Wednesday Night Rivalry

Wednesday Night Hockey is the branding used for National Hockey League games that air on NBCSN on Wednesday nights during the regular season.
In the 2012–13 NHL season, NBCSN rebranded their coverage of Wednesday night games as Wednesday Night Rivalry. It primarily featured rivalry games, although the network has received criticism for games which do not seem to include a strong element of rivalry (such as Los Angeles-Detroit, Pittsburgh-Buffalo, and Chicago-Philadelphia) are common. NBCSN sometimes produces a Wednesday Nightcap game primarily featuring Western Conference teams immediately following their Wednesday Night Rivalry game. Beginning in the 2013–14 NHL season, NBCSN aired the series NHL Rivals, which looks back at the participating teams' historic rivalry, leading up to their Wednesday Night Rivalry game. That same season, NBCSN promoted the games with the slogan "The Night You Love To Hate".
Beginning with the 2018–19 NHL season, NBC Sports rebranded its Wednesday night broadcasts of the NHL as Wednesday Night Hockey, with the focus shifting from rivalry games to powerhouse teams and top NHL stars. The first season of Wednesday Night Hockey will feature more West Coast games and a few matchups featuring Canadian teams.
==Results==
===2012–13 season===
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
January 23, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Boston 	3 	N.Y. Rangers	4 (OT)
January 30, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 	Minnesota 	3 (SO)
February 6, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Boston 	2 	Montreal 	1
February 13, 2013	7:30 P.M.	St. Louis 	4 (SO)	Detroit 	3
February 20, 2013	7:30 P.M.	Philadelphia	6 	Pittsburgh 	5
February 20, 2013	10 P.M. 	St. Louis 	0 	Colorado 	1 (OT)
February 20, 2013	7:30 P.M.	Washington 	1 	Philadelphia	4
March 6, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Colorado 	2 	Chicago 	3
March 13, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Philadelphia	2 	New Jersey 	5
March 20, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Minnesota 	4 	Detroit 	2
March 27, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Montreal 	6 (SO)	Boston 	5
April 3, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Pittsburgh 	1 	N.Y. Rangers	6
April 10, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Boston 	5 	New Jersey 	4
April 17, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Buffalo 	3 (SO)	Boston 	2
April 24, 2013 	7:30 P.M.	Los Angeles 	1 	Detroit 	3
===2013–14 season===
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 2, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Buffalo 	1 	Detroit 	2
October 9, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 	St. Louis 	3
October 16, 2013 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	2 	Washington 	0
October 23, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	5 	Buffalo 	2
October 30, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	Pittsburgh 	3
November 6, 2013 	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	N.Y. Rangers 	5
November 13, 2013	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	2 	Pittsburgh 	1
November 20, 2013	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	4 	Washington 	0
November 27, 2013	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	1 	Detroit 	6
December 4, 2013 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	6 	Detroit 	3
December 11, 2013	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	2 	Chicago 	7
December 18, 2013	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	4 (SO)	N.Y. Rangers 	3
January 8, 2014 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Chicago 	2
January 15, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Washington 	3 	Pittsburgh 	4
January 22, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	4 	Detroit 	5 (SO)
January 29, 2014 	7:30 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	2 	N.Y. Islanders	1
February 5, 2014 	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	5 	Buffalo 	1
February 26, 2014	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	4 	Buffalo 	5 (OT)
February 26, 2014	10 P.M. 	Los Angeles 	6 	Colorado 	4
March 5, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Washington 	4 	Pittsburgh 	6
March 12, 2014 	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	4 	Montreal 	1
March 19, 2014 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	0 	Chicago 	4
March 26, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	1 	N.Y. Rangers 	3
April 2, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	Detroit 	3
April 2, 2014 	10:30 P.M.	Phoenix 	0 	Los Angeles 	4
April 9, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	3 	Pittsburgh 	4 (SO)
April 9, 2014 	10:30 P.M.	San Jose 	2 	Anaheim 	5
===2014–15 season===
TSN's Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger begin to make appearances on Wednesday Night Rivalry as NHL insiders every pregame and first intermission.
