NHL on USA | |
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Also known as | USA Network Monday Night NHL USA Network Stanley Cup Playoffs USA Network Special Edition NHL USA Network NHL |
Genre | Sports |
Created by | USA Network Sports |
Directed by | Henry Irizawa |
Starring | See list of commentators section |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jim Zrake |
Producer | Mark D. Stulberger |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 180 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | USA Network |
Release | 1979 – May 30, 1985 |
Related | |
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The NHL on USA was the de facto title of a television show that broadcast National Hockey League games on the USA Network.
Manhattan Cable (subsequently referred to as the MSG Network) debuted in the spring of 1969 and did all home events from the Madison Square Garden: New York Knicks basketball, New York Rangers hockey, college basketball, horse shows, Golden Gloves boxing, tennis, the Westminster Dog Show, ice capades, professional wrestling, etc. The first reference to the channel as “MSG Network” was sometime around 1971–72, although the name did not become official until 1977.
The first televised events were NHL and NBA playoffs in the spring of 1969; in those playoffs Marty Glickman did play-by-play for the Knicks broadcasts while Win Elliott did play-by-play for the Rangers.
Meanwhile, HBO began simulcasting some MSG games in 1972 beginning with the Rangers/Vancouver Canucks game on November 8, 1972 (the first ever program televised on HBO, to a few subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, PA). 1974–75 marked the only year in which HBO used MSG announcers for their feed. Because HBO is a premium cable service, this created a burden on announcers to fill in dead airtime on HBO while commercials aired on MSG Network. HBO did not broadcast Knicks or Rangers games after the 1976–77 season.
When the MSG/HBO marriage ended in 1977, Madison Square Garden proceeded to seek a new partner to launch a national network to show off its events. So for several years, beginning with the 1977–78 season, all MSG home events (such as those involving the Knicks, Rangers, etc.) were then televised on a fledgling network that would eventually become known as the USA Network. This channel, which debuted on September 22, 1977, was a continuation of the existing MSG Network. The key difference, however, was that it was now nationally syndicated via satellite rather than terrestrially. It was also the first cable channel to be supported by advertising revenues. By this time (as previously alluded to), the channel was officially called the “Madison Square Garden Network” or MSG Network.
In 1979–80, the National Hockey League replaced their syndicated coverage package The NHL Network with a package on USA. [1] At the time, the USA Network was called UA-Columbia . [2] As the immediate forerunner for the USA Network, UA-Columbia, served as the cable syndicated arm of not only MSG Network in New York, but also PRISM channel in Philadelphia, and whatever pay/cable outlets were around in 1979.
On April 9, 1980, the Madison Square Garden Network changed its name to the USA Network. [3] This occurred when the ownership structure was reorganized under a joint operating agreement by the UA-Columbia Cablevision cable system (now known as Cablevision Systems Corporation) and MCA (then the parent of Universal Studios, now owned by NBC Universal). Things took a step further one year later when Time Inc. (which eventually merged with Warner Communications to form Time Warner) and Paramount Pictures Corp. (then a division of Gulf+Western, now owned by Viacom) took minority ownership stakes in the USA. G+W also owned the New York Rangers and the MSG regional sports television network (both later owned by Cablevision, but spun off in 2010).
As previously mentioned USA's (or UA-Columbia as it was known at the time) coverage [4] begin in the 1979–80 season as a Monday night series [5] with Dan Kelly [6] [7] doing play-by-play alongside a variety of commentators including Pete Stemkowski, Lou Nanne, and Brian McFarlane. Scott Wahle was the intermission host.
For the 1980–81 season, [8] some Sunday night games were added. Dan Kelly once again, did most of the play-by-play alongside Mike Eruzione. [9] [10] [11] Dick Carlson and Jiggs McDonald also did play-by-play work on occasion. In addition, Don Cherry was a commentator for at least one game. Meanwhile, Jim West was the host for most games.
