NHL on ABC

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox television

The NHL on ABC is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN, and televised on ABC in the United States.

The network first broadcast NHL games during the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 18, 1993, under a two-year time-buy agreement with ESPN. After the two years, the NHL left ABC for newcomer Fox, while remaining with ESPN.

As part of a joint contract with ESPN, which was reached right before the 1998–99 season, the NHL returned to ABC on February 6, 2000, with their coverage of the 2000 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto. Regular season game telecasts returned to ABC on March 18, 2000. ABC also gained the rights to select weekend games from each round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the last five games of the Stanley Cup Finals. After the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL left ABC again, this time for NBC because Disney executives admitted that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal. ESPN, who was set to continue with the NHL, later dropped it from their schedules after the 2004–05 lockout.

On March 10, 2021, ESPN announced a new contract to hold half of the NHL's media rights beginning in the 2021–22 season. In this deal, ABC will broadcast up to 10 regular season games per-season, primarily late-season games of the week (branded as ABC Hockey Saturday presented by Expedia for sponsorship purposes), and the All-Star Game. ABC exclusively televises the Stanley Cup Finals in even-numbered years. All games carried by ABC are streamed on ESPN+.

History

Before the 1992–93 NHL season

After being dropped by NBC after the Template:NHL Year season, the NHL did not maintain a national television contract in the United States. In response to this, the league put together a network of independent stations covering approximately 55% of the country.

Games typically aired on Monday nights (beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations without a rights fee. Profits would instead be derived from the advertising, which was about evenly split between the network and the local station. The Monday night games were often billed as "The NHL Game of the Week".

Initially, the Monday night package was marketed to ABC affiliates; the idea being that ABC carried NFL football games on Monday nights in the fall and (starting in May Template:Baseball year) Major League Baseball games on Monday nights in the spring and summer, stations would want the hockey telecasts to create a year-round Monday night sports block; however, very few ABC stations chose to pick up the package.

In Template:NHL Year, ABC was contracted to televise Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void. Had there been a seventh game, then Al Michaels would have called play-by-play alongside Bobby Clarke (color commentator). Jim McKay would host the seventh game in the studio, and Frank Gifford (reporter, who would have been in the winning team's dressing room to interview players and coaches as well as hand the phone to the winning team's coach that would have allowed him to talk to both President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau). This would give Michaels the honor of being the first to provide the play-by-play in four of the five major professional sports, having called the Super Bowl, the World Series, and NBA Finals. The game would have started at 5:10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on a Saturday, replacing Wide World of Sports and local news shows that typically followed it on ABC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones.

It was also around this time that ABC offered the NHL a limited deal, splitting the network and show the NHL in the Northeast and Midwest and NASCAR in the South on Sunday afternoons, that NHL president John Ziegler Jr. quickly rejected.

ABC's coverage of the Winter Olympics

Even though ABC didn't yet televise National Hockey League games, they were the American network broadcast home of the Winter Olympic games beginning in 1964 and continuing through the 1988 Winter Games from Calgary. For the ice hockey events, employed Curt Gowdy for play-by-play duties in 1968 and 1976 (NBC had the broadcasting rights for the 1972 Games in the interim) Games. Gowdy worked with Brian Conacher for the 1976 ice hockey events.

For years later at Lake Placid, ABC was on hand for a medal-round men's ice hockey game that would soon become known the "Miracle on Ice". On February 22, 1980, the United States team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet team, which consisted of veteran professional players with significant experience in international play. The rest of the United States (except those who watched the game live on Canadian television) had to wait to see the game, as ABC decided to broadcast the late-afternoon game on tape delay in prime time. Sportscaster Al Michaels, who was calling the game on ABC along with former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, picked up on the countdown in his broadcast, and delivered his famous call:

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Al Michaels continued serving as ABC's lead play-by-play announcer for their ice hockey coverage for their next two Winter Olympics both with lead color commentator Ken Dryden. In 1984 from Sarajevo, Mike Eruzione, who was the captain of the gold medal-winning United States ice hockey team from 1980, worked with Don Chevrier. For ABC's final Winter Olympics four years later, Eruzione was this time, paired with Jiggs McDonald.

