NHL on ABC

NHL on ABC
Genre	Hockey telecasts
Presented by	Sean McDonough Ray Ferraro Emily Kaplan Bob Wischusen Brian Boucher Leah Hextall Mike Monaco A. J. Mleczko Dave Jackson Steve Levy John Buccigross Barry Melrose Mark Messier Chris Chelios P. K. Subban Arda Ocal
Theme music composer	Bob Christianson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2 (1992–1994 version) 5 (1999–2004 version) 7 (2021 version) 14 (total)
Production
Location(s)	Various NHL arenas (game telecasts and some pregame and intermission segments) ESPN’s Bristol, CT studios (pregame and intermission segments)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	180 minutes or until the end of the game
Production Company(s)	ESPN on ABC ESPN
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC ESPN+ (simulcasts)
Original airing	First run: March 28, 1993–May 1, 1994 Second run: February 6, 2000–June 7, 2004 Third run: November 26, 2021–present
Chronology
Preceded by	NHL on Fox (National over-the-air broadcaster 1994-1999) NHL on NBC (National over-the-air and cable broadcaster 2005-2021)
Related shows	NHL on ESPN NHL on Sportsnet / Hockey Night in Canada (Canadian rightsholders)
External links
NHL website

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 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 1974–75 season, the NHL had no 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 1976) 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 1979, 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) 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 4 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 showing 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.

Four 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 heavily-favored 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:

"Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!"

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 1990–91 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)

The logo for ABC's regular season coverage in the 1993–94 season.

In the 1992–93 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 and ending on May 16. 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 1993–94 season, ABC televised six weekly regional telecasts on the last three Sunday afternoons beginning on March 27, 1994, marking the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television since NBC did it in 1974–75. This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television since 1974–75 (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 (1993) and MSG Network in New York (1994). 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
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)	Commentator crews
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 and John Davidson Tom Mees and Darren Pang 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 and Joe Micheletti Al Michaels and John Davidson Tom Mees and Darren Pang

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	Montréal 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)

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 after 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), switched to NBC (in WDTN's case, they returned to the network after 24 years away).

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 Regular-season 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 Dave Strader 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 1995 to 1998, the Finals were all four-game sweeps; 1999 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.

"And I'll tell you what, this city has gone bananas inside and outside this arena! It should be a wild ride! ABC Sports is online at ESPN.com, search "ABC Sports". Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning"
-Host John Saunders after Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, ABC and ESPN's final NHL telecast until the 2021–22 season, which their first telecast, ironically, was in Tampa Bay as well."

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-Montréal	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)	Brian Engblom (Game 2) Darren Pang (Game 5)	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)

Further information: NHL on ESPN#Third return to ESPN and ABC: 2021–present

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. Not only does ESPN/ABC have the first choice of which conference final series to air, but also 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 or 11 p.m. ET respectfully, 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 before puck drop; this is in contrast to the NBA Finals, which had historically preferred a later, 9 p.m. ET window for games on weeknights, with ABC leading into the game with half-hour Jimmy Kimmel Live! specials followed by NBA Countdown (the 2023 Finals will move weeknight games ahead by 30 minutes to an 8:30 p.m. window).

In the 2022–23 season, ABC aired 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 also covered this season's Stanley Cup Finals.

For the 2023–24 season, ABC's coverage included 19 regular season games (the largest number of games on a broadcast network in NHL history), featuring four double-headers, both NHL Stadium Series games, and two triple-headers on February 17 and April 13. ABC will also air the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. ABC Hockey Saturday for this season began on January 13, preceding Super Wild Card Saturday of the NFL playoffs, unlike past years when its slate began after the NHL All-Star Game.

