NHL announces celebrity presenters for NHL Awards

NEW YORK -- The stars of the National Hockey League will come together with celebrities from music, stage and screen for a celebration of hockey at the 2012 NHL Awards™ at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 20. The 2012 NHL Awards will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network in the United States and online at cbcsports.ca in Canada. CBC-TV will carry the complete two-hour celebration nationally starting at 8:00 p.m. LOCAL / 8:30 p.m. NT.

Kevin Connolly ("Entourage"), Colin Hanks ("The Good Guys," "Dexter"), Joshua Jackson ("Fringe"), Cory Monteith ("Glee"), Matthew Perry ("Go On," "Friends"), Vince Vaughn ("The Watch," "Wedding Crashers," "The Break-Up"), Sports broadcaster Erin Andrews and Michael Vartan ("Hawthorne," "Alias") – all hockey fans – are scheduled to serve as presenters to honor the sport's best. The broadcast also will feature special appearances by actors Will Arnett ("Up All Night," "Arrested Development") and Tracy Morgan ("30 Rock") and director/writer/actor Kevin Smith ("Clerks," "Red State").

Also scheduled to present are NBC's Pierre McGuire and Eddie Olczyk; Hockey Night in Canada's Andi Petrillo and P.J. Stock; and the NHL Network's Barry Melrose and Kathryn Tappen. Hockey legends Ted Lindsay and Mark Messier also will take to the stage to announce the winner of their namesake awards -- the Ted Lindsay Award honoring the most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by members of the NHL Players Association and the NHL Mark Messier Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone which recognizes a player who leads by positive example through on-ice performance, motivation of team members and a dedication to community activities and charitable causes.

Nickelback, known around the world for their powerful and spectacular live shows, headlines the 2012 NHL Awards with two live performances, presented by Verizon, on the Encore Theater stage.

The 2012 NHL Awards will honor the best regular-season players in a wide range of categories, including most valuable player (Hart Trophy), outstanding goaltender (Vezina Trophy), outstanding defenseman (Norris Trophy) and outstanding rookie (Calder Trophy). The winner of the EA SPORTS NHL® 13 Cover Athlete presented by BlackBerry will be unveiled live at the 2012 NHL Awards™.

Sirius XM Satellite Radio will provide radio coverage. NHL Network™ and NHL.com will provide extensive coverage of the 2012 NHL Awards festivities. NHL Network will host exclusive live coverage of the 2012 NHL Awards Red Carpet show prior to the event.

The 2012 NHL Awards return to Las Vegas as part of a new, three-year partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). IMG Media, the production arm of the global sports, entertainment and media company, IMG, will produce the 2012 NHL Awards, under the helm of executive producer, Steve Mayer.

For more information, visit www.nhl.com/awards.