Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

At the Rink: Washington Capitals Approach Regular Season With Virtual Gameday Digital Experience, Traditional In-Venue Flair

21/04/2021

At the Rink: Washington Capitals Approach Regular Season With Virtual Gameday Digital Experience, Traditional In-Venue Flair Fans are returning on April 27 vs. the New York Islanders By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 11:47 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The National Hockey League was the last of the four major American sports to host a non-bubble regular season. As fans gradually make their return to the seats, how is that affecting in-venue productions and digital content? Similar to At the Ballpark, On the Gridiron, and On the Hardwood, At the Rink will look at the operations of NHL organizations to see how their coping with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and adapting back to a sense of normalcy.

The talisman of the Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin, is continuing to rewrite the history books with each passing game. Throughout his NHL career in the nation's capital, the franchise's in-venue production team has been their every step of the way to convey the importance of these accomplishments to fans in attendance. This year, while they're away from the stands, the crew is tapping into new forms of entertainment outside of Capital One Arena and traditions inside of the building to capture the play of The Great Eight and the entire team.

I'm extremely proud of our game presentation team and what they've been able to accomplish, says Cassidy Lien, VP, game presentation, Washington Capitals. It's sometimes hard to stay motivated, but they've been able to maintain that motivation and determination throughout the entire regular season.

MORE AT THE RINK INTERVIEWS:

Tampa Bay Lightning's Stanley Cup Banner Ceremony Serves as Reminder of Normalcy During Unusual Year

Toronto Maple Leafs Follow Production Blueprint From 2020 NHL Bubble at Scotiabank Arena

Los Angeles Kings' Wanton Davis Adjusts to His First NHL Season During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Top-Ranked Colorado Avalanche Revel in the Return of Fans

Philadelphia Flyers Flex Potential of 4K Kinetic Centerhung as Fans Return to Wells Fargo Center

Nearly 20 Years in Manitoba, Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Balharry Reflects on Productions at Bell MTS Place

In NHL's North Division, Calgary Flames Keep Battle of Alberta Alive in Empty Scotiabank Saddledome

Detroit Red Wings Cover Motor City Storylines With Three Digital Shows, Hockeytown Home Ice

During First Two Months on the Road, San Jose Sharks Develop Engaging Content in Different Ways

Inside the Dallas Stars' Wild Month of March

Carolina Hurricanes Sidestep Water Leak To Welcome Fans Back to PNC Arena

Vegas Golden Knights Offer Fortress At Home, Debut Studio for 2020-21 NHL Season

Nashville Predators Harness the Passion of Smashville' at Bridgestone Arena

Preseason Planning: Team Devises a Strategy Before the Start of the Regular Season A look inside the Capitals control room.

As Vice President of Game Presentation for Monumental Sports, the entity that oversees the Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards, Lien had his hands full at the beginning of 2021. Due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization made the decision to play the new season behind closed doors at Capital One Arena. Prior to the team's first contest on Friday, January 22 vs. the Buffalo Sabres, Lien and his team brainstormed a production plan for a season unlike any other.

I don't think any of us knew exactly what we were doing, what was going to happen, or how it was going to work, he says. No one's been through this before, so we got together with the league and shared all of our resources and ideas. As we were planning and getting everyone together, we all said, Well, why don't we just produce the show in the arena as if fans were there?'

Throughout franchise history, the Capitals have been known to have one of the loudest and most passionate fanbases in the National Hockey League. Despite the emptiness that was to accompany the team's home opener, the production crew still wanted to harness the fans' love for the team and energy that they bring every night. After contemplation and thought, the club concluded that they would continue their normal show to supply an intriguing canvas for the television broadcast on NBC Sports Washington.

We're dressing up our LED boards and some of the tarps [near the ice] to make the arena look less empty on television and get the logos of our sponsors seen [by fans at home], continues Lien. We're also showing our opening video sequence and on-ice 3D projection.

Boots on the Ground: Control Room Staff Handles Productions in an Empty Venue With a thorough plan in place, the individuals running the show inside of the venue are diving headfirst with a clear goal in mind. Manager, Game Presentation Alexa Tanzi has taken charge of some of the most important production elements this season, but from her point of view, it's been a unique challenge to overcome the abnormal silence that fills the building prior to puck drop.

It's one of the strangest feelings I've ever encountered in my life, she says. It's almost a culture shock when you walk in and see something completely different.

On the production side, they're combating the silence with different in-venue elements including fabricated crowd noise, but when it comes to the typical fan interactions, those have been unfortunately altered.

It's been a shift in my planning procedures, she adds. In my normal rundown of scripting out a game, I would usually play something towards the crowd and integrate something as small as a t-shirt toss or as large as our pre-show open sequence to connect the fans. Now, I'm doing that for people who are watching on television or on their laptops at home.

At-Home Entertainm
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/04/21/at-the-rink-washington-capitals...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

14/07/2025

L3Harris Secures Contract for Royal Moroccan Air Force C-130 Fleet Upgrade

The Royal Moroccan Air Force hosted a C-130 award ceremony with L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert a...

14/07/2025

Nielsen launches CTV Ad Spend Data into its UK Ad Intel product

UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...

14/07/2025

Telycam Unveils Elgato Stram Deck Plug-in for PTZ Camera Portfolio

SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...

14/07/2025

Nominations Now Open for Best of Show Awards at IBC2025

The awards are open to IBC2025 show exhibitors and offer a valuable platform for companies to raise awareness for the new products and solutions they will be la...

14/07/2025

Clear-Com Expands Arcadia Central Station with Updates In...

Clear-Com is excited to announce a significant expansion of the award-winning Arcadia Central Station with new software updates. Together, these releases dram...

14/07/2025

Daktronics and Grass Valley Announce Strategic Partnershi...

