Giant Blackjack Cards, Skaters In Fountains, Flying Pucks: ESPN Blankets The NHL All-Star Skills Competition In Vegas Tonight – espnfrontrow.com

What has been your favorite part of working on NHL production in its first season back on ESPN, ESPN+, and Hulu? For me, its my first-ever opportunity to work on NHL, but I grew up in Boston where hockey rules. I have bragging rights now with my home crowd! Plus, Im working with veterans on the sport who could not be more passionate about the sports return to our network and streaming platform. And you know whats really great? Its not just us ESPNers that are thrilled to have it back on our air that excitement were helping to create feels amazing.

What are some of the bigger challenges youve faced this season? How we cover sports has changed a lot since we covered the NHL 17 years ago. What that means is we are really had to start from scratch when we created our coverage plan for this season. Thats hard, but it is also an incredible opportunity. In the more than 25 years Ive been working with ESPN, its rare to get the chance to build from scratch. As I said, thats hard, but its really, really cool.

How is hockey different from some of the other sports youve produced?Ive worked on everything from X Games to auto racing to all kinds of college sports. When it comes down to it, sports are about the drive, passion, competition, and stories of the athletes and how to deliver those emotions to the fan. Whats different to me with NHL is that its a team sport that is driven by players who refuse to see themselves as individuals and insist on being a team through and through. In terms of television coverage, hockey is by far the fastest and hardest sport to document while sharing the stories of the teams. But if anyone can handle that challenge, its us.

Hockey Hall Of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup winner Mark Messier on his first season as an ESPN NHL analyst

Spencer Jackson produced the video seen in the ESPNPR Tweet above.

Card Photography Joe Faraoni and Melissa Rawlins ESPN Images

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Giant Blackjack Cards, Skaters In Fountains, Flying Pucks: ESPN Blankets The NHL All-Star Skills Competition In Vegas Tonight - espnfrontrow.com