NBC's hockey schedule going where it hasn't been much before

Kevin Allen | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Taylor Hall thinks NHL stars should be more active on social media Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils feels that the league's stars need to be more active on social media in order to grow the sport.

NBC Sports will televise the Vegas Golden Knights twice in the first week of the NHL season. The Nashville Predators will be featured three times in the first month. The Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lightning will appear on NBC before Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

The network’s changing strategy will be revealed today when it announces a record 109-game regular-season schedule with a greater diversity in team selection than in the past.

“It’s a new world,” Sam Flood, president and executive producer of NBC and NBC Sports, told USA TODAY Sports. “We need to embrace and celebrate those teams more than we ever have before. It doesn’t take away from those great Pittsburgh-Philadelphia games and Bruins-Canadiens games. We will keep doing those, but we have to lean into some different matchups.”

NBC also will announce that the All-Star Game, scheduled for San Jose on Jan. 26, will be broadcast in prime time on a broadcast network for the first time since 1997.

The Wednesday Night Rivalry format will be replaced by Wednesday Night Hockey, the change that will create most of the schedule diversity on NBC Sports Network. Wednesday Night Hockey will feature 17 doubleheaders. Tampa Bay, Colorado, Toronto, Vegas, Edmonton, Nashville and Winnipeg will all have multiple appearances on that night.

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“Sometimes I think, through no fault of anyone, we were looking at the ratings through a core group of teams,” Flood said. “Rivalry Night was successful but some of (the rivalries) don’t have the juice they once did when we started this 12 or 13 years ago.”

NBC plans to bring a roaming studio, and some of their top talent, to many of the doubleheader sites to add more flavor to the broadcasts.

Flood said one objective of the new strategy is “to show what’s happening in the newer markets.”

More than 60% of the Wednesday Night Hockey games will feature a Western Conference team.

Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule https://t.co/Xn3zNlPxzc — NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) August 13, 2018

NBC is not abandoning the traditionally strong markets: The Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals will appear eight times on Wednesday Night Hockey. The Penguins will be on seven times.

The NHL has been criticized in the past for not celebrating its stars enough, and NBC’s 2018-19 lineup will pay homage to star quality.

On Oct. 24, the American network (NBCSN) will feature the Canadian matchup of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Jets because those are projected to be two strong teams with plenty of star power. The Maple Leafs have John Tavares and Auston Matthews, among others. The Jets boast Patrik Laine, one of the top young players.

“We have dug deep to make sure we are touching all the right markets,” Flood said. “We are touching Canada in a way we never have before.”

The ratings success of the expansion Golden Knights played a role in NBC’s changing strategy. The five-game Stanley Cup Final between Vegas and Washington averaged 4.918 million viewers and was the most-watched Stanley Cup Final that didn’t have an Original Six team, according to NBC, which said Game 5 of that series, drawing 6.714 million viewers, was the most-watched Stanley Cup Final game in 16 years.

SCHEDULE

Date Away Home Network Time (ET)

Wed., Oct 3 Boston Washington NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Anaheim San Jose NBCSN 10:30 p.m.

Thur., Oct. 4 Nashville N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Philadelphia Vegas NBCSN 10 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 9 San Jose Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 10 Vegas Washington NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 16 Arizona Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 17 N.Y. Rangers Washington NBCSN 7 p.m.

Boston Calgary NBCSN 9:30 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 19 Minnesota Dallas NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 23 San Jose Nashville NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 24 Toronto Winnipeg NBCSN 7 p.m.

Tampa Bay Colorado NBCSN 9:30 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 30 Vegas Nashville NBCSN 8 p.m.

Thur., Nov. 1 Winnipeg Florida NBCSN 2 p.m.

Tues., Nov. 6 Edmonton Tampa Bay NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 7 Pittsburgh Washington NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Nashville Colorado NBCSN 10 p.m.

Tues., Nov. 13 Tampa Bay Buffalo NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 14 St. Louis Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Anaheim Vegas NBCSN 10:30 p.m.

Tues., Nov. 20 Edmonton San Jose NBCSN 10:30 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 21 Philadelphia Buffalo NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 23 N.Y. Rangers Philadelphia NBC 1 p.m.

Chicago Tampa Bay NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Tues., Nov. 27 Vegas Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 28 St. Louis Detroit NBCSN 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh Colorado NBCSN 9:30 p.m.

Tues., Dec. 4 Toronto Buffalo NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Dec. 5 Edmonton St. Louis NBCSN 8 p.m.

Chicago Anaheim NBCSN 10:30 p.m.

