NHL on ABC

NHL on ABC
Logo from 1999 to 2004
Genre	Sports
Created by	ABC Sports ESPN
Starring	John Saunders Gary Thorne Mike Emrick Al Michaels Bill Clement Jim Schoenfeld John Davidson Al Morganti Barry Melrose Chris Berman Steve Levy Dave Strader Darren Pang Brian Engblom Erin Andrews Sam Ryan
Theme music composer	Bob Christianson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2 (1992-94 version) 5 (1999-2004 version) 7 (total)
Production
Running time	180 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	March 27, 1993 (1993-03-27)-May 1, 1994 (1994-05-01) February 6, 2000 (2000-02-06) – June 7, 2004 (2004-06-07)
Chronology
Related shows	ESPN National Hockey Night

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

After being dropped by NBC after the 1974–75 season,^[1][2][3] the NHL had no national television contract in the United States.^[4][5][6] In response to this, the league put together a network of independent stations covering approximately 55% of the country.^[7][8][9]

Games typically aired on Monday nights^[10] (beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations with no rights fee.^[11] Profits would 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.^[12] Viewers in New York City, Buffalo, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Los Angeles got the Game of the Week on a different channel than their local team's games. Therefore, whenever a team had a “home” game, the NHL Network aired the home team's broadcast rather than their own.

Initially, the Monday night package was marketed to ABC affiliates; the idea being that ABC carried Monday-night NFL football in the fall and (starting in May 1976) Monday-night Major League Baseball in the spring and summer, stations would want hockey to create a year-round Monday night sports block. But very few ABC stations picked up the package.

In 1979, ABC was contracted to televise Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.^[13][14] Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.^[15] Had there been a seventh game, then Bob Wilson would have called play-by-play alongside Jim McKay (between-periods host), 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). The game would have started at 5:10 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.

ABC Radio coverage

In 1989,^[16] 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.^[17][18] ABC Radio named Don Chevrier and Phil Esposito as their main commentating crew.^{[19][20][21][22]}

1992–1994 version

In the 1992–93^[23] and 1993–94 seasons, ABC televised six weekly regional telecasts^[24][25] on Sunday afternoons beginning in March^[26] (or the last three Sundays^[27] of the regular season). This marked the first time that regular season broadcasts of National Hockey League games were aired on American network television^[28] since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). ABC would then televise three weeks worth of playoff games^[29][30] (or the first three Sundays^[31][32] of the playoffs^{[33][34][35][36]}). 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 was the case with the 1999–2000–2003–04 package) were essentially, time buys^[37] by ESPN.^[38][39] In other words, ABC would sell three hour blocks of airtime to ESPN, who in return, would produce, supply broadcasters and sell advertising. 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^[40] for the 1992–1994 coverage. During ABC's next stint with the NHL, they had their own theme music^[41] (composed by Bob Christianson).

Overall, ABC averaged a 1.7 rating^[42] for those two seasons.

Announcers

Studio hosts

• John Saunders

Play-by-play men

1. Gary Thorne^[43]
2. Mike Emrick
3. Al Michaels^[44]
4. Tom Mees
5. Sam Rosen^[45]

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement
2. Jim Schoenfeld
3. John Davidson
4. Darren Pang

Reporters

1. Al Morganti
2. Bob Neumeier
3. Tom Mees
4. Brenda Brenon^[46]

Schedules

1993-94

Main article: 1993–94 NHL season

Date	Teams	Start times (All times Eastern)
March 27[47][48][49][50][51]	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.
April 3[52]	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.
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.

April 17,^[53][54] 24, May 1: 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[55]	John Davidson
Division finals	Pittsburgh vs. New York Islanders	Game 1	Gary Thorne[56]	Bill Clement
	Toronto vs. St. Louis	Game 4	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement
	Vancouver vs. Los Angeles	Game 1	Mike Emrick[57]	John Davidson
Conference finals	Montreal 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)
Conference quarterfinals	New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders	Games 1, 4	Tom Mees (Game 1) Gary Thorne (Game 4)	Darren Pang (Game 1) Bill Clement (Game 4)	Bob Neumeier (Game 1) Al Morganti (Game 4)
	Dallas vs. St. Louis	Games 1, 4[58]	Gary Thorne (Game 1) Tom Mees (Game 4)	Bill Clement (Game 1) John Davidson (Game 4)	Al Morganti (Game 1)
Conference semifinals	New Jersey vs. Boston	Game 1	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	Al Morganti

1999–2004 version

In August 1998, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 signed a five year deal worth a total of approximately $600 million^[59][60] (or $120 million per year). 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 1991–92.^[61] As previously mentioned, as was the case with the 1992-1994 deal, ABC's subsequent NHL coverage was in reality, made up of time buys from ESPN. This was noted in copyright beds at the conclusion of the telecasts, i.e. "The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc." ESPN then signed a similar television rights contract in 2002 so it could produce and broadcast National Basketball Association games on ABC.