Announcers

Studio personalities

1. Steve Levy – lead studio host (2021–present)
2. John Buccigross – alternate studio host (2021–present); #4 play-by-play (2024-present)
3. Arda Ocal – game break host (2023–present)
4. Mark Messier – lead studio analyst (2021–present)
5. P. K. Subban – lead studio analyst (2023–present)
6. A. J. Mleczko – #3 color commentator (2021–2023); #2 color commentator (2023–present); alternate studio analyst (2021–present, select games)

Play-by-play

1. Sean McDonough – lead play-by-play (2021–present)
2. Bob Wischusen – #2 play-by-play (2023–present)
3. Mike Monaco – #3 play-by-play (2023–present)
4. John Buccigross – alternate studio host/#4 play-by-play (2021–present)

Color commentators/ice-level analysts

1. Ray Ferraro – lead ice-level analyst (2021–present)
2. A. J. Mleczko – #2 color commentator (2023–present); #3 color commentator (2021–2023); alternate studio analyst (2021–present, select games)
3. Ryan Callahan – #3 color commentator (2024–present)
4. Kevin Weekes - rinkside reporter (2023-present; special events); color commentator (2024-present; select games)

Rinkside reporters

1. Emily Kaplan – lead rinkside reporter (2022–present)
2. Leah Hextall – #2 rinkside reporter (2023–present)
3. Kevin Weekes - rinkside reporter (2023-present; special events); color commentator (2024-present; select games)

Rules analyst

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

Former personalities

• Brian Boucher – #2 color commentator and studio analyst (2022–2023, select games)
• Chris Chelios – studio analyst (2021–2023)
• Laura Rutledge – contributor (2022)
• Marty Smith – contributor (2023)

Schedules

2021–22

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level analyst(s)	Rinkside reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Notes
November 26	New York Rangers at Boston	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro	A. J. Mleczko	N/A	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 at Pittsburgh	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Penguins–Rangers rivalry
March 5	Chicago at Philadelphia	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	2010 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
March 12	Philadelphia at Carolina	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
March 19	New York Rangers at Tampa Bay	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	First ever NHL regular season game on ABC to air in primetime
March 26	Chicago at Vegas	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
April 2	Pittsburgh at Colorado	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
April 9	Washington at Pittsburgh	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Capitals–Penguins rivalry Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin
April 16	Minnesota at St. Louis	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	2022 Winter Classic rematch
April 23	New York Rangers at Boston	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	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)	Ice-level analyst(s)	Rinkside reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Notes
February 11	Tampa Bay at Dallas	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	2020 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
	Washington at Boston	3:30 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
February 18	Washington at Carolina	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan, Kevin Weekes, and Marty Smith	Dave Jackson	2023 NHL Stadium Series Game was originally scheduled to air on ESPN
February 25	New York Rangers at Washington	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Capitals–Rangers rivalry
	Pittsburgh at St. Louis	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson
March 4	New York Rangers at Boston	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Bruins–Rangers rivalry
	Colorado at Dallas	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson
March 11	Detroit at Boston	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Bruins can clinch a playoff spot with a win and could become the fastest team to 50 wins.
	Philadelphia at Pittsburgh	3:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	Flyers–Penguins rivalry
March 18	Pittsburgh at New York Rangers	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Penguins–Rangers rivalry 2022 First Round rematch
March 25	Washington at Pittsburgh		Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Capitals–Penguins rivalry Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin
April 1	Boston at Pittsburgh	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	2023 NHL Winter Classic rematch
April 8	Pittsburgh at Detroit	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Brian Boucher	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	Originally Blues-Wild 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals rematch
	Vegas at Dallas	3:30 p.m.	Mike Monaco	A. J. Mleczko	N/A		Dave Jackson
	New Jersey at Boston	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Originally Penguins-Red Wings, which filled the 1 ET void left by Blues-Wild being flexed out Bruins can tie NHL team record for most wins in a regular season.

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.

