NHL Faceoff 2025: Entering Its Fifth Year as League Partner, ESPN Captures the Sport’s Speed, Subtlety

New tools, refined workflows bring hockey’s breakneck pace closer to the fan

Few sports move as fast — or demand as much precision — as ice hockey. For ESPN’s production and operations teams, the challenge is not only to keep up with the puck but also to help fans see what their eyes can’t always catch in real time.

Enter a new season of NHL on ESPN, where slow-motion replays, low-angle cameras, on-ice rigs, and dynamic audio mixes converge to bring the sport’s speed and skill into sharper focus than ever before.

“Our athletes are some of the fastest, strongest, most impressive athletes in the world,” says Linda Schulz, VP, production, NHL, ESPN. “We’re always looking for ways to help people who didn’t grow up strapping on skates understand that — and to make it feel as close to being in the arena as possible.”

This year, ESPN’s NHL coverage — which begins with a tripleheader tonight, starting with the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup banner-raising at 5 p.m. ET — takes another stride toward that immersive experience. From new behind-the-net camera angles to skate-mounted shots and enhanced sound design, the production team is emphasizing intimacy, clarity, and analysis — all in the pursuit of showing the speed of the game in a way that’s both beautiful and intelligible.

New Perspectives: The Camera Behind the Goal

At the heart of ESPN’s visual upgrade is a new low camera position, just behind the goal and slightly above the glass, a spot developed in collaboration with the NHL over the past year. Outfitted with a small-format POV camera from PROTON Camera Innovations, the position captures the chaos and creativity behind the net like never before: wraparounds, quick passes, and goalie scrambles that often decide games but can be difficult to follow from traditional broadcast angles.

“That position speaks to how to bring the fan closer and make them feel like they’re in the arena,” Schulz explains. “It’s similar to a handheld on the corner but, with the goal centered in the frame, gives you a new spatial context. Whether you’re taking it live or using it in replay, it feels like the view from the seats; it instantly connects you to the game.”

The behind-the-net camera also aligns with ESPN’s broader push toward high-frame-rate imaging. Through a new exclusive partnership with Game Creek Video, the broadcaster has outfitted its NHL trucks with PROTON’s HFR small-form cameras, providing crisp, super-slow-motion detail on shots, deflections, and saves — those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments that fans and analysts crave.

“We’ve replaced all our POV cameras with a new PROTON series,” says Brock Wetherbee, senior remote operations technical specialist, ESPN. “We’re also experimenting with a high-frame-rate model that lets us see plays develop in a more cinematic way. When you pair that with our new goal-line position, you’re not just covering the game; you’re explaining it visually.”

Skate Cam, MindFly, and On-Ice Access

If the goal-line camera puts viewers at ice level, the Skate Cam takes them directly onto it. The rig returns this season with expanded access, including post-goal celebrations and bench interactions. The result is a perspective that feels personal and spontaneous, offering flashes of joy, frustration, and energy that typically only players experience.

ESPN is working with NHL to expand the access of Skate Cam. Here, the camera was used by ESPN at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, during the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. (Photos: Phil Ellsworth/ESPN Images)

During the Four Nations Face-Off tournament earlier this year, ESPN and the NHL tested new parameters for Skate Cam deployment. The results were electric.

“After a goal, getting that Skate Cam onto the ice gave us a view of the celebration that was really special,” Schulz recalls. “It was one of those moments when everyone in the truck went, ‘Ooh, what’s that?’ You don’t get many of those anymore, that surprise. We’re bringing that back for Opening Night and for our major tentpole events.”

The broadcaster is also working closely with the NHL to integrate MindFly, a body-mounted camera system that records stabilized, first-person video and audio. It has been used in the past during pregame moments at the Stanley Cup Final.

“MindFly’s best use might actually be hockey,” Schulz points out. “Because players are on skates, the movement is so smooth. During Four Nations, we put it on referees, and the experience was outstanding. It’s something we’re aiming to expand into regular-season and special-event coverage.”

Audio as Atmosphere

Hockey’s energy is not only seen but heard: the slicing of skates, the rattle of boards, the smack of a slapshot. ESPN’s audio team has worked to elevate that sensory experience into a storytelling tool.

“Our sound design is about the experiential part of hockey,” says Wetherbee. “The puck moves so fast and the cuts are so quick that the sound has to follow the action dynamically.”

Each broadcast now features multiple-layered audio mixes, crafted in real time by the A1 inside the truck. Every rinkside-glass microphone — three to six per goal for major events — feeds into a custom 5.1 submix that can pan and fade in sync with the camera cut. The result: a soundscape that tracks with the visuals, bringing the home viewer’s ears right to the ice.

For Opening Night, that immersion will go a step further, with limited referee mics and new ambient configurations designed to highlight in-game communication: whistles, line calls, even snippets of player chatter — all in cooperation with the league and the players association.

“It’s about feeling the action,” Wetherbee says. “When that puck rattles around the net or someone lays a heavy hit, you hear it like you’re there.”

Schulz agrees: “We’re always trying to make it more of an in-arena experience. When you watch our show, we want you to not just follow the game; we want you to feel it.”

Making Hockey Understandable: Analysis Through Visual Tools

As ESPN’s images and sounds grow sharper, Schulz and her team are equally focused on making hockey’s nuances easier to follow. That means rethinking how replays, graphics, and telestration work together.

