| NHL on Fox | |
|---|---|
Fox's logo for their regular season broadcasts. |
|
| Also known as | Fox NHL Saturday |
| Format | Sports |
| Created by | Fox Sports |
| Directed by | Sandy Grossman (Stanley Cup Finals) Bob Levy (Stanley Cup Finals studio show) Artie Kemper (NHL on Fox game director) Peter Bleckner (NHL on Fox game director) Michael Frank (NHL on Fox game director) Jennifer Love (senior associate director) Craig Farrell (technical director) Rich Basile (technical director) Rick Tugman (technical director) Jonathan X (technical director) Clark Pierce (graphics producer) John Ward (director of production) |
| Starring | See personalities section |
| Theme music composer | Scott Schreer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Hill Ed Goren |
| Producer(s) | Richard Zyontz (Stanley Cup Finals) Nancy Bernstein (Stanley Cup Finals studio show) Mike Burks (NHL on Fox game producer) Peter Macheska (NHL on Fox game producer) Rich Russo (NHL on Fox game producer) |
| Editor(s) | Andy Boyle Mitch Fehr David Millar Thimmiah Snyder |
| Camera setup | Robert Lawton Pete Chavelrus David Geller Don Cornelli Al Mountford Martin Miller Andy Mitchell James Lytle Mark Stacey |
| Running time | 150 minutes or until game ends |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original run | April 2, 1995 – June 17, 1999 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
NHL on Fox is a television program that televised National Hockey League games on the Fox television network and produced by Fox Sports. The program ran from the 1994–1995 NHL season until the 1998–1999 NHL season. Fox paid $31 million a year ($155 million in total) to televise the NHL.[1] The deal was significant, as a network television contract in the United States was long thought unattainable during the presidency of John Ziegler.[2] The Fox deal is perhaps best remembered for the FoxTrax puck, which while generally popular according to Fox Sports, generated a great deal of controversy from longtime fans of the game.[3]
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Contents
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Fox televised between five and eleven regionally distributed games on Saturday or Sunday afternoons during the regular season, where anywhere from three to six games ran concurrently. All times below are Eastern.
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentator crews |
| 4/2/95 | New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Detroit Boston at Washington Florida at Tampa Bay San Jose at Anaheim |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Pat Foley and Mickey Redmond Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Dick Stockton and Mike Eruzione Kenny Albert and Gary Green |
| 4/9/95 | Boston at Buffalo New York Rangers at New Jersey Dallas at St. Louis Detroit at Chicago Los Angeles at Anaheim |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. |
Pat Foley and Mickey Redmond |
| 4/16/95 | Detroit at St. Louis Pittsburgh at Philadelphia New York Rangers at New York Islanders Chicago at Dallas Los Angeles at San Jose |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Denis Potvin Pat Foley and Mickey Redmond Dave Strader and Gary Green |
| 4/23/95 | New York Rangers at Boston Chicago at St. Louis Detroit at San Jose Philadelphia at Buffalo Anaheim at Los Angeles |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 4/30/95 | St. Louis at San Jose New York Rangers at Philadelphia Washington at Florida Chicago at Detroit Anaheim at Los Angeles |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Mike Eruzione |
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentator crews |
| 1/27/96 | New York Rangers at Boston Philadelphia at Pittsburgh* Anaheim at Los Angeles Colorado at San Jose Tampa Bay at St. Louis Detroit at Chicago |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson Dave Strader and Greg Millen |
| 2/3/96 | Chicago at San Jose Florida at Tampa Bay New York Rangers at Colorado* Pittsburgh at Detroit Buffalo at Boston Philadelphia at St. Louis |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Dave Strader and Greg Millen Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Denis Potvin |
| 2/10/96 | St. Louis at Dallas New York Rangers at New Jersey Detroit at Tampa Bay Philadelphia at Boston* Chicago at Pittsburgh San Jose at Los Angeles |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 3/31/96 | Boston at Buffalo Anaheim at San Jose Pittsburgh at Philadelphia St. Louis at Detroit* Tampa Bay at Washington New York Rangers at New York Islanders |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Denis Potvin |
| 4/7/96 | Colorado at Dallas Detroit at Chicago* Boston at Philadelphia New York Rangers at New Jersey Anaheim at San Jose |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Dave Strader and Greg Millen Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Denis Potvin Randy Hahn and Pete Stemkowski |
| 4/14/96 | Detroit at Dallas Pittsburgh at Boston Los Angeles at Colorado New York Rangers at Florida* St. Louis at Chicago Philadelphia at Tampa Bay |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
*Denotes use of FoxTrax puck.
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | |
| 1/25/97 | Colorado at Boston New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Detroit at Philadelphia Anaheim at Los Angeles Tampa Bay at Florida |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 2/1/97 | Phoenix at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Chicago at Los Angeles New York Rangers at Philadelphia Washington at Florida |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 2/8/97 | New York Rangers at New York Islanders Chicago at Colorado St. Louis at Boston Detroit at Pittsburgh |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Kenny Albert and Craig Simpson Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 2/15/97 | Pittsburgh at Philadelphia Boston at Phoenix Colorado at St. Louis New York Rangers at Chicago |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab |
| 2/22/97 | Phoenix at Anaheim Chicago at Pittsburgh Detroit at St. Louis Philadelphia at Florida |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/1/97 | Philadelphia at Boston Florida at Tampa Bay New York Rangers at Detroit Chicago at Colorado |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentator crews |
| 1/24/98 | Philadelphia at Detroit St. Louis at Chicago New Jersey at New York Rangers Los Angeles at Anaheim Dallas at Colorado Boston at Pittsburgh |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab |
| 1/31/98 | New York Rangers at Boston Chicago at Los Angeles Detroit at Pittsburgh Dallas at St. Louis Tampa Bay at Florida Colorado at San Jose |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
John Kelly and Craig Simpson |
| 2/7/98 | New Jersey at New York Islanders Carolina at Boston Philadelphia at Colorado Los Angeles at Anaheim Chicago at Dallas Detroit at St. Louis |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Howie Rose and Chico Resch Mike Emrick and John Davidson Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab |
| 2/28/98 | Philadelphia at New York Rangers Chicago at Colorado Pittsburgh at Boston Washington at Tampa Bay St. Louis at Los Angeles Phoenix at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/7/98 | Detroit at Los Angeles New York Rangers at New Jersey Florida at Washington Dallas at St. Louis Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Chicago at Boston |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
John Kelly and Craig Simpson Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab Kenny Albert and Terry Crisp Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/14/98 | Buffalo at Pittsburgh Detroit at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Boston Chicago at Tampa Bay Colorado at Los Angeles Phoenix at St. Louis |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/21/98 | Phoenix at Los Angeles Florida at Tampa Bay Boston at Buffalo Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Detroit at New York Rangers Colorado at San Jose |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
John Kelly and Craig Simpson |
| 3/28/98 | Carolina at Philadelphia New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Anaheim at Colorado Detroit at St. Louis Florida at Boston San Jose at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Josh Lewin and Daryl Reaugh |
| 4/4/98 | Detroit at Chicago Colorado at St. Louis Florida at Philadelphia Los Angeles at Washington New York Rangers at New York Islanders |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Terry Crisp |
| 4/11/98 | New York Rangers at Detroit Florida at Pittsburgh Phoenix at St. Louis Washington at Philadelphia Dallas at Tampa Bay Colorado at Los Angeles |
1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m. |
John Kelly and Craig Simpson |
| 4/18/98 | Chicago at Dallas Detroit at Colorado New York Rangers at Philadelphia St. Louis at Phoenix Anaheim at Los Angeles Boston at Pittsburgh |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentator crews |
| 2/7/99 | New York Rangers at Boston Detroit at Pittsburgh Colorado at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
| 2/14/99 | Detroit at New York Rangers Philadelphia at Colorado |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 2/21/99 | Boston at Chicago Colorado at Dallas Detroit at Buffalo |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
|
| 2/28/99 | Philadelphia at New York Rangers Pittsburgh at Washington Los Angeles at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/7/99 | Colorado at Pittsburgh New York Rangers at Boston St. Louis at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
| 3/14/99 | Detroit at Colorado St. Louis at Chicago New York Rangers at New York Islanders |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 3/21/99 | Pittsburgh at New York Rangers Detroit at Philadelphia Colorado at Chicago |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
| 3/28/99 | Philadelphia at Detroit St. Louis at Chicago Los Angeles at Colorado |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 4/4/99 | New York Rangers at New Jersey Detroit at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 4/11/99 | Pittsburgh at Detroit^ Colorado at St. Louis Los Angeles at Dallas |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
| 4/18/99 | Pittsburgh at New York Rangers^ Dallas at Colorado Boston at Philadelphia |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Sam Rosen Jiggs McDonald and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
^The Pittsburgh-New York Rangers game on April 18 (Wayne Gretzky's final game before retirement) began on MSG in the New York market as WNYW (Fox's flagship station) aired a Yankees game against the Detroit Tigers. The station would join the hockey game game midway through the second period. The week prior (April 11), WNYW aired another Yankees game over the Pittsburgh-Detroit NHL game, which instead aired on MSG from start to finish.
FoxTrax (colloquially called the glow puck, smart puck, or super puck) was a specialized ice hockey puck with internal electronics that allow its position to be tracked that was designed for NHL telecasts on Fox. Primarily, it was used to visually highlight the puck on-screen and display a trail when the puck was moving rapidly.
It was criticized, especially in Canada, and was ridiculed by comedians on both sides of the border.
In the first three rounds of the playoffs, two games were televised each round. Canadians were upset over the apparent preference that the NHL had to Fox ahead of CBC for scheduling of playoff games, as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette wrote that the schedule was "just another example of how the N.H.L. snubs its nose at the country that invented hockey and its fans."[4] The controversy repeated itself in 2007, as CBC was once again given second billing to Versus' coverage of the playoffs.[5]
*Denotes use of FoxTrax puck.