Tues., Dec. 11 Detroit Washington NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Dec. 12 Pittsburgh Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Dec. 18 Nashville Chicago NBCSN 8:30 p.m.

Wed., Dec. 19 Pittsburgh Washington NBCSN 8 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 21 Buffalo Washington NBCSN 7 p.m.

Thur., Dec. 27 Philadelphia Tampa Bay NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 1 Boston Chicago NBC 1 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 2 Pittsburgh N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7 p.m.

San Jose Colorado NBCSN 9:30 p.m.

Thur., Jan. 3 Chicago N.Y. Islanders NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Sun., Jan. 6 Chicago Pittsburgh NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 8 Philadelphia Washington NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 9 Nashville Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Thur., Jan. 10 Winnipeg Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 14 Montreal Boston NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 15 Los Angeles Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 16 Boston Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

San Jose Arizona NBCSN 10 p.m.

Thur., Jan. 17 Chicago N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7 p.m.

Sun., Jan. 20 Washington Chicago NBC 12:30 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 21 St. Louis Los Angeles NBCSN 4 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 22 Detroit Edmonton NBCSN 9 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 23 Washington Toronto NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Nashville Vegas NBCSN 10 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 28 Winnipeg Philadelphia NBCSN 7 p.m.

Tues., Jan. 29 Philadelphia N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 30 Tampa Bay Pittsburgh NBCSN 8 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 2 Tampa Bay N.Y. Rangers NBC 8 p.m.

Minnesota Chicago NBC 8 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 3 Boston Washington NBC 12:30 p.m.

Wed., Feb. 6 Boston N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 8 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 10 St. Louis Nashville NBC 12:30 p.m.

Toronto N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7 p.m.

Mon., Feb. 11 Pittsburgh Philadelphia NBCSN 7 p.m.

Tues., Feb. 12 Chicago Boston NBCSN 7 p.m.

Wed., Feb. 13 Edmonton Pittsburgh NBCSN 8 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 17 N.Y. Rangers Pittsburgh NBC 12:30 p.m.

St. Louis Minnesota NBC 3 p.m.

Philadelphia Detroit NBCSN 6 p.m.

Mon., Feb. 18 Tampa Bay Columbus NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Boston San Jose NBCSN 10 p.m.

Tues., Feb. 19 Toronto St. Louis NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Feb. 20 Chicago Detroit NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Boston Vegas NBCSN 10 p.m.

Thur., Feb. 21 Los Angeles Nashville NBCSN 8 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 23 Pittsburgh Philadelphia NBC 8 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 24 St. Louis Minnesota NBCSN 7 p.m.

Mon., Feb. 25 Los Angeles Tampa Bay NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Tues., Feb. 26 Buffalo Philadelphia NBCSN 7 p.m.

Wed., Feb. 27 Tampa Bay N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Chicago Anaheim NBCSN 10 p.m.

Thur., Feb. 28 Tampa Bay Boston NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Sun., Mar.3 Washington N.Y. Rangers NBC 12:30 p.m.

Nashville Minnesota NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Tues., Mar. 5 Minnesota Nashville NBCSN 8 p.m.

Wed., Mar. 6 Washington Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

St. Louis Anaheim NBCSN 10 p.m.

Thur., Mar. 7 Columbus Pittsburgh NBCSN 7 p.m.

Sun., Mar. 10 Boston Pittsburgh NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Anaheim NBCSN 10 p.m.

Mon., Mar. 11 San Jose Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Mar. 12 Washington Pittsburgh NBCSN 7 p.m.

Wed., Mar. 13 Chicago Toronto NBCSN 7 p.m.

New Jersey Edmonton NBCSN 9:30 p.m.

Sun., Mar. 17 Philadelphia Pittsburgh NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Edmonton Vegas NBCSN 10 p.m.

Tues., Mar. 19 Washington New Jersey NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Mar. 20 Tampa Bay Washington NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Winnipeg Anaheim NBCSN 10 p.m.

Sun., Mar. 24 Philadelphia Washington NBC 12:30 p.m.

Colorado Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Mon., Mar. 25 Nashville Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m.

Tues., Mar. 26 Carolina Washington NBCSN 7 p.m.

Wed., Mar. 27 N.Y. Rangers Boston NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Vegas Colorado NBCSN 10 p.m.

Sun., Mar. 31 N.Y. Rangers Philadelphia NBC 12:30 p.m.

Boston Detroit NBCSN 7:30 p.m.

Wed., April 3 St. Louis Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m.

Calgary Anaheim NBCSN 10:30 p.m.