NHL on ABC

The NHL on ABC is a former TV show that televised National Hockey League games on the American Broadcasting Company and was produced by ABC's corporate sibling (under the Walt Disney Company umbrella) ESPN.

Before the 1992–93 NHL season

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 Game 7, then Al Michaels (play-by-play), Jim McKay (anchor, under the Wide World of Sports umbrella), Bobby Clarke (color commentator), and Frank Gifford (reporter, who 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 that would have allowed him to talk to both President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau). This would have given Michaels the distinction of calling all 4 major North American sports championships, having since called the Super Bowl, World Series, and NBA Finals.

1992–1994 version

In the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, ABC televised 6 weekly regional telecasts on Sunday afternoons beginning in March (or the last 3 Sundays of the regular season). This marked the first time that regular season broadcasts of NHL games were aired on American network television since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). ABC would then televise 3 weeks worth of playoff games (or the first 3 Sundays of the playoffs). They didn't 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 the case was with the 1999–2000–2003–04 package) were essentially, time buys by ESPN. The main difference is that the graphics were ABC Sports' instead of the ones seen on ESPN National Hockey Night. In later years, the roles would be reversed as ESPN's graphical style would be used with the exception of intermission reports. ABC even used ESPN's theme music for the 1992–1994 coverage. During ABC's next stint with NHL, they had their own theme music (composed by Bob Christianson).

Announcers

Studio host

• John Saunders

Broadcast teams (1992–93)

1. Gary Thorne-Bill Clement
2. Mike Emrick-Jim Schoenfeld
3. Al Michaels or Tom Mees-John Davidson

Broadcast teams (1993–94)

1. Gary Thorne-Bill Clement
2. Mike Emrick-Jim Schoenfeld
3. Al Michaels or Tom Mees-John Davidson

Reporters

• Al Morganti
• Frank Gifford
• Bob Neumeier
• Darren Pang
• Tom Mees

Schedules

1993–94

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)
March 27	Boston at Washington Detroit at Chicago New York Rangers at Winnipeg Los Angeles at Vancouver	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
April 3	Boston at Pittsburgh Dallas at Washington St. Louis at Detroit Edmonton at Los Angeles	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
April 10	New York Rangers at New York Islanders Boston at Philadelphia Los Angeles at Chicago Dallas at St. Louis	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.

April 17, 24, May 1: Playoffs

1993

Round	Series	Games covered	Play-by-play	Color commentators
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	Montreal vs. New York Islanders	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement

1994

Round	Series	Games covered	Play-by-play	Color commentators	Ice level reporters
Conference quarterfinals	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

1999–2004 version

In August 1998, ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC signed a 5 year deal worth a total of approximately $600,000,000 (or $120,000,000 per year).

This time around, ABC televised 4-5 weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons beginning in January. ABC also televised NHL All-Star Game and Games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time.

Following the 2003–04 season, ESPN was only willing to renew for 2 years at $60 million per year and ABC refused to televise the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time. Disney executives later conceded that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal, so their offer to renew the TV rights was lower in 2004.

Announcers

Studio personalities

• John Saunders
• Barry Melrose

Stanley Cup Finals personalities

• Al Michaels
• Barry Melrose
• John Davidson

Commentator Crews

1. Gary Thorne-Bill Clement-John Davidson
2. Steve Levy-Darren Pang
3. Mike Emrick-Barry Melrose/Brian Engblom
4. Dave Strader-Jim Schoenfeld
5. Dave Ryan-Joe Micheletti

Reporters

• Brian Engblom
• Darren Pang
• Joe Micheletti
• Mickey Redmond
• Tony Granato
• Erin Andrews
• Chris Simpson

Schedules

1999–2000

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator Crews
March 18	Pittsburgh at Boston New York Rangers at Philadelphia Dallas at Chicago Detroit at Colorado	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Dave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
March 26	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Detroit St. Louis at Chicago Colorado at Dallas	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren PangDave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
April 1	New York Rangers at Boston Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Anaheim at Los Angeles	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Dave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang
April 9	Philadelphia at New York Rangers St. Louis at Chicago Detroit at Colorado Los Angeles at Anaheim Phoenix at Dallas	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Dave Ryan and Joe Micheletti Dave Strader and Brian Engblom

