Stanley Cup Final Preview: New Faces on the Ice, at the Front Bench Make 2023 a Series of Firsts Lead Producer Kevin Brown, Lead Director Paul Hemming, TD Paul Harvath make their Stanley Cup Final debuts in those roles By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, June 2, 2023 - 2:16 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
You never forget your first.
Never in the prestigious history of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (formerly Turner Sports) has a major U.S. professional-sports champion been crowned on its air. That all changes when TNT becomes the exclusive home of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, in the second year of the broadcaster's seven-year rights deal with the NHL.
Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final begins at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
In fact, with Game 1 set for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m.), this entire Stanley Cup Final has new-ness in the air. Not only will either the Vegas Golden Knights (the second-youngest franchise in the NHL) or the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup for the first time in the franchise's history, but the entire front bench - Lead Producer Kevin Brown, Lead Director Paul Hemming, and Technical Director Paul Harvath - is working their first Stanley Cup Final.
Brown, a veteran of NBC Sports, worked on the studio side during the NHL's run with NBC and moved to what became WBD Sports in 2021. He has spent essentially his whole career working on the NHL in some capacity including helping produce the NHL's Bubble in Toronto in 2020 since graduating from Quinnipiac University in 2007.
This is a nice culmination of a couple of longtime partnerships, he says. My first day in the studio at OLN [which carried the NHL in 2005 before rebranding to Versus and then NBCSN], both [TNT game analyst] Keith Jones [also working on his first Stanley Cup Final] and Edzo [analyst Eddie Olczyk, entering his 16th Stanley Cup Final as lead analyst] were there. They were there for day one in my career, and now we're here for the biggest moment. One of our EVS operators was in the studio that night at OLN, too, and now here we are working the Stanley Cup together. It's great to get the chance to grow and have such awesome teammates around you.
Hemming, meanwhile, directed NHL games (including Stanley Cup Playoffs) for TSN and Sportsnet in Canada before moving to the RSN side in the U.S. and directing games for the San Jose Sharks on NBC Sports California and the Carolina Hurricanes at Fox Sports Carolinas/Bally Sports South. Harvath is no stranger to TDing on the big stage, having sat at the switcher on such events as the College Football Playoff National Championship and the Rose Bowl for ESPN and the World Series and MLB All-Star Game for Fox Sports.
For a Canadian, hockey is life, right? says Hemming. You put on skates just about as soon as you can walk. Growing up, I was a sports fan, I liked all sports, but hockey was nearest and dearest to my heart. Everything I did growing up was about hockey: playing ball hockey with your friends, it was always Game Seven. Pond hockey: it was Game Seven. I collected jerseys and hockey cards, went to games with my Dad. I directed my first NHL game in 1999, and, 24 years later, I feel like a kid again, with the opportunity to sit in the front bench for Stanley Cup. It's a dream assignment for me, and I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity.
The front bench will be working alongside other industry vets: A1 Tim Dunn; Graphics Lead Nico Gomez; Lead Replay Operator Jesse Radford; Lead Video Bob Gray; a corps of camera operators in Mike Pigeon, Matt Bachman, Carl Alaimo, Ryan Scott; and Lead Tech Manager Eric Grossman.
Although the personal milestones are impossible to ignore, none of the event's crew members are losing sight of the event's importance to the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports brand and the longstanding legacy of the former Turner Sports. Yes, the network has a storied history of carrying dramatic NBA and MLB Playoff games, UEFA Champions League matches, and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (carrying the Final Four and National Championship Game multiple times), but this is a special first for the company and an NHL production and operations team assembled when Turner Sports struck its deal with the NHL in 2021.
WBD Sports' AnkleCam was deployed for TNT's coverage of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final. The angle is made possible by placing a robotic camera (shooting in shallow depth of field) behind glass in the bottom corner of the end boards of the rink. (Photo: WBD Sports)
When our group was put together two seasons ago, reflects Hemming, our marching orders from [EVP/Chief Content Officer] Craig Barry was to create the best NHL broadcast that anyone has ever seen. And they were not shy; they loaded us with an arsenal of production resources. I think, with the feedback that we've received over the past two seasons, it has been mission accomplished. We couldn't be more excited. Everybody on our crew is a diehard, passionate hockey fan. We all eat, sleep, and breathe it, and I do believe that you see that passion come through on our shows. Let's just say I'll probably have a tough time sleeping before Game 1.
How has WBD Sports lived up to its mission of creating the best NHL broadcast that anyone has ever seen ? Largely through the use of knowledgeable and passionate on-air talent on the game broadcast and in the studio, as well as through aggressive deployment of super-slow-motion cameras.
The TNT broadcast will have access to more than 40 camera angles in each Stanley Cup Final game, 33 of which are the broadcaster's own (resources are shared with the NHL and Canadian broadcast partner Sportsnet). Of those cameras, 12 are Sony 4300 super-slo-mos that will, in many cases, be shooting at 180
North America Stories
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
Stanley Cup Final Preview: New Faces on the Ice, at the Front Bench Make 2023 a Series of Firsts Lead Producer Kevin Brown, Lead Director Paul Hemming, TD Paul Harvath make their Stanley Cup Final debuts in those roles By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