2023–24

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level analyst(s)	Rinkside reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Notes
January 13	New York Rangers at Washington	1 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Capitals–Rangers rivalry
February 10	St. Louis at Buffalo	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	A. J. Mleczko	N/A	N/A	Dave Jackson
	Washington at Boston	3:30 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
February 17	Los Angeles at Boston	12:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Ryan Callahan	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	Added to replace the Oilers-Bruins matchup for March 5th on ESPN+ and Hulu
	Edmonton at Dallas	3 p.m.	Mike Monaco	A. J. Mleczko	N/A		Dave Jackson	First game on ABC to feature Canadian team since 2004 Stanley Cup Finals
	Philadelphia at New Jersey	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes	Dave Jackson	Devils–Flyers rivalry 2024 NHL Stadium Series
February 18	New York Rangers at New York Islanders	3 p.m.					Dave Jackson	Islanders–Rangers rivalry 2024 NHL Stadium Series
February 24	St. Louis at Detroit	noon.	Bob Wischusen	Kevin Weekes	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson
	New York Rangers at Philadelphia	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Flyers–Rangers rivalry Originally scheduled to air on ESPN+ and Hulu
March 2	Florida at Detroit	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Originally Wild-Blues
March 9	Carolina at New Jersey	12:30 p.m.	John Buccigross	Ryan Callahan	N/A	N/A	Dave Jackson	Added to replace the Oilers-Sabres matchup scheduled to air on ESPN+ and Hulu that same day 2023 Conference Semifinals rematch
	Pittsburgh at Boston	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Alternate NHL Big City Greens Classic broadcast aired alongside ABC feed on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney+, and ESPN+
March 16	New York Rangers at Pittsburgh	3 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	Penguins-Rangers rivalry
March 23	Florida at New York Rangers	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
April 6	Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh	1 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Ryan Callahan	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson
	Florida at Boston	3:30 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	2023 First Round rematch
April 13	New York Islanders at New York Rangers	12:30 p.m.	Bob Wischusen	Ryan Callahan	N/A	Leah Hextall	Dave Jackson	Islanders–Rangers rivalry 2024 Stadium Series rematch
	Seattle at Dallas	3 p.m.	Mike Monaco	A.J. Mleczko	N/A	Blake Bolden	Dave Jackson	2023 Conference Semifinals rematch
	Boston at Pittsburgh	8 p.m.	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson

NHL All-Star Game (2022–2028)

Year	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Pregame host	Pregame analyst(s)
2022	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro	Emily Kaplan and Laura Rutledge	Dave Jackson	Steve Levy	Mark Messier and Chris Chelios
2023			Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes			Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, and P. K. Subban
2024						Mark Messier 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, including the Eastern Conference Finals. Had the series gone to Game 7, then ABC would have simulcast the game with ESPN. Early-round playoff games have returned to ABC in 2023.

Stanley Cup Playoffs broadcast teams

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Start time (All times ET)	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level analyst	Rinkside reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Notes
2022	N/A
2023	First round	New Jersey-New York Rangers	Games 3 and 6	8 ET	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	First playoff meeting between both teams since 2012 Eastern Conference Finals
	Western Conference Finals	Dallas-Vegas	Games 2 and 5	3 ET (Game 2)	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	2020 Western Conference Finals rematch
				8 ET (Game 5)	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson
2024	First round	Toronto-Boston	Game 7	8 ET	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	First playoff meeting between both teams since 2019 Maple Leafs' first game on ABC since 2003 First early-round Game 7 to be televised on ABC
	Eastern Conference Finals	Florida-New York Rangers	Games 3 and 6	3 ET (Game 3)	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson	First playoff meeting between both teams since 1997
				8 ET (Game 6)	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan	Dave Jackson

Stanley Cup Finals broadcast teams

Year	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice-level analyst(s)	Rinkside reporter(s)	Rules analyst	Pregame host	Pregame analysts
2022	Tampa Bay-Colorado	All games	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro	Brian Boucher	Emily Kaplan Kevin Weekes (Game 6 postgame)	Dave Jackson	Steve Levy	Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, and Brian Boucher
2024	Edmonton-Florida	All games	Sean McDonough	Ray Ferraro		Emily Kaplan Kevin Weekes (Game 7 postgame)	Dave Jackson	Steve Levy	Mark Messier and P. K. Subban

Notes

• All games in the 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

• NHL on ABC at IMDb
• NHL News & Videos - ABC News
• Sports Media Watch: How Disney outfoxed the NHL.

Preceded by NBC	NHL network broadcast partner (with NBC) in the United States 1992–1994	Succeeded by Fox
Preceded by Fox	NHL network broadcast partner in the United States 2000–2004	Succeeded by NBC
Preceded by NBC	NHL network broadcast partner in the United States 2021–	Succeeded by –