TSN brings NHL Draft to Primetime Audience

By Andrew
Lippe

Hockey
prospects from all over the world will gather at the Nationwide Arena in

Columbus,

OH
this Friday June 22 for the first round of the NHL Draft. Canadian broadcaster
TSN will be on hand to capture all the action live and deliver the draft to
homes in primetime. All the action begins at 7 p.m. ET on Friday with
continuing coverage through Saturday June 23. Fans can also catch live coverage
of the Draft on the TSN website.

TSN created
video profiles of 94 hockey prospects for the first round.

Each player has three to four videos of playing footage.

“It would
be tough for a player to picked and us not now about him,” said Mark Milliere,
executive producer for NHL on TSN. Some of the players’ videos were shot in HD
and others were shot in 4:3. Milliere said this year’s Draft will not to
be in HD but will be in 16:9 format. TSN shot many regular season games in 16:9.

TSN will
be ready to interview a player immediately after he is chosen. Most
prospects and GM’s are also in the Draft room so teleconferencing is not necessary.

“The arena becomes a big TV studio,” said Milliere.

TSN hockey
insider Bob McKenzie will be breaking down the selections with a panel of
special guests that include Pierre McGuire, Gord Miller, and former Columbus
Blue Jackets General Manager, Doug MacLean. The TSN team will be hosted by
James Duthie with Darren Dreger providing updates from the draft floor and Farhan
Lalji interviewing players, and family members in the stands.

TSN will
broadcast using a Dome Productions truck. “TSN will use seven hard cameras, four
Hand held cameras, and one POV camera,” said Milliere. The Cameras are Ikegami
388’s.

There are
a number of prominent players in the Draft this year including the highly scouted Patrick
Kane. Kane a right wing out of the OHL is expected to be the first selection by
the Chicago Blackhawks. “Unlike other Draft’s the NHL has only five minutes
between pics,” said Milliere.

TSN will display
a countdown clock before each selection. “The Miniboard which will drive our
countdown clock runs off a Maxvision, which has an AJA HD/SD card built into
them,” said Milliere.

The list of
draftees will displayed on the bottom of the TV Screen thanks to ticker that uses
a Matrox card solution.

The NHL
Network’ who is also covering the draft will simulcast TSN’s draft
coverage of the first round.

Their
in-depth analysis will be hosted by Dan Pollard and will be joined with
analysts Todd Lewis and Gary Green.

Despite
the Stanley Cup’s Finals disappointing TV ratings TSN expects a good turnout.

“The draft did extremely well last year and there are many Canadian
teams in first round,” said Milliere.