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentators |
| 4/20/97 | New York Rangers at Florida Colorado at Chicago Anaheim at Phoenix |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab |
| 4/27/97 | Detroit at St. Louis Dallas at Edmonton Anaheim at Phoenix |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Kenny Albert and Craig Simpson Jiggs McDonald and Peter McNab |
| 5/4/97 | Anaheim at Detroit New York Rangers at New Jersey |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/11/97 | New York Rangers at New Jersey Philadelphia at Buffalo* |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/18/97 | New York Rangers at Philadelphia | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/25/97 | New York Rangers at Philadelphia | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/31/97 | Detroit at Philadelphia | 8 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson, Joe Micheletti and Chris Simpson |
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentators |
| 4/26/98 | New Jersey at Ottawa Washington at Boston Dallas at San Jose |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Kenny Albert and Terry Crisp Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Jiggs McDonald and Daryl Reaugh |
| 5/3/98 | Washington at Boston Detroit at Phoenix |
2 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 5/10/98 | St. Louis at Detroit Montreal at Buffalo |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson |
| 5/17/98 | St. Louis at Detroit | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/24/98 | Detroit at Dallas | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/31/98 | Dallas at Detroit | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 6/9/98 | Washington at Detroit* | 8 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| Date | Teams | Start times (All times Eastern) | Commentators |
| 4/25/99 | New Jersey at Pittsburgh Detroit at Anaheim Phoenix at St. Louis |
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. |
Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti Mike Emrick and John Davidson Kenny Albert and Peter McNab |
| 5/2/99 | New Jersey at Pittsburgh Phoenix at St. Louis |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/9/99 | Buffalo at Boston Detroit at Colorado |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/16/99 | Detroit at Colorado Buffalo at Boston |
2 p.m. 2 p.m. |
Mike Emrick and John Davidson Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/23/99 | Buffalo at Toronto | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 5/30/99 | Colorado at Dallas | 2 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 6/8/99 | Buffalo at Dallas | 8 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 6/10/99 | Buffalo at Dallas | 8 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
| 6/17/99 | Buffalo at Dallas | 8 p.m. | Mike Emrick, John Davidson and Joe Micheletti |
The main broadcast team was Mike Emrick and John Davidson, while regionally distributed games were handled by a variety of announcers. In the first four years of the deal, James Brown and Dave Maloney hosted the show from the Fox studio in Los Angeles. In the final year, it was Suzy Kolber and Terry Crisp. Occasionally, current NHL players such as Mike Modano would serve as guest analysts.
For the All-Star Game, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals, the games (which were national telecasts) were hosted from the arena. The 1996 and 1997 All-Star Games were televised in prime time.
Fox split coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals with ESPN. Game 1 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals was the first Finals game shown on network television since 1980 and the first in prime time since 1973. Games 1, 5, and 7 were usually scheduled to be televised by Fox; Games 2, 3, 4, and 6 by ESPN. However from 1995 to 1998, the Finals were all four game sweeps; 1999 ended in six games. The consequence was that - except for 1995, when Fox did televise Game 4 - the decisive game was never on network television. Perhaps in recognition of this, Games 3–7 were always televised by ABC in the succeeding broadcast agreement between the NHL and ABC Sports/ESPN.
Game 4 of the 1995 Final was notable because not only did the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup, but also their main television play-by-play announcer, Mike Emrick announced it.
Things ended badly between Fox and the league when the NHL announced a new TV deal with ESPN that also called for ABC to become the new network TV partner (as previously mentioned). Fox challenged that it had not been given a chance to match the network component of the deal, but ABC ultimately prevailed.
Fox placed a bid for NHL broadcast rights when they came up for renewal in 2011,[6] but dropped out of bidding as a result of a bidding war between NBCUniversal and ESPN. NBCUniversal (who owns NBC, Versus and USA) won the bidding and a ten-year contract extension.
| Year | Teams | Games Carried | Rating |
| 1995 | New Jersey-Detroit | 1, 4 | 3.4 |
| 1996 | Colorado-Florida | 1, 3 | 3.6 |
| 1997 | Detroit-Philadelphia | 1 | 4.0 |
| 1998 | Detroit-Washington | 1 | 3.3 |
| 1999 | Dallas-Buffalo | 1, 2, 5 | 3.4 |
Game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals drew a 4.7 rating and a 10 share.[7] In the New York City area, the game drew a 10.6 rating and 21 share and in Detroit, 14.1 and 26.[7]
| Season | Number of Dates | Rating |
| 1994–95 | 5 | 2.0 |
| 1995–96 | 6 | 2.1 |
| 1996–97 | 6 | 1.9 |
| 1997–98 | 11 | 1.4 |
| 1998–99 | 11 | 1.4 |
| Year | Rating |
| 1995 | No game due to lockout |
| 1996 | 4.1 |
| 1997 | 2.8 |
| 1998 | 2.7 |
| 1999 | 2.2 |
| Preceded by ABC and NBC |
NHL network broadcast partner in the United States 1994 - 1999 |
Succeeded by ABC |
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