Emrick, Davidson and Pierre McGuire Comprise NBC's Lead Broadcast Team; Clement Hosts Studio Show
Dave Strader, Joe Micheletti, Brian Hayward, Chris Cuthbert, Peter McNab, Cammi Granato, Join NHL on NBC as Regional Broadcast Teams
NEW YORK - Mike Emrick (play-by-play), John Davidson (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (reporter) will comprise the lead broadcast team of the NHL on NBC, and Bill Clement will host the NHL on NBC studio show joined by analyst
Ray Ferraro, it was announced today by Ken Schanzer, President, NBC Sports. NBC drops the puck on its inaugural season Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. ET with regional coverage of three games, headlined by Western Conference powerhouse the
Detroit Red Wings facing off against Jaromir Jagr and the resurgent
New York Rangers. That game, along with one game each week and the Stanley Cup Final, will be presented in high definition. Also on the week one schedule are the
Dallas Stars at
Boston Bruins and
Colorado Avalanche at
Philadelphia Flyers.
The other NHL on NBC broadcast teams are: play-by-play commentator Dave Strader, who will work with analyst Brian Hayward and reporter Joe Micheletti; and Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) joined by Peter McNab (analyst) and Cammi Granato (reporter).
"'Doc' and J.D. are simply the best broadcast team in hockey," said Schanzer. "They have the unique ability to enhance the viewing experience for both the hardcore and casual fan, and along with Bill Clement and
Ray Ferraro in the studio, and our top-notch regional broadcast teams, will offer viewers unparalleled commentary and analysis of the new and improved NHL."
NHL ON NBC REGULAR SEASON COVERAGE
NBC Sports will present six weeks of NHL regular-season action: Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4, April 8 and April 15. Schedule highlights include rookie sensation Sidney Crosby and hockey legend
Mario Lemieux of the
Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Flyers on Jan. 21, and the Red Wings visiting their Conference rivals the Avalanche on Jan. 28. The Avalanche, Stars, Red Wings, Flyers and Rangers have the most appearances on NBC's NHL schedule with four each. The Penguins and Bruins both appear on the network three times during the season. The
St. Louis Blues and the
Los Angeles Kings each appear twice and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim,
Atlanta Thrashers,
Minnesota Wild,
New York Islanders,
San Jose Sharks and
Tampa Bay Lightning each appear once.
NHL ON NBC STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF COVERAGE
NBC Sports will provide coverage of the Conference Quarterfinals on April 22, 23, 29 and 30; the Conference Semifinals, May 6, 7, 13 and 14; the Conference Finals on May 20; and Games 3-7 of the Stanley Cup Final in primetime.
MIKE EMRICK
"Doc" Emrick, who also handles play-by-play duties for OLN's NHL coverage, is widely regarded as the best NHL play-by-play commentator on television. In his 25th year of doing NHL play-by-play, Emrick began his hockey career in 1973 as caller for the IHL Port Huron Flags. He has been the voice of the
New Jersey Devils since 1993, and previously did play-by-play for the
Philadelphia Flyers from 1988 to 1993. Emrick has announced hockey for all of the major television networks and has received several awards, including the 1997 National CableACE Award for best play-by-play, the 1997 and 2004 New York Emmy Awards for his Devils telecasts, and the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy. Emrick called water polo in Athens for his first Summer Games assignment and his first Olympics with NBC and handled Olympic hockey play-by-play duties for CBS at Albertville in 1992, on CBS and TNT at Lillehammer in 1994 and Nagano in 1998.
JOHN DAVIDSON
Davidson returned to NBC to serve as lead hockey analyst for the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. A much-honored analyst for the
New York Rangers on MSG Network and previously a studio analyst for ABC Sports' NHL telecasts, "J.D." worked alongside Marv Albert on NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game from 1990-94. The Salt Lake Games were Davidson's fourth Olympic broadcasting assignment, having served as CBS' lead analyst for hockey coverage at the 1992 Games in Albertville, the 1994 Games in Lillehammer and the 1998 Games in Nagano. Davidson played 11 years in the NHL as a goaltender with the
St. Louis Blues (1973-75) and
New York Rangers (1975-83), where he helped the Rangers to the 1979 Stanley Cup Final. Davidson began his broadcasting career in 1984 as a "Hockey Night in Canada" commentator on CBC. In addition to his work on Rangers telecasts, Davidson worked with Emrick on Fox's coverage of the NHL. In September 1999, he joined ABC Sports as NHL studio analyst.
BILL CLEMENT
Clement, an 11-year NHL veteran with Philadelphia, Washington and Calgary, was most recently a game analyst for ESPN's NHL telecasts. He worked as the hockey studio analyst alongside host Jim Lampley during CNBC's live hockey studio show broadcasts during the 2002 Salt Lake Games. In 1992-93, he served as ESPN's NHL studio analyst. Clement first served as ESPN's NHL game analyst from 1986-88. From 1988-92, he was the analyst for
Philadelphia Flyers games on PRISM (Philadelphia regional cable) and a playoff analyst during the Stanley Cup Final for SportsChannel America. He received a 1992 CableACE Award for his playoff work. Clement also worked Flyers local telecasts on WGBS-TV from 1988-91 and WPHL-TV in 1991-92. He was an ice-level reporter for NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game in 1992 and 1993. Clement also served as an analyst for TNT at the 1992 Winter Olympics and as studio analyst for the 1991 Canada Cup on CTV (Canada). In a 1996 reader survey conducted by The Hockey News, Clement was voted "Favorite National TV Personality." In 2004, Clement, a two-time Quebec high school badminton champion, served as the badminton and table tennis analyst and play-by-play commentator on modern pentathlon during NBC's coverage of the Athens Olympic Games.
RAY FERRARO
NHL veteran
Ray Ferraro will serve as the studio analyst on the NHL on NBC. He is currently the
Edmonton Oilers game analyst on Canada's Sportsnet West. Ferraro's NHL career spanned 18 years and saw him make stops with six different franchises. Drafted by the
Hartford Whalers in 1982, Ferraro later suited up for the
New York Islanders,
New York Rangers,
Los Angeles Kings,
Atlanta Thrashers and
St. Louis Blues during his career. In total, he played in 1,258 regular season games, scoring 408 goals and adding 490 assists for 898 points. He appeared in an additional 68 playoff contests, scoring 21 goals and picking up 22 assists. After being traded from the Rangers to Los Angeles during the 1996 season, Ferraro joined ESPN as a studio analyst on "NHL2Night." He began serving as the Oilers game analyst in 2002. In September 2004, Ferraro married Olympic gold medalist and women's hockey pioneer Cammi Granato, who is also the women's Olympic hockey studio analyst in Torino and an NHL on NBC reporter.