NHL Network gets a jump on 2012 with new show, ad campaign and logo

NEW YORK -- NHL Network will get a jump on the New Year with a number of new enhancements including a new network logo, re-branded highlight show and new ad campaign.  The Net will also begin broadcasting from Citizens Bank Park™ in anticipation of the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Dec. 29, providing fans more with more hours of original programming around the annual event than ever before.

On December 26, NHL Network will officially switch over to its new logo (pictured below) and launch NHL Tonight – an evolution of the 10 p.m. edition of NHL On the Fly – airing seven days a week.  Kathryn Tappen, host of NHL Tonight, will be joined by a rotating lineup of hockey insiders and analysts that will serve fans with every highlight, every game and every night from the League. NHL Tonight will re-air the following morning for fans to catch up on all the games from the previous night.  For its first week, NHL Tonight will air immediately following the live coverage of the IIHF World Junior games.  Otherwise, NHL Tonight will air nightly at 10 p.m.  NHL on the Fly will continue to air nightly from 7-10 p.m. 

The national advertising campaign for NHL Tonight also will debut on Dec. 26, positioning the show as the source for all of the night's highlights from around the NHL using the new show slogan "Every Highlight. Every Game. Every Night."  The TV spot features NHL players watching NHL Tonight in their everyday life - at home, in arenas, working out, taping sticks, on the road and relaxing in hotel rooms.  Including the new NHL Network tagline "Where the NHL Gets Hockey," the campaign aptly features a number of the NHL's biggest names including New Jersey's Zach Parise, Carolina's Jeff Skinner, Toronto's Dion Phaneuf, Montreal's Brian Gionta, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, Vancouver's Ryan Kesler, Anaheim's Corey Perry, Chicago's Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Washington's Alex Ovechkin, and New York's Brad Richards and Henrik Lundqvist.

The NHL Tonight advertising campaign will run across the US and Canada, and includes TV, online, radio, print, in-arena, mobile and social media executions.

NHL Network at the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

On Dec. 29, NHL Network will set up stage in Philadelphia to provide fans with daily coverage live from the site of the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic – adding up to more than 25 hours of original programming around the event.  From the transformation process turning the famed ballpark into an ice rink, to daily press conferences and weather reports provided in collaboration with the Weather Channel™, NHL Network becomes the destination for fans to keep apprised of everything happening in Citizens Park Bank™ leading up to and following the fifth annual outdoor game. 

Deb Placey, EJ Hradek and Bill Pidto will bring the popular daily afternoon show NHL LIVE to Philadelphia along with the rest of the NHL Network broadcasting team from field level at Citizens Bank Park including host Kathryn Tappen, analysts Barry Melrose, Jeremy Roenick and Kevin Weekes. Reporter Heidi Androl will check in from Spectator Plaza, a free, three-day fan festival just outside the gates of Citizens Bank Park.  NHL Network talent also will provide intermission reports from Citizen Bank Park during the U.S. broadcasts of the 2012 World Junior Championship on the Network.

Joining the NHL Network team as special guest analysts for the Network's Winter Classic coverage is former NHLer Mark Recchi, who will bring unique insight to the event.  Recchi played in the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic in Boston as a member of the Bruins.  He finished his 22-season NHL career by winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins last season.

On Dec. 31, Broad Street meets Broadway in the Molson Canadian 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game, featuring some of the biggest names from Rangers and Flyers past including former Blueshirts Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney and Mike Gartner and Flyers Bob Clarke, Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mark Howe, Jeremy Roenick and Reggie Leach.  NHL Network will air a 90-minute special providing a detailed account of the game and reliving all of the memorable moments.

As the current Rangers and Flyers take to the open-air ice for the first time on January 1 for team practices, NHL Network will be there broadcasting it live beginning at 11 a.m. ET.  On game day, January 2, beginning at 10 a.m., NHL Network will provide live coverage from field level in the lead-up to puck drop as the ultimate pre-game show.  The 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Post-Game Show will air immediately following the game's conclusion.

Digital customers in participating systems of Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, and Charter Communications will be offered a free preview of NHL Network beginning Dec. 29 through Jan. 2.  (Not available in all areas.)

The complete schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):

Thursday, December 29
5:00-7:00 p.m.        NHL LIVE
7:00-8:00 p.m.        NHL Network at the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m.      2012 World Junior Championship – Canada vs. Denmark (U.S. only)
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m.               NHL Tonight

Friday, December 30
2:00-3:30 p.m.        NHL LIVE
3:30-6:30 p.m.        2012 World Junior Championship – Czech Republic vs. U.S. (U.S. only)
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
6:30-7:00 p.m.        NHL LIVE
7:00-8:00 p.m.        NHL Network at the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m.      2012 World Junior Championship – Finland vs. Denmark (U.S. only)
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m.               NHL Tonight

Saturday, December 31
3:30-5:00 p.m.        2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game Recap
5:00-5:30 p.m.        NHL Plays of the Year Special
5:30-8:00 p.m.        NHL Network at the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m.      2012 World Junior Championship – U.S. vs. Canada (U.S. only)
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m.               NHL Tonight

Sunday, January 1
11:00-5:00 p.m.      2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Practice Day
5:00-6:00 p.m.        2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Practice Day Recap
6:00-9:00 p.m.        Calgary Flames @ Nashville Predators
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
9:00-10:00 p.m.      NHL Tonight from the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

Monday, January 2
10:00-1:00 p.m.      2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Pre-Game Show
4:00-5:00 p.m.        2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Post Game Show
5:00-8:00 p.m.        2012 World Junior Championship – Quarterfinal #1
                                (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
8:00-9:00 p.m.        NHL On The Fly
9:00-11:00 p.m.      2012 World Junior Championship – Quarterfinal #2
11:00 p.m.               NHL Tonight