“It’s a new home for hockey.”
That’s how the NHL and Prime Video kicked off the event to promote their new media venture in Toronto, Ontario.
With the NHL preseason already underway and the start of the regular season weeks away, the league is going to make the viewing experience for its fans much more convenient with their programs Prime Monday Night Hockey and Coast to Coast.
The cast for the broadcast was also announced where all games played on Monday will be available for streaming for the next two seasons. In addition, there was a screening of the highly anticipated docuseries entitled Faceoff: Inside The NHL, featuring a number of star players as we get a behind the scenes look at their personal lives on and off the ice.
Unveiling Prime Monday Night Hockey
Earlier this year, the NHL and Rogers Communications came to a two-year agreement with Prime Video to stream a number of hockey games on Monday nights for subscribers. The creation of this telecast allows Prime members in Canada to log in and stream all the games available that night. There is a connection with all three organizations, as Sportsnet launched on Prime Video last year in Canada and the NHL has been using Amazon Web Services for in-depth analytics, like puck-tracking, during their broadcasts.
Now, fans will get the full experience with a new way of media being made available to them.
“This is part of the evolution of how content, particularly important valuable content like live sports… like hockey in Canada evolves to the next level of media distribution and connects with our fans,” commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Their [Prime Video] distribution platform is broader than anything and their willingness to invest in the game I think bodes really well for the fan experience.”
Already with a foundation in place, this paved the way for this major media product to come to fruition.
“Our goal is to make Monday Night Hockey bigger than it’s ever been,” said Jay Marine, head of global sports for Amazon. “There is nothing like hockey in Canada. It’s already big, the sport itself is amazing, fast-paced and part of the culture. We have to live up to that moment and then bring more innovation and a fresh look to then take it to new heights.”
As a result of the broadcast on the streaming service, hockey fans in Canada can easily access games with their Prime Video accounts. The ones to deliver that experience are the talented crew for the broadcast. The cast includes; Mark Messier, John Forslund, Adnon Virk, Andi Petrillo, Thomas Hickey, Jody Shelley, Shane Hnidy and Blake Bolden. Petrillo will also host the new Coast to Coast program as a new fast-paced recap show.
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Prime Video has already been streaming major sports broadcasts as they also have kicked off Thursday Night Football for the National Football League with their own cast and strong broadcast. Bettman and the league wants to put together content that can elevate the most dominant sport in Canada.
“We are to Canada what the NFL is to the United States and I think Prime is going bring a unique touch making substantial investment… give our fans a unique spectacular experience which is part of the evolution of media,” Bettman said. “It’s having the ability to create even more in-depth content… it’s going to be the use of data, it’s going to be the storytelling and it’s going to be how the games are produced.”
While fans can expect a new experience with a live broadcast, there’s also a personal side of the game they can enjoy.
Prime Video Dives Into Players’ Lives With New Docuseries
In addition to the news of the new broadcast, Prime Video and the NHL gave a private screening of the new docuseries Faceoff: Inside The NHL to the media and everyone present. The series is set to premiere on Oct.4 and is the fourth original program that the NHL and Amazon have produced.
Paul Martin, one of the executive producers for the series, was always drawn to the sport of hockey. It wasn’t until a meeting at a Los Angeles Kings game with notable hockey agent Pat Brisson that got him the idea to create the series and being one of the main architects behind it.
“I’m a massive sports fan, so I love being on the inside of these worlds and I love to see it,” Martin said. “The athletes are slightly different; the chronology of the season is slightly different. Given that we kind of started at the All-Star Game, I don’t think we ever really envisioned it was going to turn into a very playoff heavy show at the beginning, but with our schedule and with the players that we selected, it was sort of inevitable that this playoff run was going to become a huge part of the series.”
The initial announcement for this docuseries was announced in early June, while the Stanley Cup Playoffs was still ongoing. The series will delve into the personal lives of NHL players, both on and off the ice. The stars of the series will be: David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins), Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche), Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators), Jacob Trouba (New York Rangers), William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) and Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights).
The Maple Leafs’ Nylander– who had a career season in 2023-24 with 40 goals, 98 points, being named an All-Star and signing a new contract– was on hand at the event to promote the series and give his take at being one of the centre pieces for it. Nylander didn’t hesitate at the opportunity to be a part of this series based on others he has seen in the past.
“It was very fun as a kid watching that,” Nylander said. “Giving that back a little bit to the younger generation… it’s fun.”
Nylander is in the very first episode with his close friend David Pastrnak as the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins went head-to-head in the playoffs. The series alone was nerve racking; winning, losing and even dealing with an injury that kept him out for the first three games of the series. Fans will get to see Nylander through the high and low points during the filming of the episode on and off the ice.
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“That’s just the way it is,” