List of NHL Winter Classic broadcasters

The following is a list of NHL regular season outdoor games broadcasters, including those in Canada and in the United States.
The first NHL Heritage Classic was played in 2003 at Commonwealth Stadium between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. Although the Oilers had suggested the idea of hosting an outdoor game as early as the mid 1980s, the genesis of the 2003 event was the "Cold War" outdoor game played two years prior between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.
One year later, NBC Sports Executive VP Jon Miller pitched the idea of an annual outdoor television event to the NHL in 2004 "but they didn't find the concept workable." In December 2006, Miller found an ally in then NHL Executive VP/Business & Media John Collins, who embraced the idea. The first Winter Classic was held January 1, 2008, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The game had an NHL-record crowd of 71,217 fans in attendance. The success of the 2008 NHL Winter Classic led the NHL to schedule a second one for 2009, held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on January 1, 2009, matching the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks.
That game had the highest American television ratings of any hockey game in 33 years. The success of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic has solidified "the Classic" as an annual event from then on. The Winter Classic was officially made a permanent part of the NHL schedule through at least January 1, 2021, as part of the league's television contract with the NBC Sports Group. The Winter Classic is also broadcast in Canada by the league's TV partner there too.
Unlike the annual Winter Classic and Stadium Series games, Heritage Classic games have been held infrequently.
For the 2013–14 NHL season, the NHL introduced three other outdoor games known as the Stadium Series. The 2014 Stadium Series was held in Los Angeles, California, New York City and Chicago, Illinois. Another Stadium Series game was held the following season in Santa Clara, California, with two more games scheduled for the 2015–16 season in Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To celebrate the league's centennial anniversary in 2017, two special outdoor games were held: The NHL Centennial Classic on January 1, 2017, to kickoff the year; and then the NHL 100 Classic played on December 16.
== United States ==
Year 	Network 	Play-by-play 	Color commentators	Ice level reporters 	Studio host 	Studio analysts
2018 Stadium Series 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Mike Milbury 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones
2018 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Mike Milbury 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Keith Jones
2017 100 Classic 	NBCSN 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Garry Galley and Kyle Bukauskas 	Kathryn Tappen 	Keith Jones and Brian Boucher
2017 Stadium Series 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2017 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Bob Costas and Liam McHugh	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2017 Centennial Classic 	NBC 	John Forslund 	Brian Boucher 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick
2016 Heritage Classic 	NHL Network 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Scott Oake 	David Amber 	Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman
2016 Stadium Series (Denver) 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick
2016 Stadium Series (Minneapolis)	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2016 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2015 Stadium Series 	NBCSN 	Dave Strader 	Eddie Olczyk 	Brian Engblom and Carolyn Manno 	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick
2015 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2014 Heritage Classic 	NBCSN 	Gord Miller 	Brian Engblom 	Brian Engblom 	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick
2014 Stadium Series (Chicago) 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2014 Stadium Series (New York) 	NBC (Rangers–Devils)
NBCSN (Rangers–Islanders)	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury, Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick
2014 Stadium Series (Los Angeles)	NBCSN 	Dave Strader 	Anson Carter 	Brian Engblom and Jeremy Roenick 	Russ Thaler 	Jeremy Roenick
2014 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2012 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang 	Bob Costas 	Mike Milbury
2011 Heritage Classic 	Versus (now NBCSN)	Dave Strader 	Andy Brickley 	Brian Engblom 	Bill Patrick 	Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick
2011 Winter Classic 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang 	Bob Costas 	Mike Milbury
2010 	NBC 	Mike Emrick-Eddie Olczyk-Pierre McGuire	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang 	Bob Costas 	Mike Milbury
2009 	NBC 	Dave Strader 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang 	Bob Costas 	Mike Milbury
2008 	NBC 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Darren Pang 	Bob Costas 	Mike Milbury
=== Notes ===
* The first outdoor game between two NHL teams was an official pre-season match-up on September 27, 1991. The game took place in the parking lot of Caesars Palace[10] in Las Vegas, Nevada, and featured the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers.[11] The game was televised live on Prime Ticket, and, due to its uniqueness, has since been repeated numerous times on other networks, such as MSG Network and the NHL Network.[12] During the game, Kings goaltender Kelly Hrudey wore a camera mounted on his mask, and shots from his point of view were used during the broadcast.[13]
* There was no separate American live telecast of the 2003 Heritage Classic. ESPN, the American rights-holder at the time, was already committed to broadcasting college football on its channels during that day. American viewers who wanted to watch the game live could view the Canadian CBC broadcast on NHL Center Ice.
* In 2008, some NBC affiliates decided instead to air the game on secondary channels often used for weather service. Therefore, in some markets, fans with a satellite service carrying DirecTV or DISH Network were unable to watch the game. Despite this, and competing with broadcasts of college football bowl games (this was particularly noted in the Detroit, Michigan market, usually a strong market for hockey ratings, where the Wolverines were playing in the Capital One Bowl), the game garnered a 2.6 rating and 5 share, the highest rating for a regular season NHL game since 1996, and the highest share since Wayne Gretzky's final game in 1999, in a near tie with second-place CBS' 2.7 rating for Gator Bowl coverage. The production earned a 38.1 rating in Buffalo and 17.7 rating in Pittsburgh, to lead all markets.
** NBC had an airplane flying overhead to provide bird's-eye views of the rink, including a live webstream from its camera throughout the game. The announcers stood in a constructed perch on the penalty box side of the rink, in front of the stadium stands.
* In 2009, Dave Strader filled-in for Mike Emrick on play-by-play commentator for NBC because Emrick deal with laryngitis.
** On January 3, 2009, the NHL reported that the overnight television ratings had increased 12% over the 2008 game. Nationally, the game had 2.9 overnight rating and a 6 share. In Chicago, Thursday's game drew a national high of an 11.8 rating and 21 share, with Detroit second at 10.5 and 21 (this despite that yet again, a Michigan-based team was playing in the Capital One Bowl opposite the Winter Classic—this time the Michigan State Spartans). Other above-average markets included Buffalo (whose 10.1 rating/20 share was comparable to Detroit's), St. Louis (5.3/10), Pittsburgh (4.4/8), Denver (4.2/10), Providence (3.5/7), Indianapolis (3.4/6), West Palm Beach (3.3/6), and Orlando (3.2/5).[18] Each overnight ratings point equals about 735,000 TV homes.[19] On January 12, the final ratings figure was announced. There was an average of 4.4 million viewers of the game on NBC, and this was the largest since the February 23, 1975 match between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers.
* The 2011 Winter Classic was delayed by 7 hours due to rainy weather and ended up being played in prime time.
* The 2012 game was played on January 2 since January 1 landed on a Sunday.
* The 2013 game was cancelled on November 2, 2012, due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout.
* Since 2016, NHL Network or NBCSN simulcast CBC Sportsnet's coverage of the outdoor game that do not involve an American team.
== Canada (English) ==
Year 	Network 	Play-by-play 	Color commentators 	Ice level reporters 	Studio host 	Studio analysts
2018 Stadium Series 	CBC
Sportsnet 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Kyle Bukauskas 	Ron MacLean 	Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman
2018 Winter Classic 	Sportsnet 	Mike Emrick 	Mike Milbury 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2017 100 Classic 	CBC
Sportsnet 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Garry Galley and Kyle Bukauskas 	Ron MacLean 	Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman
2017 Stadium Series 	Sportsnet 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2017 Winter Classic 	Sportsnet 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Bob Costas and Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2017 Centennial Classic 	Sportsnet 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Scott Oake 	Ron MacLean and David Amber	Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman
2016 Heritage Classic 	Sportsnet 	Jim Hughson-Craig Simpson and Cassie Campbell-Pascall-Scott Oake	Craig Simpson 	Scott Oake 	David Amber 	Nick Kypreos, Kelly Hrudey and Elliotte Friedman
2016 Stadium Series (Denver) 	Sportsnet 	Mike Emrick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Kathryn Tappen 	Jeremy Roenick
2016 Stadium Series (Minneapolis)	Sportsnet 	Mike Emrick-Eddie Olczyk-Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Eddie Olczyk 	Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick 	Liam McHugh 	Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2016 Winter Classic 	Sportsnet 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Scott Oake 	George Stroumboulopoulos 	Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman
2015 Stadium Series 	CBC (produced by Rogers Communications)	Paul Romanuk 	Mike Johnson 	Kelly Hrudey and Cassie Campbell-Pascall 	George Stroumboulopoulos 	Elliotte Friedman
2015 Winter Classic 	CBC (produced by Rogers Communications)	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Scott Oake 	George Stroumboulopoulos 	Nick Kypreos
2014 Heritage Classic 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Kelly Hrudey 	Glenn Healy and Cassie Campbell-Pascall 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2014 Stadium Series (New York) 	CBC (Rangers-Devils)
TSN (Rangers-Islanders)	Jim Hughson
Mike Emrick 	Craig Simpson
Eddie Olczyk 	Glenn Healy and Cassie Campbell-Pascall
Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick	Ron MacLean
Liam McHugh 	Don Cherry, P.J. Stock, Kevin Weekes, and Elliotte Friedman
Mike Milbury and Keith Jones
2014 Stadium Series (Los Angeles)	CBC 	Mark Lee 	Kelly Hrudey 	Scott Oake 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2014 Winter Classic 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy, Scott Oake, and Andi Petrillo	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry, P.J. Stock, Kevin Weekesand Elliotte Friedman
2012 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2011 Heritage Classic 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2011 Winter Classic 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2010 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2009 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Craig Simpson 	Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2008 	CBC 	Jim Hughson 	Greg Millen 	Elliotte Friedman 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
2003 	CBC 	Chris Cuthbert 	Greg Millen and Glenn Healy	Steve Armitage and Scott Oake 	Ron MacLean 	Don Cherry
=== Notes ===
* The CBC television broadcast of the 2003 Heritage Classic set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in HD on CBC.
** Despite the overwhelming popularity of the original Heritage Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers in 2003, the popularity of the Winter Classic in Canada is low and declining. On Canada's CBC Television network, the Winter Classic has lower ratings than its weekly regular season telecasts Hockey Night in Canada. This has been attributed to the lack of Canadian teams in any of the Winter Classics and has led to a revival of the all-Canadian Heritage Classic.
* In 2011, the seven-hour delay on the CBC broadcast schedule caused the classic to be completely preempted in the province of Ontario. The network's coverage of the NHL that night began with the Battle of Ontario at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. ET, and broke away to the Classic outside Ontario. The CBC truncated the broadcast after two hours in Alberta to show the Battle of Alberta at Rexall Place in Edmonton in its entirety.
* TSN simulcasted NBCSN's coverage of the 2014 Stadium Series game between the Rangers and the Islanders.
** There was no separate Canadian live telecast of the 2014 Stadium Series game in Chicago. CBC instead broadcast the Toronto Maple Leafs–Montreal Canadiens game being played at the same time.
* Since 2016, Sportsnet simulcast NBC Sports' feed of the Winter Classic and Stadium Series that do not involve a Canadian team.
==Canada (French)==
Year 	Network 	Play-by-play 	Color commentators	Ice level reporters 	Studio host 	Studio analysts
2018 Stadium Series 	TVA Sports 	Denis Casavant 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
2018 Winter Classic 	TVA Sports 	Félix Séguin 	Alain Chainey 	 	 	
2017 100 Classic 	TVA Sports 	Félix Séguin 	Patrick Lalime 	Renaud Lavoie and Marc-André Perreault	 	
2017 Stadium Series 	TVA Sports 2 	Sébastien Goulet 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
2017 Winter Classic 	TVA Sports 	Félix Séguin 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
2017 Centennial Classic 	TVA Sports 	Denis Casavant 	Alain Chainey 	Mathieu Dandenault 	Frédéric Lord 	
2016 Heritage Classic 	TVA Sports 2 	Sébastien Goulet 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
2016 Stadium Series (Denver) 	TVA Sports 2 	Sébastien Goulet 	Éric Fichaud 	 	 	
2016 Stadium Series (Minneapolis)	TVA Sports 	Denis Casavant 	Alain Chainey 	 	 	
2016 Winter Classic 	TVA Sports 	Félix Séguin 	Patrick Lalime 	Renaud Lavoie 	 	
2015 Stadium Series 	TVA Sports 2 	Denis Casavant 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
2015 Winter Classic 	TVA Sports 	Félix Séguin 	Patrick Lalime 	Renaud Lavoie 	 	
2014 Heritage Classic 	RDS 	Michel Y. Lacroix	Norman Flynn 	 	 	
2014 Winter Classic 	RDS 	Michel Y. Lacroix	Norman Flynn 	Renaud Lavoie 	 	
2012 	RDS 	Michel Y. Lacroix	Denis Gauthier 	Renaud Lavoie 	Claude Mailhot 	Jocelyn Lemieux
2011 Heritage Classic 	RDS 	Pierre Houde 	Benoît Brunet 	Joel Bouchard 	Alain Crête 	Mario Tremblay
2011 Winter Classic 	RDS 	Michel Y. Lacroix	Denis Gauthier 	Renaud Lavoie 	Yanick Bouchard	Jocelyn Lemieux
2010 	RDS 	Michel Y. Lacroix	Norman Flynn 	Renaud Lavoie 	Yanick Bouchard	Bob Hartley
2009 	RDS 	Pierre Houde 	Benoît Brunet 	Chantal Machabée 	Alain Crête 	Michel Bergeron, Joel Bouchard and Jacques Demers
2008 	RDS 	Pierre Houde 	Yvon Pedneault 	Chantal Machabée 	Alain Crête 	Benoît Brunet, Michel Bergeron and Jacques Demers
2003 	RDS and SRC (simulcast)	Pierre Houde 	Yvon Pedneault 	 	 	
Category:NHL Winter Classic
Category:National Hockey League broadcaster