ABC Radio coverage (1989–1991)

In 1989, the NHL signed a two-year contract (lasting through the Template:NHL Year season) with ABC Radio for the broadcast rights to the All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals. ABC Radio named Don Chevrier and Phil Esposito as their main commentating crew.

Time-buy deal with ESPN (1993–1994)

File:NHLonABClogo1994.jpg

The logo for ABC's regular season coverage in the Template:NHL Year season.

In the Template:NHL Year season, ABC televised five weekly playoff telecasts (the first three weeks were regional coverage of various games and two national games) on Sunday afternoons starting on April 18. This marked the first time that playoff National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television since 1975 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). In the Template:NHL Year season, ABC televised six weekly regional telecasts on the last three Sunday afternoons beginning on March 27, 1994. This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television since Template:NHL Year (again when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). ABC then televised three weeks worth of playoff games on first three Sundays – the final game was Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils, a game that was aired nationally. The network did not televise the Stanley Cup Finals, which instead, were televised nationally by ESPN and by Prime Ticket in Los Angeles (Template:Scfy) and MSG Network in New York (Template:Scfy). Games televised on ABC were not subject to blackout.

These broadcasts (just as was the case with the 2000–2004 package) were essentially, time-buys by ESPN. In other words, ABC would sell three-hour blocks of airtime to ESPN, who in return, would produce and distribute the telecasts. Overall, ABC averaged a 1.7 rating for those two seasons.

When the NHL television contract went up for negotiation in early 1994, Fox (which was in the process of launching its sports division after acquiring the rights to the National Football Conference of the NFL) and CBS (which was hoping to land a major sports contract to replace the NFL rights that they lost to Fox and Major League Baseball rights that they lost to ABC and NBC) competed heavily for the package. On September 9, 1994, the National Hockey League reached a five-year, US$155 million contract with Fox for the broadcast television rights to the league's games, beginning with the 1994–95 season.

Announcers

Studio host

• John Saunders

Play-by-play

1. Gary Thorne
2. Mike Emrick
3. Al Michaels (1993)
4. Tom Mees (1994)
5. Bob Miller (1993–94)
6. Sam Rosen (1993–94)

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement
2. John Davidson
3. Darren Pang (1993–94)
4. Joe Micheletti (1993–94)
5. Jim Schoenfeld (1993)

Reporters

1. Al Morganti
2. Tom Mees
3. Bob Neumeier
4. Brenda Brenon
5. Mark Jones

Schedules

1993–94

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentators
March 27	Boston at Washington Detroit at Chicago New York Rangers at Winnipeg Los Angeles at Vancouver	1 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m.	Sam Rosen, Joe Micheletti, and Brenda Brenon Tom Mees, Darren Pang, and Bob Neumeier Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Al Morganti Bob Miller and John Davidson
April 3	Boston at Pittsburgh Dallas at Washington St. Louis at Detroit Edmonton at Los Angeles	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Al Morganti Sam Rosen, John Davidson, and Brenda Brenon Tom Mees, Darren Pang, and Bob Neumeier Bob Miller and Joe Micheletti
April 10	New York Rangers at New York Islanders Boston at Philadelphia Los Angeles at Chicago Dallas at St. Louis	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Al Morganti Sam Rosen, Joe Micheletti, and Brenda Brenon Al Michaels and John Davidson Tom Mees, Darren Pang, and Bob Neumeier

April 17, May 1, 24: Playoffs

Stanley Cup playoff commentator crews

1993

Round	Series	Games covered	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)
Division semifinals	Pittsburgh vs. New Jersey	Games 1, 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement
	Chicago vs. St. Louis	Games 1, 4	Mike Emrick	Jim Schoenfeld
	Calgary vs. Los Angeles	Games 1, 4	Al Michaels	John Davidson
Division finals	Pittsburgh vs. New York Islanders	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement
	Toronto vs. St. Louis	Game 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement
	Vancouver vs. Los Angeles	Game 1	Mike Emrick	John Davidson
Conference finals	Montreal vs. New York Islanders	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement

1994

Round	Series	Games covered	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
First round	New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders	Games 1, 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Al Morganti
	Dallas vs. St. Louis	Games 1, 4	Tom Mees	Darren Pang (Game 1) John Davidson (Game 4)	Bob Neumeier (Game 1)
Conference semifinals	New Jersey vs. Boston	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Al Morganti

NHL returns to ABC (2000–2004)

File:NHL on ABC 1999.png

Previous logo used from 2000 to 2004.

In August 1998, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 signed a five-year television deal with the NHL, worth a total of approximately US$600 million (or $120 million per year), beginning with the league's 1999–2000 season. The $120 million per year that ABC and ESPN paid for rights dwarfed the $5.5 million that the NHL received from American national broadcasts in the 1991–92 season. ABC's terms of this deal included: rights to the NHL All-Star Game, 4 to 5 weeks of regular season action, with three games a week, weekend Stanley Cup Playoff games, and Games 3 to 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

As previously noted, much like ABC's initial contract with the NHL in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, ESPN essentially purchased time on ABC to air selected NHL games on the broadcast network. This was noted in copyright tags at the conclusion of the telecasts (i.e., "The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc."). ESPN later signed a similar television rights contract with the National Basketball Association in 2002, allowing it to produce and broadcast NBA games on ABC under a similar time buy arrangement on the broadcast network.

In May 2004, NBC and ESPN reached an agreement to broadcast NHL games beginning in the 2004–05 season, which would end up being canceled as a result of the 2004–05 NHL lockout; ESPN later withdrew from the deal in favor of OLN, which wound up being rebranded as NBCSN in 2012. In the interval between the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals and the start of the 2005–06 season, several ABC affiliates, including WDTN in Dayton, Ohio (a secondary market for the Columbus Blue Jackets) and WAND in Springfield, Illinois (which is served by the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues), affiliated with NBC.

Regular season

As previously mentioned, ABC televised four to five weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons, typically beginning in January or March for the first two seasons.

Announcers

Studio personalities

1. John Saunders – lead studio host
2. Steve Levy – fill-in studio host
3. John Davidson – lead studio analyst (1999–2002)
4. Barry Melrose – NHL All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals studio analyst (1999–2002); lead studio analyst (2003–04)
5. Darren Pang – Stanley Cup Finals studio analyst (2003–2004)

Stanley Cup Finals hosts

1. Al Michaels (2000–2002)
2. Chris Berman (2003)

Play-by play announcer

1. Gary Thorne
2. Steve Levy
3. Mike Emrick
4. Dave Strader (2000–2002)

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement
2. John Davidson (2003–2004)
3. Darren Pang
4. Barry Melrose (1999–2002)
5. Brian Engblom (2002–04)
6. Brian Hayward (2000 Stanley Cup playoffs)
7. Jim Schoenfeld (2001–2002)

Reporters

1. Brian Engblom – co-lead rinkside reporter
2. Darren Pang – co-lead rinkside reporter
3. Steve Levy – NHL All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals reporter
4. Sam Ryan
5. Erin Andrews
6. Joe Micheletti
7. Christine Simpson (2001–2003)
8. Daryl Reaugh (2000 Stanley Cup playoffs)
9. Mickey Redmond (2001; Detroit Red Wings)
10. Tony Granato (2002 Stanley Cup playoffs)

1999–2004 Schedules

1999–2000

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator crews
March 18	Pittsburgh at Boston New York Rangers at Philadelphia Detroit at Colorado	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom
March 26	New York Rangers at Detroit Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Colorado at Dallas	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom
April 1	Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Anaheim at Los Angeles	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang
April 9	Phoenix at Dallas Detroit at Colorado Los Angeles at Anaheim	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang

2000–01

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator crews
March 10	New Jersey at Philadelphia Detroit at St. Louis Colorado at Dallas	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 17	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Detroit at Colorado San Jose at Los Angeles	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 24	Detroit at New York Rangers Colorado at Boston Anaheim at Los Angeles	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 31	New York Rangers at New Jersey Detroit at Philadelphia St. Louis at Pittsburgh Colorado at Los Angeles	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Dave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld
April 7	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Dallas at San Jose	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang

