NHL Radio is the official national radio broadcaster of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
, covering the
Stanley Cup Finals, both Conference Finals, selected early round playoff action, the
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...
, the
NHL Winter Classic and a selected number of regular-season games. The package was distributed by
Westwood One
Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...
and premiered in the
1993-94 season. This arrangement lasted through the end of the
2007-08 season until it was relaunched for the
2016 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2016 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2015–16 season, and the culmination of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Western Co ...
, through the network's
NBC Sports Radio
NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of ...
service. The contract was continued for the
2016-17 season with a playoff game of the week, both conference finals, the
Stanley Cup Finals, the
Winter Classic
The NHL Winter Classic (french: La Classique hivernale de la LNH) is an annual regular season outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day, generally in a football or baseball stadium in an area ...
and select regular season games being added. The NBC Sports Radio brand was dropped in 2020; Westwood One will syndicate the broadcasts directly. In 2021,
Sports USA Radio Network
Sports USA Media is the largest independent sports broadcasting radio network in the United States, specializing in live broadcasts of American football, specifically of the NCAA football Division I-A and National Football League. In 2018, more th ...
took over the national radio rights to the NHL.
''NHL Radio's blackout rules''
Within 75 miles of a team's home arena, only stations the team or its
flagship station contracts with can carry those games, regardless if the team is home or away. Thus, any competing station that carries national broadcasts cannot air those games.
Unlike
Westwood One's NFL coverage and other leagues' radio coverage, there have never been any
blackout restrictions on internet streaming of NHL games. Also, during the Stanley Cup Finals, there is also no requirement that only the 2 participating teams' flagship stations are allowed to carry coverage, as is the case with the NFL during the Super Bowl and
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
during the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
; local network affiliates may continue to carry the local broadcast and are not forced to carry the Sports USA feed.
Commentators
*
Kenny Albert
Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four ...
*
Bob Beers
*
Brian Boucher
Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 season ...
*
Roxy Bernstein
Allen Samuel "Roxy" Bernstein (born September 25, 1972) is an American sportscaster for ESPN, the Pac-12 Network, and the Oakland Athletics.
Early life and career
Bernstein was born in San Francisco and grew up on the Peninsula in the Bay Area. ...
*
Doug Brown
*
Bill Clement
*
Greg Dickerson Greg Dickerson is a Boston sportscaster who served as the Boston Celtics sideline reporter and co-host of ''Sports Tonight'' for Comcast SportsNet New England.
Dickerson's career began in 1995 at WWTM in Worcester, Massachusetts and WBZ radio i ...
*
Darren Eliot
Darren Joseph Eliot (born November 26, 1961) is a Canadian sports broadcaster and a former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 88 games in the National Hockey League for the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres betwe ...
*
Jim Fox
*
Ray Ferraro
Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently broadcaster for ESPN/ ABC and formerly of TSN. He played for 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whaler ...
*
Dave Goucher
Dave Goucher is an American sportscaster who currently serves as the television play-by-play voice announcer for the Vegas Golden Knights on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
A 1993 graduate of Boston University, Goucher began his broadcasting care ...
*
Sean Grande
*
Steve Goldstein
*
Gary Green
*
Brian Hayward
Brian George Hayward (born June 25, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who currently serves as a color analyst for Anaheim Ducks broadcasts on Prime Ticket/Fox Sports West and KDOC.
Playing career
Hayward played coll ...
*
Billy Jaffe
Billy Jaffe (born April 2, 1969) is an on-air ice hockey analyst for NESN, provides commentary for pre-game, post-game and intermission shows during Boston Bruins games. Jaffe also served as a hockey analyst for Sportsnet, and for select coverag ...
*
Joe Micheletti
Joseph Robert Micheletti (born October 24, 1954) is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, a ...
*Matt McConnell
*
Eddie Olczyk
Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. (; born August 16, 1966) is a former center in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He ...
*
Darren Pang
Darren Robert Pang (born February 17, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (1984–85 and 1987–89).
He is currently the lead c ...
*
Howie Rose
Howard Jeffrey Rose (born February 13, 1954) is an American sportscaster. He is currently a radio broadcaster for the New York Mets on WCBS. Previously, Rose called play-by-play for the New York Rangers and New York Islanders.
Early life
Rose ...
*
Sam Rosen
*
Sherry Ross
Sherry Ross (born c. 1954) is an American sports broadcaster and journalist who most recently worked alongside Matt Loughlin as a color commentator for the NHL's New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts. She is the first woman to serve as an analyst ...
*
Dan Rusanowsky
*
Dave Strader
David Strader (February 24, 1955 – October 1, 2017) was an American sportscaster, primarily known for his play-by-play commentary of ice hockey. During his career, he worked on telecasts for the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Phoenix ...
*
Ralph StrangisOver the last five seasons, Ralph has also done play-by-play and ice-level reporting for NHL Radio for World Cup and NHL regular season and playoff games, including the last two Western Conference Final series’.
*Joe Tolleson
* John Vanbiesbrouck
Stanley Cup Finals commentating crews
See also
* National Hockey League on the radio
References
External links
NHL on NBC Sports Radio/Westwood One , Free Internet ...NHL on NBC Sports RadioFang's Bites: Westwood One Radio's Announcing Assignments for the NHL Conference Finals
Fang's Bites: Westwood One Radio's Announcing Assignments for the NHL Stanley Cup Finals
{{National Hockey League on the radio
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
American sports radio programs
1993 radio programme debuts
1990s American radio programs
2000s American radio programs
2010s American radio programs
NBC Sports Radio