sports Network’s first day.
That will do it. We’ll go back to the Sunday NFL pregame quotage after this.
