ESPN will air a special whiparound program for its coverage of the National Hockey League, which will be hosted by John Buccigross. Frozen Frenzy will allow fans to see key highlights and happenings throughout the night when all 32 teams are in action and a new game is slated to begin every 15 minutes. The program will be presented on ESPN2 starting at 8 p.m. ET after beginning on ESPN+ in the preceding hour.
Conversely, ESPN’s primary channel has scheduled a tripleheader featuring matchups between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals; the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks; and the Philadelphia Flyers and reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.
“We worked all summer long to figure this out with our programming team and with the league,” Linda Schulz, coordinating producer of the NHL on ESPN, recently told media members. “….Bucci will be there to cover it all in the studio and bouncing around, and you will see every goal; you will see every power play [and] you will see every hit. We will just bounce around in what we’re calling Frozen Frenzy.”
As part of its media rights contract with the NHL, ESPN has the rights for out-of-market games and is thus able to disseminate a production of this scale and magnitude.
Buccigross is keenly aware of the changing state in a league filled with parity and down-to-the-wire battles, with many contending teams emerging from smaller marketplaces. Because of this, when considering the possibility of a Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs, he quipped that executives would need a “Xanax prescription” if it ended up happening. From the perspective of a hockey fan though, it is something that he would want.
“I want to see – when you talk about Connor McDavid, who’s our Patrick Mahomes, and Auston Matthews and the curse; the Cubs-Red Sox vibe that Toronto suddenly has, they’re over 50 years [and] approaching 60. Can we sell that in America?,” Buccigross wondered. “I’d like to think we can. I’d like to think that number – yeah, it’s not going to be Chicago-Boston. It’s not going to be that way.”
When analyzing the current state of the league, there are a plethora of young superstars that are being marketed league-wide in an effort to expand the reach of the game. Throughout North America, hockey has been steadily increasing its footprint with efforts to appeal to younger demographics and presenting its content in new and innovative ways across different consumption outlets.
ESPN recently launched a new creative campaign titled, “To know hockey is to love hockey,” showcasing the facets of the game that it believes make it worth watching and following.
“In the East, we’re going to be losing Boston, Pittsburgh [and] Washington, and gaining New Jersey, Ottawa and Buffalo,” Buccigross said. “From a TV market standpoint… we’d better figure something out and do something in terms of that.”