2001–02

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator crews
January 5	Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Washington at Boston	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Mike Emrick, Barry Melrose, and Christine Simpson Steve Levy, Darren Pang, and Joe Micheletti
January 12	New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Pittsburgh Dallas at Detroit	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Mike Emrick, Barry Melrose, and Christine Simpson Steve Levy, Darren Pang, and Joe Micheletti
March 2	Philadelphia at New York Rangers Detroit at Pittsburgh Dallas at Colorado	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick, Barry Melrose, and Christine Simpson Steve Levy, Darren Pang, and Joe Micheletti Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom
March 9	New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Los Angeles at Colorado	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick, Barry Melrose, and Christine Simpson Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Steve Levy, Darren Pang, and Joe Micheletti
March 16	Detroit at Boston New York Rangers at New Jersey Colorado at Philadelphia	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and Brian Engblom Mike Emrick, Barry Melrose, and Christine Simpson Steve Levy, Darren Pang, and Joe Micheletti

2002–03

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator crews
January 11	Colorado at Dallas Detroit at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Pittsburgh	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
February 8	Pittsburgh at Boston Detroit at Colorado New York Rangers at Philadelphia	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
March 15	Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at New Jersey Philadelphia at Pittsburgh	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 22	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Chicago at Colorado Detroit at St. Louis	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson
March 29	Detroit at St. Louis New York Rangers at Boston Phoenix at Colorado	1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 6 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom Steve Levy and Darren Pang

2003–04

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator crews
January 10	Detroit at Boston Colorado at Dallas New York Rangers at New York Islanders	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
February 14	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Boston at Chicago	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
March 13	Dallas at Detroit New Jersey at Philadelphia Los Angeles at San Jose	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
March 20	New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Dallas	3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson
March 27	Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at Philadelphia Los Angeles at Calgary	1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 6 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom

NHL All-Star Game (1999–2004)

Year	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporters	Studio host	Studio analysts
2000	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	John Saunders	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2001	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and Denis Leary	Brian Engblom, Darren Pang, and Steve Levy	John Saunders	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2002	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	John Saunders	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2003	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	John Saunders	Barry Melrose and Darren Pang
2004	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Brian Engblom, Darren Pang, and Sam Ryan	John Saunders	Barry Melrose and Darren Pang

Notes

• Denis Leary was the third-man in the broadcast booth and called the final 40 minutes of the 2001 All-Star Game at Pepsi Center in Denver.
• Because ABC Sports had rights to the NHL All-Star Game and the National Football League's Pro Bowl, ABC aired both games on the same day from 2000 through 2003, excluding 2002. ABC dubbed these doubleheaders as “All-Star Sunday”.

Stanley Cup Playoffs (2000–2004)

Besides the National Hockey League All-Star Game, ABC televised Games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time. In the league's previous broadcast television deal with Fox, the network split coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals with ESPN. Games 1, 5 and 7 were usually scheduled to be televised by Fox; Games 2, 3, 4 and 6 by ESPN. However, from Template:Scfy to Template:Scfy, the Finals were all four-game sweeps; Template:Scfy ended in six games. The consequence was that – except for 1995, when Fox did televise Game 4 – the decisive game was never on network television.

2003 was the only year that ABC broadcast both the NBA and the Stanley Cup Finals that involved teams from one city in the same year, as both the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils were in their respective league's finals. During ABC's broadcast of Game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Nets in New Jersey on June 8, Brad Nessler said that ABC was in a unique situation getting ready for both that game and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim the following night, also at Continental Airlines Arena. Gary Thorne mentioned this the following night, and thanked Nessler for promoting ABC's broadcast of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Following the 2003–04 season, ESPN was only willing to renew its contract for two additional years at $60 million per year. ABC wanted to televised the Stanley Cup Finals games played on weekend afternoons (including a potential Game 7). Disney executives later conceded that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal, so the company's offer to renew the television rights was lower in 2004.

ABC ended their second run with the NHL with Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals on June 7. There, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames 2–1 to clinch their first ever Stanley Cup.

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ABC concluded their coverage of Game 7 with a montage of highlights from the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals that were set to the song "Shine" by Andy Stochansky.