With USA's coverage of the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, it marked the first time that there was "blanket" American television coverage of the NHL playoffs. In other words, more often, whenever a game was played it was televised on a national outlet (whether it was broadcast or cable). USA however, did not televise Game 1 of the playoff series between Philadelphia Flyers and Calgary Flames (April 16) because they were instead broadcasting a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Meanwhile, they also skipped Games 2–6 (on April 17, 22, and 24) of the Philadelphia–Calgary series because of their coverage of the NBA playoffs. USA also missed Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between the Calgary Flames and Minnesota North Stars (April 30 and May 7 respectively) because of baseball games involving the Minnesota Twins vs. the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the Philadelphia Phillies respectively.
In the 1981–82 season, [12] Al Trautwig [13] took over as studio host. Dan Kelly did play-by-play with either Gary Green [14] [15] or Rod Gilbert on color commentary. For the playoffs, Dick Carlson and Al Albert [16] were added as play-by-play voices of some games. Meanwhile, Jim Van Horne hosted Stanley Cup Finals games played in Vancouver.
In April 1982, USA outbid ESPN for the NHL's American national television cable package with $8 million (at least $2 million more than what ESPN was offering). [17]
Things pretty much remained the same for USA during the 1982–83 season. [18] Dan Kelly and Gary Green called most games, while Al Albert did play-by-play or hosted on several playoff [19] games, including two games of the Stanley Cup Finals from Nassau Coliseum. [20] [21] USA didn't cover any playoff games on April 7, 1983, because they were broadcasting second-round highlights of The Masters. This was followed by a West Coast NBA telecast.
In the 1983–84 season, USA covered over 40 games [22] [23] including the playoffs. [24] While Gary Green did all games, Dan Kelly and Al Albert did roughly 20 games each. Meanwhile, Jiggs McDonald helped broadcast at least one game.
Because the USA Network was airing Masters highlights, Game 1 of the 1984 playoff series between the Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues (April 12) and Game 2 of the playoff series between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals (April 13) were aired on tape delay at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
For USA's final full season of NHL coverage in 1984–85, [25] [26] Dan Kelly [27] and Gary Green once again, did most games, while Al Albert and Green called the rest. In all, the USA Network covered about 55 games, including 33 in the regular season. [28] Also, Hartford Whalers goaltender Mike Liut was added as a studio analyst for the Stanley Cup Finals. [29] [30]
Meanwhile, for increased publicity opportunities, the Stroh Brewing Company [31] turned to such sports as hockey—which had been overlooked by Anheuser and Miller—and sponsored broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the USA cable network. [32]
Seldom during the early rounds of the playoffs did USA carry an away game of one of the three New York-area teams (New York Rangers, New York Islanders, or New Jersey Devils) since WOR-TV New York, at the time available on most of the nation's cable television systems, often carried that away game of the New York-area team both locally in New York and on its "superstation" feed. One exception was a playoff game between two of the New York-area clubs, since WOR was usually barred from carrying it since the home team's cable-television contract superseded the visiting club's over-the-air television deal.
After the 1984–85 season, the NHL Board of Governors chose to have the USA Network and ESPN submit sealed bids. ESPN won by bidding nearly $25 million for three years, about twice as much as the USA Network had been paying. The contract called for ESPN to air up to 33 regular season games each season, the NHL All-Star game, and the Stanley Cup playoffs. [33] [34]
After the USA Network lost the rights to the NHL to ESPN, they largely abandoned sports after the early 1990s as the channel shifted almost exclusively to scripted entertainment. Beginning in 2006, USA began carrying some coverage of top level hockey by cooperating with NBC's coverage of ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010, and 2014; these games were mostly daytime contests that would not preempt the network's increasingly popular prime time programs.
