FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 9th, 2019
NBC SPORTS PRESENTS NHL DRAFT LOTTERY AND STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PREVIEW SHOW TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN
Hosted by Liam McHugh Alongside Keith Jones and Anson Carter; Kathryn Tappen On-Site at NHL Draft Lottery in Toronto
Preview Show to Feature Interviews with NBC Sports Washington Analyst Alan May, NBC Sports California Host Brodie Brazil, and Analyst Mike Milbury
NBC Sports’ 2018-19 NHL Regular-Season Coverage Delivers Viewership Increases Across All Platforms
NBC Sports Radio Announces First Round Broadcast Schedule
NBCSports.com Stanley Cup Playoff Hub Serves as Home for Scores, Schedules and Highlights
STAMFORD, Conn. – April 9, 2019 – NBC Sports will surround tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery and the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs with a special one-hour show tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Liam McHugh will anchor the program alongside analysts Keith Jones and Anson Carter. Kathryn Tappen will serve as an on-site host in Toronto for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery.
The 60-minute program will include live interviews and reports with analyst Mike Milbury in Boston to preview Maple Leafs-Bruins, NBC Sports Washington analyst Alan May to discuss the Hurricanes-Capitals series, and NBC Sports California host Brodie Brazil to examine the Golden Knights-Sharks matchup.
MIKE “DOC” EMRICK, EDDIE OLCZYK, PIERRE MCGUIRE AND MIKE MILBURY PREVIEW STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS ON MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL
On Monday, NBC Sports NHL commentators Mike “Doc” Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst), Pierre McGuire (‘Inside the Glass’ analyst), and Mike Milbury (analyst), as well as executive producer Sam Flood, previewed the upcoming 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs on a media conference call. Following are excerpts from the call. Click here for the full transcript.
Emrick on the unpredictability of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: “Weird things can happen to teams that maybe finished poorly and now can turn things around. San Jose and Vegas and Toronto only won three of their last 10, and I think back to a ’91 group of North Stars that staggered to the finish, won only two of the last eight, faced the Presidents Trophy-winning Blackhawks, who won nine of the last 12, and knocked them out in six in the first round. Or that 2012 Kings group that required the next-to-last game to qualify for the Playoffs and went through three coaches that year, and then in each of the four rounds they went through, won the first three games and won the Stanley Cup, and the first eight seed in North America in pro sports to win a championship.”
McGuire on the Tampa Bay Lightning: “The one thing that stands out to me is they can overcome so much because they’ve got special teams – number one in the power play, number one in the penalty kill – and they have arguably the best goalie going into the Playoffs in Andrei Vasilevskiy.”
Milbury on the Washington Capitals: “They come into the Playoffs, maybe not as the odds-on favorite, but you can’t pick against the Washington Capitals this year.”
Olczyk on the Golden Knights-Sharks series: “It’s going to be an awesome series. I could see this series being front and center six or eight weeks from now and go, ‘Look, you want to sell playoff hockey, all you got to do is just play the tape of this series,’ because I think it’s going to have everything that is great about our game and playoff hockey.”
McGuire on the Blue Jackets and head coach John Tortorella: “This is the best that John’s coached…he’s found a way to communicate with this team. I’ve done a fair number of Columbus games this year, and the one thing that’s really apparent, he’s having fun, he’s communicating openly and with less vigor. He’s not challenging as much verbally in terms of being negative. He’s more positive with his players, and I think he’s created a tremendous workplace for his players…I’ve said this to John right to his face, I think it’s the most fun I’ve seen him have in a long time.”
Milbury on the Carolina Hurricanes: “I don’t think this is an opponent the Capitals can underestimate. They’re going to keep on coming. They’re going to throw their defense into the offense. They’re going to do whatever they can to keep it going because the party’s been too much fun for them. I think it will be a whole new atmosphere in Carolina, something they’ve been waiting for for an awfully long time, and I think this team has a belief in itself that makes them very formidable.”
NBC SPORTS’ 2018-19 NHL REGULAR-SEASON COVERAGE DELIVERS VIEWERSHIP INCREASES ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS
NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2018-19 NHL regular season – which included a record 112 games as well as a record number of doubleheaders and games featuring Canadian and Western Conference teams – delivered viewership increases across all platforms, according to Nielsen. Combined viewership across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 424,000 viewers, up 2% vs. the 2017-18 regular-season (105 games, 417,000). Click here for more details.
NBC SPORTS RADIO ANNOUNCES FIRST ROUND BROADCAST SCHEDULE
In conjunction with Westwood One, NBC Sports Radio will broadcast game coverage of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including every game of the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final. First Round coverage begins Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. ET with Game 1 of the Blue Jackets-Lightning Series. Following is NBC Sports Radio and Westwood One’s First Round broadcast schedule:
| Date | Coverage | Time (ET) | Commentators |
| Wed., April 10 | Game 1 – (WC2) Columbus at (1) Tampa Bay | 6:45 p.m. | Steve Goldstein, Kelly Chase |
| Mon., April 15 | Game 3 – (1) Nashville at (WC1) Dallas | 9:15 p.m. | Ralph Strangis, Colby Cohen |
| Thur., April 18 | Game 5 – (3) Vegas at (2) San Jose | TBD | Ralph Strangis, Jim Fox |
| Sat., April 20 | Game 5 – (WC1) Carolina at (1) Washington | TBD | Sam Rosen, Billy Jaffe |
NBCSPORTS.COM STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB SERVES AS HOME FOR SCORES, SCHEDULES AND HIGHLIGHTS
The Stanley Cup Playoff Hub on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will be the home for everything fans need to know about the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoff Hub will feature up-to-the-minute scores, updated schedules, and highlights following the conclusion of each game.
In addition, ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports.com will provide previews and recaps throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. ProHockeyTalk writers Sean Leahy, James O’Brien, Adam Gretz and Scott Billeck will deliver comprehensive coverage for the postseason. Following each night’s games, The Buzzer will recap the action and top moments of the evening around the league. Each morning, The Wraparound will set the table for that night’s slate of games.
COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL COVERAGE
Through the NBC Sports Regional Networks, comprehensive coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be provided daily via NBC Sports Regional Networks, available in more than 35 million U.S. households. NBC Sports Regional Networks serve the hometown fans of the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals, with first-round game coverage, pre- and post-game shows, and extensive on-line coverage via NBC Sports’ team of NHL Insiders.
For teams that advance past the first round, NBC Sports Regional Networks will deliver extensive pre- and post-game coverage as well as breaking news and analysis throughout each team’s playoff run.
STREAMING COVERAGE 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 Stanley Cup Playoffs 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 Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, PlayStation and Xbox.
-NBC SPORTS GROUP-