Stanley Cup playoffs commentating crews

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level reporter(s)
2000	First round	Washington-Pittsburgh	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Joe Micheletti
		St. Louis-San Jose	Games 2, 6	Dave Strader (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 6)	Brian Hayward (Game 2) Bill Clement (Game 6)	Brian Engblom (Game 6)
		Colorado-Phoenix	Game 2	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Daryl Reaugh
		Detroit-Los Angeles	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
	Conference semifinals	Philadelphia-Pittsburgh	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 5)	Darren Pang (Game 2) Bill Clement (Game 5)	Daryl Reaugh (Game 2) Brian Engblom and Darren Pang (Game 5)
		Colorado-Detroit	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
	Conference finals	Philadelphia-New Jersey	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Dallas-Colorado	Game 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
2001	First round	Washington-Pittsburgh	Games 2, 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Philadelphia-Buffalo	Games 2, 6	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Joe Micheletti
		Detroit-Los Angeles	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Mickey Redmond
		St. Louis-San Jose	Games 2, 6	Dave Strader	Jim Schoenfeld	Christine Simpson
	Conference semifinals	Buffalo-Pittsburgh	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 5)	Darren Pang (Game 2) Bill Clement (Game 5)	Joe Micheletti (Game 2) Brian Engblom (Game 5)
		Colorado-Los Angeles	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
	Conference finals	New Jersey-Pittsburgh	Game 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Colorado-St. Louis	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
2002	First round	Boston-Montreal	Game 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Carolina-New Jersey	Game 6	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Christine Simpson
		Toronto-New York Islanders	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Christine Simpson
		Colorado-Los Angeles	Games 2, 6	Gary Thorne (Game 2) Steve Levy (Game 6)	Bill Clement (Game 2) Darren Pang (Game 6)	Brian Engblom (Game 2) Joe Micheletti (Game 6)
		San Jose-Phoenix	Game 2	Dave Strader	Jim Schoenfeld	Tony Granato
		St. Louis-Chicago	Game 2	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Joe Micheletti
	Conference semifinals	Detroit-St. Louis	Games 2, 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Colorado-San Jose	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Joe Micheletti
	Conference finals	Detroit-Colorado	Games 1, 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
2003	First round	Tampa Bay-Washington	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Brian Engblom
		Philadelphia-Toronto	Game 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Christine Simpson
		Detroit-Anaheim	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Christine Simpson
		Colorado-Minnesota	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy	Darren Pang
	Conference semifinals	Ottawa-Philadelphia	Game 5	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Joe Micheletti
		New Jersey-Tampa Bay	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Christine Simpson
		Dallas-Anaheim	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 5)	Darren Pang (Game 2) Bill Clement and John Davidson (Game 5)	Joe Micheletti (Game 2) Christine Simpson (Game 5)
	Conference finals	Ottawa-New Jersey	Game 4	Steve Levy	Darren Pang and John Davidson	Joe Micheletti
		Minnesota-Anaheim	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Brian Engblom
2004	First round	Tampa Bay-New York Islanders	Game 2	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Erin Andrews
		Philadelphia-New Jersey	Game 5	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Erin Andrews
		Detroit-Nashville	Games 2, 6	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson
		San Jose-St. Louis	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Brian Engblom
		Colorado-Dallas	Game 5	Mike Emrick	Brian Engblom
	Conference semifinals	Detroit-Calgary	Games 2, 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson
		San Jose-Colorado	Games 2, 5	Mike Emrick (Game 2) Steve Levy (Game 5)	Darren Pang	Erin Andrews
	Conference finals	Tampa Bay-Philadelphia	Games 1, 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Sam Ryan (Game 1) Joe Micheletti (Game 4)

Stanley Cup Finals commentating crews

Year	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level reporter(s)	Pregame host	Pregame analyst(s)
2000	New Jersey-Dallas	Game 3–6	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	Al Michaels (Games 3–5) John Saunders (Game 6)	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2001	Colorado-New Jersey	Games 3–7	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	Al Michaels and John Saunders	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2002	Detroit-Carolina	Games 3–5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom and Darren Pang	Al Michaels and John Saunders	John Davidson and Barry Melrose
2003	New Jersey-Anaheim	Games 3–7	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Brian Engblom, Darren Pang, and Sam Ryan	John Saunders and Chris Berman	Barry Melrose and Darren Pang
2004	Tampa Bay-Calgary	Games 3–7	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Darren Pang, Sam Ryan, Steve Levy, and Erin Andrews	John Saunders	Barry Melrose and Darren Pang

Second return to ABC (2021–present)

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On March 10, 2021, ESPN announced a new, seven-year broadcast deal with the NHL, which included games on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+ beginning in the 2021–22 season. At least 25 regular-season games will be scheduled to air on ESPN or ABC, along with half of the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and one conference final each year. ESPN/ABC have first choice of which conference final series to air. ABC will exclusively broadcast four Stanley Cup Finals over the life of the contract, with the option to simulcast each game on ESPN+, as well as produce alternate broadcasts to air on other ESPN platforms.

