NHL Puck Drop 2021: ESPN Director Doug Holmes and Producer Jeff Dufine on What To Expect From the Reimagined NHL on ESPN The NHL vet and rookie are at the front bench for the league's return after 17 years By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 - 4:29 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
When the NHL returns to ESPN tonight for the first time since 2004, fans will be greeted with a mix of nostalgia for the iconic NHL on ESPN coverage of yesteryear and new beginnings that go along with the launch of a new sports-broadcast era. It's fitting that the same will be true of the duo at the front bench producing ESPN's NHL coverage - one an NHL on ESPN veteran and one a rookie.
(Photo: Kelly Backus/ESPN Images)
Doug Holmes is back in the director's chair, having helmed NHL on ESPN broadcasts for more than two decades, from 1992 until the NHL rights package departed in 2004. Producer Jeff Dufine, on the other hand, will be making his NHL debut after overseeing ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball and Saturday Primetime College Basketball in recent years alongside Holmes.
Having spent the bulk of the past five years side by side on these properties, Holmes and Dufine now embark on a new chapter - for their partnership, for ESPN, and for the game of hockey in the U.S. SVG sat down with the pair to discuss their production strategy heading into the season, what new technologies and tools we can expect, and how much it means to the largely hockey-mad ESPN workforce to have the NHL back in-house.
Can you provide a sneak peek at some of the new cameras we'll be seeing for NHL coverage in ESPN's broadcasts?
Holmes: First off, aside from cameras, you're going to see more-aggressive cutting of the game. In hockey, there are a lot of purists that don't like to see much cutting, but one of our main goals is to speed up the game, and [aggressive cutting] is one way to do that.
Also, everyone talks about how great hockey is in person and why is it so different on television? Well, we want to get [viewers] closer to the ice because the energy is completely different when you get close to the ice. Those are two of our goals, philosophy-wise: to get close to the ice often and speed up the feel of the game. Not to the point of losing documentation, but to do it as much as we can and get as much energy in the games we possibly can.
The biggest thing is, you're going to see a camera on the ice, which is really exciting. There has been a camera on the ice for a long time, but it's almost exclusively just used for pregames. We're looking into different ways to exploit that camera and get more access on the ice throughout a game as opposed to just pregame ceremonies. We wouldn't have it [on the ice] during action, obviously, but we're hoping to have it during longer [stoppages in play], coming out of commercial breaks, intermissions, and things of that nature.
We are also playing around with a SupraCam. [Wired aerial cameras] are not necessarily new for NHL [coverage], but we've got some ideas in terms of how it can be used to get closer to the ice. That is something that we think can make a difference in how you see the game. One of the biggest problems we're always trying to solve in hockey is how to get the game camera closer. The near boards are a major blockage, so we want to get around that as best we can, and we think [SupraCam] is a great tool for that.
We also did a ton of innovation back when [we had the NHL], especially with robotics, and that's definitely going to continue. Robotics are counted on more than ever - especially for super-mos and all the new positions that have been created. So we're continuing to push forward on that front, and we will have a new robotic position on the reverse side in between the benches that will be on a lot of games.
And what about on the audio side of things? Will players and coaches be miked in the game, and what other strategies are you taking to boost the audio experience for viewers?
Dufine: When we say we're going to bring the viewer closer, it's not just about the video; it's about the audio as well. The league in the past has been understandably proactive with providing access to the players, and it's a great way to show their stars off. The league has been pretty receptive about [miking players]. Right now, our plan is to have at least one player miked as often as possible. We do have to go to each team and request a certain player and have them sign off on it, so obviously it's a process. But we plan to have a player miked for both of our games on Tuesday night. It's not something that we may do every game, but it's something that we're hoping to do as much as possible.
We will also have a pregame interview with an IFB for a particular player during the pre-skate that takes place about 15 minutes before we come on the air. That could be something really cool because you've never seen that kind of access before. It will obviously have to be rolled in whether it's in a pregame show or in the open to the game, but it's something that you very rarely see. So that's exciting.
We will also have access to the locker room on some games for the coach's pregame speech. We want to take the viewer somewhere that they very rarely go, and we think more access to the players and coaches is how to do that.
Holmes: We're also putting a lot of emphasis on getting more ice effects. We want to hear a lot more of the action on the ice - while being safe relative to profanity and whatnot. We're going to try to enhance the audio perspective at every game that we do. So, when we do take certain cameras or roll certain replays, you're going to be able to hear things like you've never heard them before.
For
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
NHL Puck Drop 2021: ESPN Director Doug Holmes and Producer Jeff Dufine on What To Expect From the Reimagined NHL on ESPN The NHL vet and rookie are at the front bench for the league's return after 17 years By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