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 8, 2014 	7:30 P.M. 	Philadelphia	1 	Boston 	2
October 8, 2014 	10 P.M. 	San Jose 	4 	Los Angeles 	0
October 15, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 (SO)	Detroit 	2
October 22, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	5 	Pittsburgh 	3
October 29, 2014 	7:30 P.M. 	Detroit 	4 	Washington 	2
November 5, 2014 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	3 	N.Y. Rangers	4 (OT)
November 12, 2014	8 P.M. 	Boston 	1 	Toronto 	6
November 12, 2014	10:30 P.M.	Los Angeles 	5 	Anaheim 	6 (SO)
November 19, 2014	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	0 	N.Y. Rangers	2
December 3, 2014 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	1 	Chicago 	4
December 10, 2014	8 P.M. 	Toronto 	2 	Detroit 	1
December 17, 2014	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 (OT)	Minnesota 	2
January 7, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 (OT)	Pittsburgh 	2
January 7, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	N.Y. Rangers	4 	Anaheim 	1
January 14, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	0 	Washington 	1
January 21, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	3 	Pittsburgh 	2
January 21, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Los Angeles 	2 	San Jose 	4
January 28, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	0 	Washington 	4
January 28, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Chicago 	3 	Los Angeles 	4
February 4, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	N.Y. Rangers	3
February 11, 2015	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	1 	Pittsburgh 	4
February 11, 2015	10:30 P.M.	Washington 	5 	San Jose 	4
February 18, 2015	7:30 P.M. 	Detroit 	3 (SO)	Chicago 	2
February 18, 2015	10 P.M. 	Los Angeles 	4 	Colorado 	1
February 25, 2015	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	4 	Washington 	3
March 4, 2015 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	1 	Detroit 	2 (OT)
March 11, 2015 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Washington 	1
March 18, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	1 	N.Y. Rangers	0
March 18, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Los Angeles 	2 	Anaheim 	3 (OT)
March 25, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	1 	Philadelphia	4
April 1, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	4 	Pittsburgh 	1
April 1, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Colorado 	1 	San Jose 	5
April 8, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	0 	Washington 	3
April 8, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Dallas 	4 	Anaheim 	0
===2015–16 season===
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 7, 2015 	8 P.M. 	NY Rangers 	3 	Chicago 	2
October 7, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	San Jose 	5 	Los Angeles 	1
October 14, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	0 	Philadelphia 	2
October 21, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	5 (OT)	Boston 	4
October 28, 2015 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	Washington 	1
October 28, 2015 	10:30 P.M.	Nashville 	2 	San Jose 	1
November 4, 2015 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	6 (OT)	Chicago 	5
November 11, 2015	7:30 P.M. 	Montreal 	3 	Pittsburgh 	4 (SO)
November 18, 2015	8 P.M. 	Washington 	2 (OT)	Detroit 	1
December 2, 2015 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	1 	N.Y. Islanders	2 (SO)
December 9, 2015 	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Montreal 	1
December 9, 2015 	10 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	4 	Colorado 	2
December 16, 2015	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	0 	Boston 	3
January 6, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	Chicago 	3
January 13, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	Philadelphia 	3
January 20, 2016 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	2 	Detroit 	1
January 20, 2016 	10:30 P.M.	Minnesota 	1 	Anaheim 	3
January 27, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	4 (OT)	Washington 	3
January 27, 2016 	10:30 P.M.	Colorado 	4 	Los Angeles 	3
February 3, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	1 	Tampa Bay 	3
February 10, 2016	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Pittsburgh 	0
February 17, 2016	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 	N.Y. Rangers 	3
February 24, 2016	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	Boston 	5
February 24, 2016	10 P.M. 	San Jose 	3 	Colorado 	4 (SO)
March 2, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 	Detroit 	2
March 9, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 	St. Louis 	3 (SO)
March 16, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	3 	Chicago 	2
March 23, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	N.Y. Rangers 	5
March 30, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Washington 	1 	Philadelphia 	2 (SO)
April 6, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	0 	Detroit 	3
===2016–17 season===
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 12, 2016 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	5 	Chicago 	2
October 12, 2016 	10:30 P.M.	Los Angeles 	1 	San Jose 	2
October 19, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	2 	N.Y. Rangers 	1
