NBCSN Opens Season on Oct. 8 with Philadelphia Flyers-Boston Bruins Wednesday Night Rivalry Matchup at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings vs. San Jose Sharks at 10 p.m. ET
NHL Winter Classic Features Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals from Washington, D.C. on January 1 at 1 p.m. ET on NBC
NBCSN Presents Coverage of 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Including 60th NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25
31 Games Across NBC and NBCSN Feature Rematches from 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Including Both Conference Finals and Kings-Rangers on March 24
NBC Sports Live Extra to Stream All 103 Regular-Season Games
Coming off of the most-watched NHL regular season ever on NBC and NBCSN, the most-watched Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2006 and most-watched Stanley Cup Playoffs on cable in 17 years,NBC Sports Group will deliver coverage of 103 NHL regular-season games during the 2014-15 season, featuring 14 games on NBC and 89 games on NBCSN. All games will be streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra. Schedule highlights include:
· The season kicks off with an Opening Night doubleheader on Oct. 8 on NBCSN, starting with Wednesday Night Rivalry coverage at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Philadelphia Flyers at the Boston Bruins.
· NBCSN’s Opening Night coverage continues with a 2014 Stanley Cup Playoff rematch between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings from STAPLES Center at 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles, as the Kings raise their 2014 Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters.
· NBC will present the 2015 NHL Winter Classic from Washington, D.C., between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals on January 1 at 1 p.m. ET.
· Making its return for the first time since 2012, NBCSN will present coverage of the NHL All-Star Game from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. All-Star weekend will take place Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 and will include the NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ and the NHL All-Star Game.
· The 2014-15 regular season on NBCSN will feature 24 Wednesday Night Rivalry telecasts, plus 10 Wednesday nightcaps that will showcase Western Conference teams, including the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche.
· The Bruins, Flyers, Capitals, Kings and Sharks will each make 12 appearances across NBC and NBCSN, followed by seven teams that will appear 11.
· This year’s regular-season coverage features 31 games spanning 14 of the 15 series from the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including back-to-back rematches of the 2014 Western and Eastern Conference Finals on NBCSN (Blackhawks-Kings on Jan. 28, Canadiens-Rangers on Jan. 29), and a rematch of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final between the Rangers and Kings on March 24.
· Bruins-Red Wings, Blackhawks-Blues, Penguins-Flyers and Kings-Sharks are the most featured matchups, each appearing four times on NBC and NBCSN.
· 56 of NBC and NBCSN’s 103 telecasts feature at least one Western Conference team.
NBCSN will offer most games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights throughout the season. Beginning in January, a Sunday game will be added most weeks. NBCSN drops the puck on its coverage on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live, NBCSN’s live pre- and post-game show, leading into coverage of Flyers-Bruins from TD Garden in Boston, Mass. at 7:30 p.m. ET. Coverage shifts to Los Angeles immediately following Flyers-Bruins with the banner-raising ceremony for the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, before face off against San Jose Sharks at 10 p.m. ET.
NBC Sports Group’s NHL lead broadcast team will be comprised of two-time Emmy award-winning play-by-play voice Mike “Doc” Emrick, as well as analyst Eddie Olczyk and Emmy-award winning “Inside the Glass” analyst Pierre McGuire.
NHL ON NBC
NHL on NBC coverage begins on Friday, November 28 at 1 p.m. ET, with the NHL Thanksgiving Showdown featuring the New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers, marking the first of 14 games that will air on NBC during the regular season. Beginning on January 18, and continuing through the end of the regular season, NBC will present the NHL Game of the Week, generally occurring on Sunday afternoons. NBC will also present the Flyers and Rangers in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Last year, NBC posted its most-watched NHL regular season since its most-recent agreement with the league in the 2005-06 season, including last year’s NHL Stadium Series game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks, which averaged 2.8 million viewers and was the most-watched NHL regular-season game, excluding Winter Classics and regional coverage, since the advent of People Meters (1987).
NHL WINTER CLASSIC
The annual NHL Winter Classic will take place on January 1, 2015 in Washington, D.C., and will feature the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals. The 2014 NHL Winter Classic will be broadcast on NBC at 1 p.m. ET.
The 2014 NHL Winter Classic on NBC tied as the highest-rated NHL regular-season game in nearly four decades (2.5 HH rtg), and became the second-most watched such game in 39 years (4.4 million avg. viewers). The five previous NHL Winter Classics have produced the five most-watched NHL regular-season games in the past 39 years (average viewers).
MOST-WATCHED NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES SINCE 1975
4.525 million
Jan. 1, 2011
NBC
Capitals-Penguins
4.404 million
Jan. 1, 2014
NBC
Maple Leafs-Red Wings
4.401 million
Jan. 1, 2009
NBC
Red Wings-Blackhawks
3.751 million
Jan. 1, 2008
NBC
Penguins-Sabres
3.733 million
Jan. 2, 2012
NBC
Rangers-Flyers
WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY
NBCSN’s exclusive Wednesday Night Rivalry coverage will return for a third season and feature some of the biggest rivalries in the NHL, including Philadelphia-New York Rangers, Chicago-St. Louis, and Boston-Detroit. The network will air exclusive coverage on Wednesday nights for 24 weeks, with games usually starting at 8 p.m. ET. WNR begins Wednesday, October 8 with Opening Night coverage between the Flyers and Bruins.
During its inaugural season, Wednesday Night Rivalry was called “the hottest new brand in sports” by Forbes. This past season, Wednesday Night Rivalry’s 23 exclusive telecasts averaged 559,000 viewers, up 26% compared to the exclusive time period average of the last full regular season in 2011-12 (443,000). Since the debut of Wednesday Night Rivalry last season, NBCSN has recorded nine regular-season games with more than 700,000 viewers vs. four over the previous two seasons.
NBCSN 2014-15 NHL Wednesday Night Rivalry schedule (subject to change):
Date
Away
Home
Time (ET)
October 8
Philadelphia
Boston
7:30 p.m.
October 15
Boston
Detroit
8 p.m.
October 22
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
8 p.m.
October 29
Detroit
Washington
7:30 p.m.
November 5
Detroit
N.Y. Rangers
8 p.m.
November 12
Boston
Toronto
8 p.m.
November 19
Philadelphia
N.Y. Rangers
8 p.m.
December 3
St. Louis
Chicago
8 p.m.
December 10
Toronto
Detroit
8 p.m.
December 17
Boston
Minnesota
8 p.m.
January 7
Boston
Pittsburgh
8 p.m.
January 14
Philadelphia
Washington
8 p.m.
January 21
Chicago
Pittsburgh
8 p.m.
January 28
Pittsburgh
Washington
8 p.m.
February 4
Boston
N.Y. Rangers
8 p.m.
February 11
Detroit
Pittsburgh
8 p.m.
February 18
Detroit
Chicago
7:30 p.m.
February 25
Pittsburgh
Washington
8 p.m.