FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

SIDNEY CROSBY RETURNS THURSDAY NIGHT ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Penguins captain takes ice for first time since December against Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Penguins also featured on NBC’s NHL Game of the Week on Sunday at in-state rival Philadelphia at 12:30 p.m. ET “Crosby is fresh, fit and determined to prove his doubters wrong.” – Pierre McGuire Bonus coverage of Penguins-Rangers continues NBC Sports Network’s run of live NHL or college hockey for 11 straight nights Hockey East Tournament culminates with Semifinals and Finals this weekend on NBC Sports Network featuring No. 1 Boston College

NEW YORK – (March 14, 2012) – Sidney Crosby returns to the ice for the first time since Dec. 5, 2011 as his Pittsburgh Penguins, second in points in the Eastern Conference (89), travel to New York to take on the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers (95) at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m. ET on newly added coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

 

Beginning Thursday, the NBC Sports Group will present 12 live NHL or college hockey games over the next seven days. Crosby’s Penguins will be featured twice across the platforms of the NBC Sports Group, including Sunday’s NHL Game of the Week on NBC at their in-state rival Philadelphia Flyers; the Rangers will appear three times, all at home; and the San Jose Sharks, fighting to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, will also appear three times. The bonus Thursday night game also means that the NBC Sports Group will air 11 straight nights of live hockey action dating from Sun., March 11 through Wed., March 21. Thursday night’s Penguins game on the NBC Sports Network is a non-exclusive telecast and will be subject to local blackouts.

 

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, and NBC Sports Network’s Wednesday night game. Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (‘Inside the Glass’ analyst) will call Sunday night’s game. Emrick and McGuire will call Monday’s primetime coverage, with Strader and Engblom teaming up again for Tuesday’s game. Liam McHugh and analyst Mike Milbury will cover all the intermissions for NBC’s coverage. Additionally, McHugh hosts NHL Live, NBC Sports Network’s pre- and post-game studio show, and is joined by expert analysts Milbury and Keith Jones. John Walton (play-by-play) and Ken Hodge (analyst) handle college hockey for NBC Sports Network on Friday and Milbury will join them on Sat. to call the Hockey East Finals.

 

NBCSPORTS.COM: NBCSports.com continues to be the online destination for hockey fans. The website streams each NHL Game of the Week, allowing users to follow all the action and providing them with special features like “Star-Cam,” which follows marquee players throughout the game. NHL content areas on the site include ProHockeyTalk, one of NBCSports.com’s popular “Sports Talk” sites that provide fans with day-to-day coverage of the league with sharp analysis on every angle for all the big stories of the day. NBCSports.com also has exclusive NHL videos wrapping-up all the NHL action that day.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT ICE: NBC Sports Network’s college hockey coverage culminates this weekend with the Semifinals and Finals of the Hockey East Tournament on Friday and Saturday, respectively, live from TD Garden in Boston, Mass. Coverage begins on Friday with a double-header when No. 1 Boston College takes on Providence at 5 p.m. ET, immediately followed by No. 10 Maine against No. 5 Boston University at 8 p.m. ET. The NBC Sports Network will then air the Hockey East Finals in primetime on Sat. at 8 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports Group hockey schedule (all times ET, subject to change):

 

Date                            Game                                                     Time                                    Network

Thurs., March 15         Pittsburgh at New York Rangers        7:00 p.m.                     NBCSN

Fri., March 16             #1 Boston College vs. Providence      5:00 p.m.                    NBCSN

#10 Maine vs. #5 Boston Univ.          8:00 p.m.                     NBCSN

Sat., March 17             Hockey East Finals (TBD)                  8:00 p.m.                     NBCSN

Sat., March 17             Detroit at San Jose                              10:30 p.m.                   NBCSN

Sun., March 18            Pittsburgh at Philadelphia                  12:30 p.m.                   NBC

Sun., March 18            Washington at Chicago                       7:00 p.m.                     NBCSN

Mon., March 19          New Jersey at New York Rangers      7:30 p.m.                     NBCSN

Mon., March 19          Anaheim at San Jose                           10:00 p.m.                   NBCSN

Tues., March 20          Phoenix at Dallas                                8:00 p.m.                     NBCSN

Tues., March 20          San Jose at Los Angeles                     10:30 p.m.                   NBCSN

Wed., March 21          Detroit at New York Rangers             7:30 p.m.                     NBCSN