The 2022 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first to be broadcast in their entirety on over-the-air television since 1980, as the Finals had since either been partially or exclusively carried on cable. Due to the current arrangement of ABC's sports programming being produced and co-branded by ESPN, the broadcasts carry the NHL on ESPN production and branding.

ABC's first game back featured the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins in the annual Thanksgiving Showdown on November 26, 2021. After ABC aired the 2022 NHL All-Star Game, the network aired a weekly game under the ABC Hockey Saturday branding, which began on February 26. The package primarily aired on Saturday afternoons, with one primetime game on March 19 to accommodate afternoon coverage of the 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. All games broadcast by ABC are simulcast on ESPN+.

ABC did not air a full 30 minute or hour long pregame show before their games in 2021, instead opting for an abbreviated 15-minute pregame show presented by Verizon. However, ABC aired a full 30-minute pregame show on April 23, as a lead-out of their Bundesliga soccer coverage. They will air a 30 minute pregame show for games outside of the primetime slot. If time permits, ABC will also air a short postgame show until 6 p.m. ET, so most ABC affiliates on the East Coast can show their local news or ABC World News Tonight. For the Stanley Cup Finals, all broadcasts began at 8 p.m. ET, allowing for a short pre-game show prior to puck drop (by contrast to the NBA Finals, which has preferred a later, 9 p.m. ET window, with ABC leading into the game with half-hour Jimmy Kimmel Live! specials and NBA Countdown).

In the 2022–23 season, ABC will air 15 games, including four double-headers, the NHL Stadium Series game, and a triple-header on April 8; the Thanksgiving Showdown moved to TNT, which will also cover this season's Stanley Cup Finals.

Announcers

Studio personalities

1. Steve Levy – lead studio host and occasional play-by-play (2021–present)
2. John Buccigross – fill-in studio host and play-by-play (2021–present)
3. Arda Ocal – game break and fill-in studio host (2023–present)
4. Barry Melrose – studio analyst (2021–present)
5. Mark Messier – studio analyst (2021–present)
6. Chris Chelios – studio analyst (2021–present)
7. A. J. Mleczko – #3 color commentator/Inside the Glass and studio analyst (2021–present, select games)
8. Brian Boucher – #2 color commentator/Inside the Glass and studio analyst (2022–present, select games)
9. P. K. Subban – studio analyst (2023–present)

Play-by-play

1. Sean McDonough – lead play-by-play (2021–present)
2. Steve Levy – lead studio host and occasional play-by-play (2021–present)
3. John Buccigross – fill-in studio host and play-by-play (2021–present)
4. Bob Wischusen – play-by-play (2023–present)
5. Mike Monaco – play-by-play (2023–present)

Color commentators/Inside-the-Glass analysts

1. Ray Ferraro – lead color commentator/Inside the Glass analyst (2021–present)
2. Brian Boucher – #2 color commentator/Inside the Glass and studio analyst (2022–present, select games)
3. A. J. Mleczko – #3 color commentator/Inside the Glass and studio analyst (2021–present, select games)

Ice level reporters

1. Emily Kaplan – lead ice level reporter (2022–present)
2. Leah Hextall – ice level reporter (2023–present)
3. Kevin Weekes – ice level reporter (2023–present)