As part of a 2011 contract renewal, Comcast's properties earned exclusive national rights for all Stanley Cup playoffs through 2021. Because NBC and NBC Sports Network cannot carry all of the games on those two outlets alone, other Comcast properties would need to be used; USA was initially not used, due to the risk of preempting its popular prime time lineup, and the company instead used CNBC and NHL Network as the overflow channels for the first four years of the contract. In 2015, Comcast announced that the USA Network would carry some games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, mainly on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, [35] [36] [37] returning the NHL to USA Network for the first time since 1985. [38]
On January 22, 2021, an internal memo sent by NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua announced that NBCSN would cease operations by the end of the year, and that USA Network would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including the Stanley Cup playoffs and NASCAR races, before NBCSN's shutdown. Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service, will also carry some of the network's former programming starting in 2022. [39] [40] The move was cited by industry analysts as a response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sports and television industries, the acceleration of cord-cutting, as well as formidable competition from rival sports networks such as ESPN and Fox Sports 1. [41]
But with the NBC Sports contract expiring at the end of the 2020–21 season, the league desired to split its U.S. national media rights between multiple broadcasters. [42] On March 10, 2021, the NHL announced that ESPN/ABC would serve as one of the new rightsholders under a seven-year contract. Its deal included 25 regular season games for ESPN and ABC (including opening night, the All-Star Game, and other special events), 75 exclusively telecasts and all out-of-market games on ESPN+, rights to half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, first choice of Conference Finals, and four Stanley Cup Finals over the length of the contract. [43] [44] On April 26, 2021, Sports Business Journal reported [45] that NBC had officially pulled out [46] of bidding for future NHL rights. The next day, Turner Sports announced that they had agreed to a seven-year deal to be the other NHL rightsholder, including up to 72 regular season games including the Winter Classic, the other half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and three Stanley Cup Finals. [47] Analysts believed that once ESPN obtained not only more Stanley Cup Finals (four out of three) than NBC desired but also overall hockey content, it was not worth spending more money on a smaller package in contrast to what they were last paying the NHL. [48]
Playoff Round | Game | Matchup | Viewers | |||
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2020 Western Conference Second Round | 7 | Stars | 5 | Avalanche | 4 | 653K |
2021 East Division First Round | 5 | Bruins | 3 | Capitals | 1 | 699K |
Date | Time | Playoff Round | Game | Matchup | |
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Thursday, May 20 | 6:30 PM | Central Division First Round | 3 | Panthers | Lightning |
7:30 PM^ | North Division First Round | 1 | Canadiens | Maple Leafs | |
Friday, May 21 | 7 PM | Central Division First Round | 3 | Hurricanes | Predators |
9:30 PM | West Division First Round | 3 | Avalanche | Blues | |
Sunday, May 23 | 7 PM | East Division First Round | 5 | Bruins | Capitals |
^Joined in progress after the completion of Panthers vs. Lightning, starts on NHL Network.
Year | Teams | Games | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) |
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1981 | New York Islanders-Minnesota | Games 1–5 (CBC's feed) [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] [108] | Bob Cole | Mickey Redmond and Gary Dornhoefer |
1982 | New York Islanders-Vancouver | Games 1–4 [109] | Dan Kelly | Gary Green |
1983 | Edmonton-New York Islanders | Games 1–4 [110] [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] [116] [117] [118] [119] [120] | Dan Kelly [121] | Gary Green |
1984 | New York Islanders-Edmonton | Games 1–5 [122] [123] [124] | Dan Kelly [121] | Gary Green |
1985 [125] | Philadelphia-Edmonton | Games 1–5 [126] [127] [128] | Dan Kelly [129] (in Philadelphia) Al Albert [130] (in Edmonton) | Gary Green and Mike Liut |
USA's national coverage was blacked out in the New York metro and Minnesota area due to the local rights to their respective teams in that markets. In the New York area, SportsChannel New York aired three games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and WOR televised two games in Bloomington, Minnesota while KMSP aired every game of the series in the Minnesota area. This occurrence continued through the Islanders' next three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances. In the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals, SportsChannel New York airing the first two games at Long Island, and WOR televising two games in Vancouver in that area. This practice was reversed in 1983, with WOR televising the first two games in Edmonton, and SportsChannel New York airing the Long Island games. The next year, SportsChannel New York returned to airing the first two games, while WOR aired the next three games. For USA's final year of broadcasting the Stanley Cup Finals, Philadelphia's PRISM aired the first two at the Spectrum while WTXF aired the next three in Edmonton.
