NHL Puck Drop 2022: ESPN Launches New Production, Applies Operations Lessons From Last Season

NHL Puck Drop 2022: ESPN Launches New Production, Applies Operations Lessons From Last Season The broadcaster's regular-season schedule features NHL Stadium Series, NHL All-Star Game By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Monday, October 10, 2022 - 7:00 am

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In ESPN's first season of National Hockey League coverage since 2004-05, which ended with the Colorado Avalanche raising the Stanley Cup at Amalie Arena, the broadcaster's production and operations crews gained valuable lessons that will be put to use during tomorrow night's doubleheader: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers in New York City at 7:30 p.m. ET and Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings in the City of Angels at 10 p.m.

We had a lot of fun last season by taking things in stride and having the passion to do better, says Erin Orr, senior manager, remote operations, ESPN. We tried new things, and, while some worked and others didn't, our team learned from every moment.

Important Lessons: Production, Operations Take Positives Into New Season ESPN experienced a learning curve during its first NHL season in nearly two decades. Producing each game as a cohesive unit, the production and operations crews applied its own critiques after every show. On the production side, understanding viewing habits and implementing enhancements that would appeal to the NHL audience was paramount. Though posing unknowns and obstacles, having this new NHL property in 2022 was a chance to produce shows with the newly constructed team led by ESPN Coordinating Producer Linda Schulz and Lead Game Producer Jeff Dufine.

The 2022-23 NHL on ESPN season will begin in New York and Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

One of the reasons I was so excited to be part of this project, says Schulz, was the fact that we were building our production plan from scratch. We had people that worked on the NHL 17 years ago with ESPN and people like me, who were new to the sport.

With a team that had various levels of experience, the creativity of the production slowly came together as the season progressed. The crews learned how to adapt to changes on the fly and devise production plans while also wondering if all the equipment would be ready to roll when the puck dropped.

Achieving our goals required extensive camera and audio specifications, which is an aggressive setup in facilities that are frequently occupied the night before a game, Schulz explains. With our exclusive coverage, our load-in and load-out were often done in one day.

Operationally, the core crew - Senior Remote Operations Specialist Jeff Werner; Operations Specialists Jon Winders and Brock Wetherbee; Operations Coordinator Carson Kenney; Remote Operations Producers Katy Abbott, Phil Erwin, Matt Pecarovich, Andrew Schneider, Seth Shore, and Dave Walker; and Orr - was tasked with ensuring that the production team's vision was realized and working with other groups to do it.

For any given game, working with others includes crewing with Senior Manager, Crewing, Eileen Lauer; Senior Crewing Coordinator Paula Grahame; and Crewing Coordinator Eric Lopes; mobile-unit configuration with Remote Production Operations Manager Liza Cole; production operations with Manager, Content Operations, Daniel Lannon; Remote Operations Supervisor Tara Shea; and Technical Operations Manager Marissa Bonertz; remote traffic with Director, Remote Traffic Operations, Adam Whitlock; Remote Traffic Producer Pete Whychulis; and Senior Remote Traffic Coordinator Ryan Wentworth; as well as Associate Manager, Remote Operations, Jesse Kupec and Senior Comms, Audio, and RF Coordinator Katherine White. Every member of the team took risks that, over time, made productions better.

We were presented new opportunities, notes Orr. Looking back, they helped us be a better version of ourselves. [This season], we'll continue to seize chances and go out of our comfort zone to ensure the best product.

Coast-to-Coast Opener: Madison Square Garden, Crypto.com Arena Host Double Dip The 2022-23 regular season will start with a splash on both coasts. Tuesday night will feature a rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals, in which the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Rangers in six games.

At Madison Square Garden (MSG), the onsite team will be housed in Game Creek Video Gotham mobile unit. Inside the venue, the game will be covered from angles above the ice, at ice level, and everywhere in between. Deployed during notable high-profile matchups last season, an aerial Supracam will be installed in the rafters of MSG for shots of the crowd in the upper levels and replays of the action from a bird's-eye view. An on-ice camera operator will grab shots during breaks and timeouts; near the boards, a Sony HDC-4800 will record in 16X speed.

2023 NHL All-Star Weekend will take place Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4.

In Los Angeles, Crypto.com Arena will host a Pacific Division matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings. Within NEP EN3 mobile unit, the L.A.-based production team will be in command of nearly 40 cameras - including an on-ice handheld and a super-slow-motion unit - and other devices also being used in New York. With nearly 40 video feeds coming from the Big Apple, almost 80 channels of replay will be in use for both games.

In a new wrinkle this season, the league-mandated Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards (DED) will be seen for the first time on the broadcaster's air. Deploying Supponor AI-based keying technology, sponsorship messaging and signage will be integrated into the live broadcast.

This technology allows virtual ad placement along the dashers during gameplay, says Werner. The augmentation process is applied downstream of the mobile unit prior to our transmission release.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/10/10/nhl-puck-drop-2022-espn-launche...
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