This time around, ABC televised four to five weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons beginning in January. ABC also televised the National Hockey League All-Star Game^[62] and Games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals^[63] in prime time. In the previous American network television deal with Fox, they 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, Tom Tolbert, and Bill Walton 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, Bill Clement, and John Davidson mentioned this the following night and thanked Nessler, Tolbert, and Walton for promoting ABC's broadcast of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.^[64]

Following the 2003–04 season, ESPN was only willing to renew for two years at $60 million per year. ABC refused to televise the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time, suggesting that their games of the Finals be played on weekend afternoons (including a potential Game 7). Disney executives later conceded that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal, so their offer to renew the TV rights was lower in 2004.^[65]

Additionally, there would have been far less exposure; reportedly, there only would have been about twenty regular season games on national TV. To break the things down, there would've been five weekend afternoons on ABC and some fifteen regular season games on ESPN2. As a likely consequence, the NHL would've taken a back seat to other events the ESPN networks had rights to.

Announcers

Studio hosts

• John Saunders, John Davidson (studio analyst from 1999–2000-2001–02), and Barry Melrose (studio analyst from 2003–04)

Stanley Cup Finals hosts

• Al Michaels (2000–2002); Chris Berman (2003-2004)

Play-by play men

1. Gary Thorne
2. Steve Levy
3. Mike Emrick
4. Dave Strader

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement and John Davidson (2002–03–2003–04)
2. Darren Pang
3. Barry Melrose (1999–2002), Brian Engblom (2002–2004)

Schedules

1999–2000

Main article: 1999–2000 NHL season

^[66]

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 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Gary Thorne and Bill Clement
March 26	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Detroit St. Louis at Chicago Colorado at Dallas	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.
April 1	New York Rangers at Boston Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Anaheim at Los Angeles	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 3 p.m.
April 9	Philadelphia at New York Rangers St. Louis at Chicago Phoenix at Dallas Detroit at Colorado Los Angeles at Anaheim	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.

2000-01

Main article: 2000–01 NHL season

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 and Bill Clement 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.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose
March 24	Detroit at New York Rangers Colorado at Boston Anaheim at Los Angeles	1 p.m. 1 p.m. 3 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 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Steve Levy and Darren Pang Dave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld
April 7	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Colorado at Detroit Dallas at San Jose New York Rangers at Florida	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Steve Levy and Darren Pang Gary Thorne and Bill Clement Dave Strader and Jim Schoenfeld Mike Emrick and Barry Melrose

2001-02

Main article: 2001–02 NHL season

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

2002-03

Main article: 2002–03 NHL season

^[67]

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.
February 8	Pittsburgh at Boston Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at Philadelphia	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.
March 15	Colorado at Detroit New York Rangers at New Jersey Philadelphia at Pittsburgh	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.
March 22	New York Rangers at Philadelphia Chicago at Colorado Detroit at St. Louis	3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
March 29	Detroit at St. Louis New York Rangers at Boston Phoenix at Colorado	1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 12 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom

2003-04 season

Main article: 2003–04 NHL 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 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.	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.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom
March 20	New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Dallas	3 p.m. 3 p.m.	Gary Thorne, Bill Clement and John Davidson Steve Levy and Darren Pang
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

Stanley Cup playoffs

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
2000	Conference quarterfinals	Washington-Pittsburgh	Game 2	Steve Levy	Darren Pang	Daryl Reaugh
		St. Louis-San Jose	Games 2, 6	Dave Strader (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 6)	Brian Hayward 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	Gary Thorne	Bill Clement	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) Steve Levy (Game 6)	Bill Clement (Game 2) Darren Pang (Game 6)	Brian Engblom (Game 2) Mickey Redmond
	Conference semifinals	Buffalo-Pittsburgh	Games 2, 5	Steve Levy (Game 2) Gary Thorne (Game 5)	Darren Pang (Game 2) Bill Clement	Joe Micheletti (Game 2) Brian Engblom
		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)

Nielsen ratings

Main article: Ratings for The NHL on ABC

References

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59. ^ "Is Disney Goofy To Bid $600 Million For Nhl Tv Rights?". Sports Illustrated. August 17, 1998. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Is+Disney+Goofy+To+Bid+%24600+Million+For+Nhl+Tv+Rights%3F+-+08.17.98+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431349367&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1013552%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
60. ^ Walters, John (January 10, 2000). "Learning It Cold". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Learning+It+Cold+-+01.10.00+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431385002&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1018103%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
61. ^ Sandomir, Richard (1998-08-07). "Best N.H.L. Action Is the Battle Over TV Rights". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFDF103BF934A3575BC0A96E958260&scp=2&sq=NHL+on+ABC&st=nyt. Retrieved 2008-03-20. 
62. ^ Kennedy, Kostya (February 5, 2001). "The Nhl". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=The+Nhl+-+02.05.01+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431385062&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1021673%2F2%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
63. ^ McEntegart, Pete (June 16, 2003). "Under Review". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1028974/index.htm. 
64. ^ NHL on ABC: Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals (television). ABC Sports. June 9, 2003. 
65. ^ Downey, Kevin (April 12, 2001). "Sports TV get pricier and pricier. Here's why". Media Life Magazine. http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/apr01/apr09/4_thurs/news1thursday.html. 
66. ^ "1999–2000 NHL Schedule". Washingtonpost.com. October 1, 1999. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/nhl/longterm/1999/schedule/nhlsked.htm. 
67. ^ "ABC's 2002-2003 NHL schedule". ABC Sports. ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/abcsports/s/nhl/schedule.html. 

External links

• Official site
  • 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
• Sports Media Watch: How Disney outfoxed the NHL.
• NHL and ESPN: Paradise Found Or a Disneyfied Disaster?

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