Contributors

1. Laura Rutledge – contributor (2022–present)
2. Marty Smith – contributor (2023–present)

Rules analyst

1. Dave Jackson – rules analyst (2021–present)

Schedules

2021–22

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Inside the Glass analyst(s)	Ice level reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Notes
November 26	New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro	A. J. Mleczko		Dave Jackson	Bruins–Rangers rivalry 2021 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown Originally Blues-Blackhawks, which filled the vacant 3:30 ET slot on ESPN+, which Rangers-Bruins had occupied
February 26	New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	3 p.m.		Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan		Penguins–Rangers rivalry
March 5	Chicago Blackhawks vs. Philadelphia Flyers	3 p.m.						2010 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
March 12	Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes	3 p.m.
March 19	New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning	8 p.m.						First ever NHL regular season game on ABC to air in primetime
March 26	Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vegas Golden Knights	3 p.m.
April 2	Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Colorado Avalanche	3 p.m.
April 9	Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	3 p.m.						Capitals–Penguins rivalry Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin
April 16	Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues	3 p.m.						2022 Winter Classic rematch
April 23	New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins	3 p.m.						Bruins–Rangers rivalry

Notes

• Outside of the Thanksgiving Showdown, ESPN produced an “IceCast” alternate broadcast. These broadcasts aired on ESPN+, alongside the ABC broadcast.

2022–23

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Inside the Glass analyst	Ice level reporter	Rules analyst	Notes
February 11	Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Dallas Stars	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	Template:N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	2020 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
	Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins	3:30 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan
February 18	Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes	8 p.m.				Emily Kaplan, Kevin Weekes, and Marty Smith		2023 NHL Stadium Series Game was originally scheduled to air on ESPN
February 25	New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals	1 p.m.				Emily Kaplan		Capitals–Rangers rivalry
	Pittsburgh Penguins vs. St. Louis Blues	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	Template:N/A	Leah Hextall
March 4	New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan		Bruins–Rangers rivalry
	Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	Template:N/A	Leah Hextall
March 11	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan
	Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	Template:N/A	Leah Hextall		Flyers–Penguins rivalry
March 18	Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan		Penguins–Rangers rivalry 2022 First Round rematch
March 25	Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins							Capitals–Penguins rivalry
April 1	Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	3 p.m.
April 8	Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	Template:N/A	Leah Hextall		Originally Blues-Wild 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
	Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars	3:30 p.m.	Mike Monaco	A. J. Mleczko	colspan=2 Template:N/A
	New Jersey Devils vs. Boston Bruins	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan		Originally Penguins-Red Wings, which filled the 1 ET void left by Blues-Wild being flexed out

Notes

• ESPN will produce alternate broadcasts of select games that will stream on ESPN+ along with the ABC broadcast. Those include the “Star Watch”, “Puck Possessor”, or an “All-12” broadcast for the Stadium Series.

NHL All-Star Game (2022–2028)

Year	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Inside the Glass analyst(s)	Ice level reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Studio host	Studio analyst(s)
2022	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro	Template:N/A	Emily Kaplan and Laura Rutledge	Dave Jackson	Steve Levy	Mark Messier and Chris Chelios
2023		Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes			Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, and P. K. Subban

Notes

• 2023 - ESPN produced an “All-Star Watch” altcast to go along with the ABC broadcast on ESPN+.

Stanley Cup Playoffs (2022–present)

As part of ESPN's new deal, ABC also gained rights to part of half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and exclusive rights to the entire Stanley Cup Finals in even-numbered years, the first time the entire series will air on broadcast television since 1980, with games prominently airing on weekends. However, in 2022, ABC did not air any early round playoff games on network television. Furthermore, ABC was supposed to simulcast Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, had the series gone that far. However, it was not necessary as the series ended in six games, marking the first time no games were aired on broadcast network. Early round playoff games are expected to return to ABC in 2023.

Stanley Cup Finals

Year	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Inside the Glass analyst(s)	Ice level reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Studio host	Studio analysts
2022	Colorado Avalanche vs Tampa Bay Lightning	All games	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan (entire series) Kevin Weekes (Game 6 postgame)	Dave Jackson	Steve Levy	Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, and Brian Boucher

Notes

• All games in series are simulcast on ESPN+, and included an “IceCast” alternate broadcast.
• ABC's coverage in 2022 marked the first time the entire Stanley Cup Finals was carried exclusively on American broadcast television since 1980, and the first time ABC aired the Finals since 2004.

National Hockey League coverage on ABC owned-and-operated television stations

Team	Stations	Years
Philadelphia Flyers	WPVI-TV 6	1983–1986
San Jose Sharks	KGO-TV 7	1991–1994

External links

• Template:Webarchive
• Template:IMDb title
• NHL News & Videos - ABC News
• Sports Media Watch: How Disney outfoxed the NHL.

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