October 26, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	N.Y. Rangers 	5
November 2, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	3 	Philadelphia 	4 (OT)
November 9, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 (OT)	St. Louis 	1
November 16, 2016	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	Washington 	7
November 30, 2016	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	N.Y. Islanders	5
November 30, 2016	10:30 P.M.	San Jose 	4 	Los Angeles 	1
December 7, 2016 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Washington 	4 (OT)
December 14, 2016	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Pittsburgh 	4 (OT)
December 14, 2016	10 P.M. 	Philadelphia 	4 	Colorado 	3
December 21, 2016	8 P.M. 	Washington 	2 	Philadelphia 	3 (SO)
January 4, 2017 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers 	5 	Philadelphia 	2
January 11, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	2 	Washington 	5
January 18, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	5 	Detroit 	6 (SO)
January 18, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	San Jose 	3 	Los Angeles 	2
January 25, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia 	2 	N.Y. Rangers 	0
February 1, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Washington 	5
February 1, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	Colorado 	0 	Los Angeles 	5
February 8, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	4 (OT)	Minnesota 	3
February 15, 2017	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	2 	Detroit 	0
February 15, 2017	10:30 P.M.	Florida 	6 (OT)	San Jose 	5
February 22, 2017	8 P.M. 	Washington 	4 	Philadelphia 	1
March 1, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	Chicago 	4
March 8, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	1 	Boston 	6
March 15, 2017 	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	0 	Philadelphia 	4
March 22, 2017 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Islanders	3 	N.Y. Rangers 	2
March 29, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 	Pittsburgh 	1
April 5, 2017 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers 	0 	Washington 	2
===2017–18 season===
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 4, 2017 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	5 	Pittsburgh 	4 (OT)
October 4, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	Philadelphia	5 	San Jose 	3
October 11, 2017 	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	Washington 	2
October 18, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 	St. Louis 	5
October 18, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	Montreal 	1 	Los Angeles 	5
October 25, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Buffalo 	1 	Columbus 	5
November 1, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	0 	Chicago 	3
November 1, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	Nashville 	1 	San Jose 	4
November 8, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	N.Y. Rangers	4
November 8, 2017 	10:30 P.M.	Tampa Bay 	5 	San Jose 	1
November 15, 2017	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Chicago 	6
November 29, 2017	7:30 P.M. 	Tampa Bay 	1 	Boston 	3
December 6, 2017 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	2 	Washington 	6
December 13, 2017	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Detroit 	2 (OT)
December 20, 2017	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	3 	Philadelphia	4
January 3, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 	N.Y. Rangers	2
January 10, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Minnesota 	2 	Chicago 	1
January 17, 2018 	7:30 P.M. 	Montreal 	1 	Boston 	4
January 17, 2018 	10 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	Anaheim 	5
January 24, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Toronto 	3 (OT)	Chicago 	2
January 31, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Philadelphia	3 	Washington 	5
February 7, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	6 	N.Y. Rangers	1
February 28, 2018	8 P.M. 	Detroit 	1 	St. Louis 	2
March 7, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	5 	Philadelphia	2
March 14, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	N.Y. Rangers	4 (OT)
March 21, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	1 	St. Louis 	2 (OT)
March 28, 2018 	8 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	2 	Washington 	3 (OT)
April 4, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Chicago 	4 	St. Louis 	3
===2018–19 season (as Wednesday Night Hockey)===
As part of the new Wednesday Night Hockey format, "Inside the Glass" reporter Pierre McGuire is now assigned to work the late game of Wednesday Night Hockey doubleheaders while Brian Boucher takes over "Inside the Glass" reporting duties for the early game alongside Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk. McGuire joins the lead team of Emrick and Olczyk only during single-header Wednesday Night Hockey games. In addition, Kathryn Tappen replaced Liam McHugh as the studio host for the first half of the season when the latter was promoted to work postgame coverage of Sunday Night Football.
On February 20, Mike Tirico made his NHL announcing debut calling the Blackhawks–Red Wings game with Olczyk and Boucher.