Grass Valley and Daktronics today announced a strategic technology partnership that unites Grass Valley's live production expertise with Daktronics' lea...

14/07/2025

Veset Partners with swXtch io to Deliver Cloud Multicasti...

Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, and swXtch.io, provider of cloud-based multicast and reliable networking solutions, are partnering to deliver multicast...

14/07/2025

Tintri Supercharges Global Partner Programme with Powerfu...

Tintri , a DDN subsidiary and leader in AI-powered data management solutions, today announces a game-changing and award-winning refresh to its global Partner P...

14/07/2025

HighField AI Now Commercially Available Advancing Broadca...

HighField AI, the broadcast industry's first agentic and multimodal AI platform for automating graphics production, is now commercially available. Developed...

14/07/2025

Encompass powers DAZN global broadcast of FIFA Club World...

Encompass Digital Media has today announced that it has been delivering a complex global services project for DAZN, the world s leading sports entertainment pla...

14/07/2025

MASV Showcases the Future of Mass File Movement and Monet...

MASV (massive.io), the fastest, most reliable large file transfer platform trusted by over 10,000 global organizations, announced today it will showcase its nex...

14/07/2025

Calrec to unveil new Argo Software Updates at IBC 2025 an...

Calrec is introducing a series of usability, customisation and system enhancements across the entire range of Argo consoles at IBC 2025, on Stand 8.C47. Look ou...

14/07/2025

ITV selects Fincons Group as strategic partner for their...

Fincons Group, IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce a new engagement...

14/07/2025

Intinor Showcases Enhanced User Experience and Workflow F...

Stand 5.F45, IBC2025, Amsterdam, 12 15 September 2025 Intinor returns to IBC to present the latest updates to its Direkt series. A key development on show is ...

14/07/2025

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL

Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...

14/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on the Weeklong Efforts in Atlanta

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...

14/07/2025

Netflix ISP Speed Index for June 2025

Back to All News Netflix ISP Speed Index for June 2025 Product 14 July 2025 Global Link copied to clipboard One percent of Internet Service Providers (ISP...

14/07/2025

Netflix Begins Filming 'The Map of Longing' With Alcia Falc, Pablo lvarez, and Georgina Amors

Back to All News Netflix Begins Filming The Map of Longing With Al cia Falc , P...

14/07/2025

100 Days In: Building Forward at Grass Valley

This July marks 100 days since I officially stepped into the role of CEO at Grass Valley, a milestone not of abrupt change, but of confident continuity. Unlike...

13/07/2025

Netflix Expands B&B Universe' with Yu Jae Seok's B&B (WT) and Kian's Bizarre B&B Season 2

Back to All News Netflix Expands B&B Universe' with Yu Jae Seok's B&B ...

13/07/2025

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB Draft Coverage

Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...

12/07/2025

Retracing Ryan Coogler's Sundance Institute Journey

Ryan Coogler accepting the 2013 Vanguard Award. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez. Editor's Note: In honor of Fruitvale Station s 12th anniversary, we're d...

12/07/2025

Key Code Education Launches New Adobe Premiere Pro Engineer Certification

Key Code Education, the professional training division of Key Code Media, proudly announces a major update to its Adobe Premiere Pro Engineering and Advanced Op...

12/07/2025

Key Code Education Launches New Hands-On Training Programs for Ross Video, Vizrt, EditShare, and SNS

Key Code Education, a leader in instructor-led post production training for over...

12/07/2025

TV Station Groups Launch Texas Flood Relief Efforts

As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...

12/07/2025

DirecTV Adds ViX Premium With Ads to MiEspaol Genre Pack

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...

11/07/2025

2025 Sundance Institute Producers Lab Fellows Announced

PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...

11/07/2025

L3Harris Delivers First P-8A Poseidon Aircraft to US Navy

L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...

11/07/2025

WETA Launches WETA+ Free Streaming Service

ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...

11/07/2025

TV Tech's Top Regulatory Stories of 2025

The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...

11/07/2025

Calrec to Feature Suite of Interconnected Audio Solutions at IBC2025

Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...

11/07/2025

Encompass Supports DAZN's Coverage of 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...

11/07/2025

SBE Survey: Certified Broadcast Engineers Earn More

Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....

11/07/2025

SmallHD Unveils Quantum 27 OLED Monitor

CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...

11/07/2025

Tegna Will Pay $225K to Settle FCC Investigation

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...

11/07/2025

Sens. Markey, Lujn Again Call for FCC Vote on Paramount-Skydance Merger

WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...

11/07/2025

Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...

11/07/2025

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks Adjusts Broadcast Booths for Rangers, Devils

Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...

11/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Clients' Needs With Scalable Cloud-Based Storage

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...

11/07/2025

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transition to the Cloud

2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...

11/07/2025

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP

A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff Friday, July 1...

11/07/2025

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimbledon

CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...

11/07/2025

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-Serrano 3 Card at MSG

Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...

11/07/2025

'Too Hot to Handle: Italy' Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix

Back to All News Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix Entertainment 11 July 2025 GlobalItaly Link copied to clipboard July 11, 20...

11/07/2025

Netflix Will Release 'Death Inc.' Seasons 1, 2 and 3

Back to All News Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 Entertainment 11 July 2025 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Season 1 Season 2 Se...

11/07/2025

A Gaming GPU Helps Crack the Code on a Thousand-Year Cultural Conversation

Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia. From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...

10/07/2025

Nielsen Appoints Richard Pacheco as Head of Global Partnerships

NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...

10/07/2025

Sponsored: Robotic Deployments Are Transforming Local News

Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...

10/07/2025

Stuttgart Media University Upgrades Studio with Lawo mc56

Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...

10/07/2025

SMPTE Opens Early Bird Registration for Media Technology Summit

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...