FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 12th, 2017

“STAR SUNDAY” FEATURES ZACH PARISE & PATRICK KANE – MINNESOTA WILD FACE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS SUNDAY AT 7 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

Zach Parise and Patrick Kane Will Be Featured in Player Arrivals, Pre-Game Interviews, Pre- and Post-Game Studio Coverage, and Iso Cams

Coverage Begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live – NHL Sunday Shootout Recaps The Week at 10:30 p.m. ET

Two-Time Stanley Cup Champion Scott Gomez Makes Debut as NBCSN Studio Analyst Tonight on NHL Live at 7 p.m. ET – Habs-Wild at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – January 12, 2017 – NBC Sports continues its “Star Sunday” telecasts this weekend, as Minnesota forward Zach Parise and Chicago forward Patrick Kane will be featured during NBCSN’s coverage of Wild-Blackhawks, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live.

Airing most Sundays through the end of the regular season in April, NBC Sports’ “Star Sunday” games will shine a spotlight on a star from each team. The stars selected for each “Star Sunday” will be the focus of pre-game player arrivals and interviews, and will be highlighted in pre-game features and “get-to-know” segments. NBC Sports’ “Star Sunday” game telecasts will include an iso cam on the stars to be utilized for game analysis during intermissions, and scoreboard graphics will let viewers know when these stars are on the ice.

Kenny Albert (play-by-play), U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk (analyst), and Emmy Award-winner Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Wild-Blackhawks from United Center in Chicago, Ill. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Liam McHugh, alongside analysts and former players Mike Milbury and Keith Jones.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of Wild-Blackhawks.


ZACH PARISE AND THE MINNESOTA WILD

Veteran forward Zach Parise is in the midst of his fifth season with Minnesota and his 12th season in the NHL. Parise enters tonight’s matchup on a three-game point streak, including a season-high three-point game against San Jose last week. He has recorded 11 points (4g/7a) in his last 11 games. Parise was the seventeenth overall selection in the 2003 NHL Draft, and is a hometown favorite of the Wild fans, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minn. He was part of the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team that won the silver medal in Vancouver in 2010, and was team captain for Team USA in Sochi in 2014.

Minnesota (25-9-5, 50 pts) is second in the Western Conference behind Chicago, and has gone 14-1-1 in its last 16 games since early December. They host Montreal tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN before facing Dallas on Saturday and Chicago on Sunday.

PATRICK KANE AND THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Reigning league MVP and scoring champion Patrick Kane has continued his torrid pace this season to lead Chicago to the top spot in the Western Conference. Now in his 10th NHL season, Kane is tied for second in the league in points with Sidney Crosby (45), and over his entire career, has averaged better than a point per game (708 points in 702 games).

Kane is three-time Stanley Cup champion with Chicago (2010, 2013 & 2015), and was Parise’s teammate as a member of Team USA in Vancouver and Sochi. Kane was the first overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft by Chicago, is a native of the Buffalo, N.Y., region, and was selected to his sixth NHL All-Star team earlier this week.

Chicago (27-12-5, 59 pts) leads the Western Conference, has won four consecutive games, and faces the Capitals in Washington tomorrow night.

TWO-TIME STANLEY CUP CHAMPION SCOTT GOMEZ MAKES DEBUT AS NBCSN STUDIO ANALYST TONIGHT ON NHL LIVE – HABS-WILD AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Scott Gomez makes his debut as an NBCSN studio analyst tonight on NHL Live at 7 p.m. ET. Gomez will join Mike Milbury and host Kathryn Tappen for studio coverage of tonight’s coverage of Canadiens-Wild at 8 p.m. ET, and will join NHL Live for select telecasts throughout the season.

A veteran of 16 NHL seasons and more than 1,000 NHL games, Gomez was the 27th overall selection in the 1998 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils. Gomez won a pair of Stanley Cups with New Jersey in 2000 and 2003, and played for seven NHL teams over the course of his career.

Gomez has ties to both the Canadiens and Wild. The Anchorage, Alaska, native spent three seasons with Montreal (2009-2012), and played with current Wild assistant captain Zach Parise and Wild assistant coach Scott Stevens as a member of the Devils.

NHL SUNDAY SHOOTOUT – WEEKLY PROGRAM RECAPPING THE WEEK THAT WAS – RETURNS THIS SUNDAY NIGHT ON NBCSN FOLLOWING WILD-HAWKS

NBCSN’s NHL Sunday Shootout, a 30-minute program that recaps the biggest NHL moments of each week, serves as a weekly roundup for NHL fans on most Sunday nights leading into the postseason. In addition to insight and analysis recapping the week around the league, the show will preview the upcoming week and feature recurring segments, including:

  • NHL Live Roundtable – NBCSN’s NHL Live studio crew will discuss the hot topics in the league, analyzing the latest news and biggest stories from the previous seven days;
  • Game Of The Week – NHL Sunday Shootout relives the best game of each week, utilizing game audio from the local telecast, in-game audio from players and coaches, and post-game interviews;
  • NHL Best of 7 – A countdown of the Top 7 highlight-reel goals, saves and passes from the week;
  • Inside The Numbers – A deep dive highlighting the statistical achievements and milestones reached each week, as well as those on the horizon in the coming days.

Kathryn Tappen hosts this week’s edition of NHL Sunday Shootout alongside Anson Carter.


NHL ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP: NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of the 2016-17 NHL regular season via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

-NBC SPORTS GROUP-