Date 	Time 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	Score
October 3, 2018 	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	0 	Washington 	7
October 3, 2018 	10:30 P.M.	Anaheim 	5 	San Jose 	2
October 10, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Vegas 	2 	Washington 	5
October 17, 2018 	7 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Washington 	4 (OT)
October 17, 2018 	9:30 P.M. 	Boston 	2 	Calgary 	5
October 24, 2018 	7 P.M. 	Toronto 	4 	Winnipeg 	2
October 24, 2018 	9:30 P.M. 	Tampa Bay 	1 	Colorado 	0
November 7, 2018 	7:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	1 	Washington 	2
November 7, 2018 	10 P.M. 	Nashville 	4 	Colorado 	1
November 14, 2018	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	0 	Chicago 	1
November 14, 2018	10:30 P.M.	Anaheim 	0 	Vegas 	5
November 21, 2018	7:30 P.M. 	Philadelphia	2 	Buffalo 	5
November 28, 2018	7 P.M. 	St. Louis 	3 	Detroit 	4
November 28, 2018	9:30 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	Colorado 	6
December 5, 2018 	8 P.M. 	Edmonton 	3 (SO)	St. Louis 	2
December 5, 2018 	10:30 P.M.	Chicago 	2 	Anaheim 	4
December 12, 2018	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	3 	Chicago 	6
December 19, 2018	8 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	2 	Washington 	1
January 2, 2019 	7 P.M. 	Pittsburgh 	7 	N.Y. Rangers	2
January 2, 2019 	9:30 P.M. 	San Jose 	5 	Colorado 	4
January 9, 2019 	8 P.M. 	Nashville 	4 (OT)	Chicago 	3
January 16, 2019 	7:30 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	Philadelphia	4
January 16, 2019 	10 P.M. 	San Jose 	3 	Arizona 	6
January 23, 2019 	7:30 P.M. 	Washington 	3 	Toronto 	6
January 23, 2019 	10 P.M. 	Nashville 	2 	Vegas 	1
January 30, 2019 	8 P.M. 	Tampa Bay 	2 	Pittsburgh 	4
February 6, 2019 	8 P.M. 	Boston 	3 	N.Y. Rangers	4(SO)
February 13, 2019	8 P.M. 	Edmonton 	1 	Pittsburgh 	3
February 20, 2019	7:30 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 (OT)	Detroit 	4
February 20, 2019	10 P.M. 	Boston 	3 (SO)	Vegas 	2
February 27, 2019	7:30 P.M. 	Tampa Bay 	4 (OT)	N.Y. Rangers	3
February 27, 2019	10 P.M. 	Chicago 	4 	Anaheim 	3
March 6, 2019 	7:30 P.M. 	Washington 	5 	Philadelphia	3
March 6, 2019 	10 P.M. 	St. Louis 	5 	Anaheim 	4
March 13, 2019 	7 P.M. 	Chicago 	5 	Toronto 	4
March 13, 2019 	9:30 P.M. 	New Jersey 	6 	Edmonton 	3
March 20, 2019 	7:30 P.M. 	Tampa Bay 	5 (OT)	Washington 	4
March 20, 2019 	10 P.M. 	Winnipeg 	3 	Anaheim 	0
March 27, 2019 	7:30 P.M. 	N.Y. Rangers	3 	Boston 	6
March 27, 2019 	10 P.M. 	Vegas 	3 	Colorado 	4
April 3, 2019 	8 P.M. 	St. Louis 	3 	Chicago 	4 (SO)
==Ratings==
Wednesday Night Rivalry has produced successful viewership for NBCSN.
During its inaugural season, Wednesday Night Rivalry was called "the hottest new brand in sports" by Forbes. It claimed six of the top eight most-watched NHL regular-season telecasts ever on NBC Sports Network and averaged 646,000 viewers. With the success of Wednesday Night Rivalry, the 2012–13 NHL season was the most watched NHL season on cable in 19 years.
During the 2013–14 NHL season, Wednesday Night Rivalry averaged 559,000 viewers, up 26% from its average viewership of Wednesday night games during the 2011–12 NHL season (443,000). The first two seasons of Wednesday Night Rivalry has recorded none games with more than 700,000 viewers as compared to four during the two seasons prior to the introduction of Wednesday Night Rivalry.
During the 2014–15 NHL season, NBCSN's Wednesday Night Rivalry coverage averaged 565,000 viewers. NBCSN's opening night coverage of Bruins-Flyers had an opening-night cable record 956,000 viewers. Seven of the 10 most-watched NHL games on NBCSN were Wednesday Night Rivalry games.
During the 2015–16 NHL season, Wednesday Night Rivalry averaged 608,000 viewers and produced three of the 10 most-watched NHL regular-season games on NBCSN during their time as the NHL pay television carrier. NBCSN's 10-most watched games of the 2015-16 season were either Wednesday Night Rivalry or Sunday Night Hockey games.
==References==
NBC
Category:NHL broadcasts