2000–01

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator Crews
March 10	New Jersey at Philadelphia Detroit at St. Louis Colorado at Dallas	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
March 17	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Detroit at Colorado San Jose at Los Angeles	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 24	Detroit at New York Rangers Colorado at Boston Anaheim at Los Angeles	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 31	New York Rangers at New Jersey Detroit at Philadelphia St. Louis at Pittsburgh Colorado at Los Angeles	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang Dave Strader and Brian Engblom
April 7	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Dallas at San Jose New York Rangers at Florida	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang Dave Strader and Brian Engblom

2001–02

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator Crews
January 5	Detroit at Colorado Pittsburgh at New York Rangers Washington at Boston	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang
January 12	New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Pittsburgh Dallas at Detroit	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 2	Philadelphia at New York Rangers Detroit at Pittsburgh Dallas at Colorado	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
March 9	Pittsburgh at New York Rangers Detroit at St. Louis Colorado at Los Angeles	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
March 16	Boston at Detroit New York Rangers at New Jersey* Colorado at Philadelphia	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement

2002–03

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator Crews
January 11	Colorado at Dallas Detroit at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Pittsburgh	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose
February 8	Pittsburgh at Boston Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at Philadelphia	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 15	Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at New Jersey* Philadelphia at Pittsburgh	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 22	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Chicago at Colorado Detroit at St. Louis	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose
March 29	Detroit at St. Louis New York Rangers at Boston Phoenix at Colorado	1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose

2003–04 season

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)	Commentator Crews
January 10	Detroit at Boston Colorado at Dallas New York Rangers at New York Islanders	1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk
February 14	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Boston at Chicago	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk
March 13	Dallas at Detroit New Jersey at Philadelphia Los Angeles at San Jose	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk Steve Levy and Darren Pang
March 20	New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Dallas	3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk
March 27	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Los Angeles at Calgary	1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang

Stanley Cup playoffs 2000–2004

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentators	Ice level reporters
2000	Conference quarterfinals	Washington-Pittsburgh	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Daryl Reaugh
		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	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Joe Micheletti
		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	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Daryl Reaugh
	Conference finals	Philadelphia-New Jersey	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Dallas-Colorado	Game 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
2001	Conference quarterfinals	Washington-Pittsburgh	Games 2, 5	Dave Strader (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 5)	Jim Schoenfeld (Game 2) Bill Clement (Game 5)	Chris Simpson Brian Engblom (Game 5)
		Philadelphia-Buffalo	Games 2, 6	Steve Levy (Game 2) Mike Emrick (Game 6)	Darren Pang (Game 2) Barry Melrose (Game 6)	Mickey Redmond (Game 2) Joe Micheletti (Game 6)
		Detroit-Los Angeles	Games 2, 5	Mike Emrick (Game 2) Dave Strader (Game 5)	Barry Melrose (Game 2) Jim Schoenfeld (Game 5)	Joe Micheletti (Game 2) Chris Simpson (Game 5)
		St. Louis-San Jose	Games 2, 6	Gary Thorne (Game 2) Dave Strader (Game 6)	Bill Clement (Game 2) Jim Schoenfeld (Game 6)	Brian Engblom (Game 2) Mickey Redmond (Game 6)
	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	Conference quarterfinals	Boston-Montreal	Game 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Brian Engblom
		Carolina-New Jersey	Game 6	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Chris Simpson
		Toronto-New York Islanders	Game 2	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Joe Micheletti
		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	Mike Emrick	Barry Melrose	Chris Simpson
	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	Conference quarterfinals	Tampa Bay-Washington	Game 2	Mike Emrick	Brian Engblom
		Philadelphia-Toronto	Game 5	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Chris Simpson
		Detroit-Anaheim	Game 2	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement and John Davidson	Chris 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	Chris 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)	Chris 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	Conference quarterfinals	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, 5	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) and Joe Micheletti (Game 4)

External links

• ABC Sports announces its hockey broadcast teams
• NHL, ESPN-ABC Seek Viewers
• NHL on ABC - Google Search (timeline)
  • 1992-93
  • 1993-94
  • 1999-2000
  • 2000-01
  • 2001-02
  • 2002-03
  • 2003-04