Mark John Douglas Messier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. His playing career in the National Hockey League (NHL) lasted 25 seasons (1979–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks. He also played professionally with the World Hockey Association (WHA)'s Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. He also played a short four-game stint in the original Central Hockey League (CHL) with the Houston Apollos in 1979. He was the last WHA player to be active in professional ice hockey, and the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1970s. After his playing career, he served as special assistant to the president and general manager of the Rangers.
Glen Cameron Sather is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers' general manager until stepping down on July 1, 2015, and then served as their president until April 4, 2019. He stepped down from his advisory role with the Rangers on June 26, 2024.
The 1985–86 NHL season was the 69th season of the National Hockey League. This season saw the league's Board of Governors introduce the Presidents' Trophy, which would go to the team with the best overall record in the NHL regular season. The Edmonton Oilers would be the first winners of this award.
The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.
The 1981–82 NHL season was the 65th season of the National Hockey League. The teams were realigned into divisions that better reflected their geographic locations. The William M. Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltenders from the team with the fewest goals against, thus replacing the Vezina Trophy in that qualifying criteria. The Vezina Trophy would thereafter be awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position. The New York Islanders won their third straight Stanley Cup by sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in four games.
Sam Rosen is an American sportscaster and Hockey Hall of Famer, best known as the primary play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's New York Rangers games on MSG. In 2008, Rosen was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2016, Rosen was enshrined as the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner for outstanding contributions as a broadcaster by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Rosen is currently the longest-tenured active broadcaster in the NHL.
The NHL on Fox is the branding used for broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games that were produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox network from the 1994–1995 NHL season until the 1998–1999 NHL season. NHL games continued to air on the Fox Sports Networks in the form of regional game telecasts until the 2021 rebrand to Bally Sports. As of 2024, only one Fox station airs hockey broadcasts.
Joseph Robert Micheletti is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, and 158 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Rockies between 1979 and 1982. He is the brother of former NHL player Pat Micheletti.
The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were making the club's second Finals appearance, their first coming during their Cinderella run of 1982, and the Rangers were making their tenth appearance, their first since 1979. The Rangers, despite losing a 3-1 series lead, ended their then record 54-year championship drought with a victory in Game 7 to claim the long-awaited Stanley Cup. It was their fourth championship in franchise history.
The NHL on SportsChannel America was the presentation of National Hockey League broadcasts on the now defunct SportsChannel America cable television network.
The 1985 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Oilers defeated the Flyers in five games to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. It was also the sixth straight Finals contested between teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later.
The 1984 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending Campbell Conference champion Edmonton Oilers and the defending Wales Conference and four-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders. The upstart Oilers defeated the four-time defending champion Islanders to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, becoming the third post-1967 expansion team and first former World Hockey Association team to win the Cup, and also the first team based west of Chicago to win the Cup since the WCHL's Victoria Cougars became the last non-NHL team to win it in 1925.
The 1983 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1982–83 season, and the culmination of the 1983 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Campbell Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in their first-ever Finals appearance and the defending Wales Conference and Cup champion New York Islanders, in their fourth consecutive and overall Finals appearance. The Islanders swept the Oilers to win their fourth consecutive and overall Stanley Cup championship. The Islanders became the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup four straight times, joining the Montreal Canadiens.
NHL on CTV is the name of a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the CTV Television Network.
The National Hockey League has never fared as well on American television in comparison to the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, or the National Football League, although that has begun to change, with NBC's broadcasts of the final games of the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013 Stanley Cup Finals scoring some of the best ratings ever enjoyed by the sport on American television.
During the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons, four more Canadian teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames, joined the NHL. The Oilers and Flames were featured frequently as the two teams were contenders the 1980s; in contrast, as the Nordiques were owned by Carling-O'Keefe, a rival to the show's sponsor Molson and whose English-speaking fanbase was very small, the Nords were rarely broadcast, and never from Quebec City during the regular-season.
USA Sports was the branding used for broadcasts of sporting events by the cable channel USA Network. The network's history with sports dates back to its forerunner, the Madison Square Garden Network, and in the past has included coverage of the major professional leagues, college football, golf and tennis.