“I had a moment last year when [analyst] Ray Ferraro broke down a play perfectly — his analysis was spot on — but non-hockey people in the room couldn’t keep up,” Schulz recalls. “They understood what he said, but, by the time, they saw it on screen, the sequence was over. It was a lightbulb moment for me. If football — which everyone understands — uses telestration to slow things down, why don’t we?”

ESPN reporter Emily Kaplan (right) interviews the Philadelphia Flyers’ Travis Sanheim during the 2025 NHL Player Media Tour in September.

This season, Schulz has set a new production goal: every significant replay should include a visual indicator — player tag, arrow, telestrated highlight — to guide the viewer’s eye. ESPN has expanded its tape and ISO production staffing to support that initiative and invested in flexible telestration tools adaptable to both in-truck and REMI workflows.

“We’re working to find the right telestrator for hockey,” Schulz says. “Sometimes our analyst is between the benches, sometimes in the booth; sometimes we’re doing a REMI. So we’re experimenting with different systems and even remote operation through our Libero platform.”

The Viz Libero system, previously operated by a remote partner, is now in the hands of ESPN NHL Telestration Producer Steve Peters — who operates the tool himself — enabling more–frequent, –timely, and –context-rich breakdowns. “The goal is to make our analysis more inclusive,” Schulz adds. “To help every viewer see what our analysts see and to understand it.”

Evolving Scorebug: Analytics in Motion

Nowhere is hockey’s pace more unforgiving than in live commentary. Even the most seasoned play-by-play voices can’t always verbalize advanced metrics as the puck whips around the zone. That’s why ESPN has reimagined the humble scorebug as a dynamic storytelling device.

“The scorebug has become one of the most powerful storytelling tools in our broadcast,” Schulz explains. “It’s not just power plays and clock anymore. It’s a living element that drops smart data in sync with what the viewer’s seeing.”

That might mean showing a player’s current ice time, shot speed, or skating velocity — all powered by the league’s NHL EDGE player- and puck-tracking system. But instead of overwhelming viewers with data, ESPN’s operators weave those numbers in naturally.

“We’re looking for high-end producers to handle that role now,” Schulz says. “They have to listen to the announcers, anticipate where the conversation’s going, and react instantly. You can feel the difference in a show when that’s working right.”

That evolution is exactly what on-air talent like Steve Levy and Ferraro have come to rely on. “The game is so fast that I can’t look down at data in real time,” Levy said during a recent media call. “But our truck does a terrific job of dropping stats right out of the bug — skating speed, attack-zone time, hardest shot of the night — so the fans can see it. It’s a great way to integrate analytics without breaking the rhythm of the game.”

Ferraro added, “A lot of that data comes from the scorebug. While we’re not saying it, it’s still in the broadcast. It’s subtle, but it’s powerful.”

Behind the Scenes: The Ops Engine That Makes It Possible

Pulling off these innovations takes a deep bench. ESPN’s NHL Remote Operations unit — led by Wetherbee — is responsible for coordinating everything from camera networks to REMI transmission paths to onsite engineering.

Now entering the fifth year of the NHL partnership, the group is tighter and more deliberate than ever. The broadcaster’s new exclusive deal with Game Creek Video has standardized technical infrastructure across trucks, helping streamline setup, consistency, and cross-sport learnings. Meanwhile, ESPN’s partnership with The Switch has expanded REMI transmission capacity from 10 to 21 J2K paths, slashing latency and unlocking new storytelling potential.

“That’s a total game-changer,” says Wetherbee. “It opens the world for how producers can use those extra paths: more cameras, more flexibility, and more-creative replay options. It lets our remote teams tell better stories faster.”

Among those making Opening Night happen: Remote Operations Producers Katy Abbott and Phil Erwin in Florida; Remote Operations Specialist Jon Winders, Remote Operations Producer Lee Kalinsky, and Remote Operations Coordinator Adam Moossmann in New York; and Remote Operations Producers Andrew Schneider and Seth Shore in Los Angeles.

In Bristol, Technical Operations Manager Jaime Ramirez and Supervisor Jeff McGuire lead the REMI ops that tie it all together, with Remote Operations Manager Paul Horrell and Remote Operations Coordinator Adam Moossmann.

Looking Ahead: HDR, Stadium Series, and the Cup

Beyond Opening Night’s tripleheader, ESPN is already targeting major milestones for the season ahead. The network plans to roll out HDR broadcasts later this year, enhancing dynamic range and color for its marquee games.

The outdoor Stadium Series on Feb. 1 in Tampa will serve as a testbed for further technology development, including expanded use of Skate Cam and MindFly body cameras.

“They’re building something unlike anything we’ve done before to make ice work in that climate,” Schulz notes. “It’s wild — and we’ll have the toys to match.”

The season’s crescendo will come with ESPN’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final. “We’re always honored to have the championship,” Schulz says. “It’s a huge lift for everyone, but it gives us so much excitement heading into the year.”

The NHL opens its season on tonight with a tripleheader on ESPN. First, the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers host the Chicago Blackhawks at 5 p.m. ET. Then, the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the New York Rangers at 8 p.m. Finally, it’s the Colorado Avalanche at the Los Angeles Kings at 10 p.m.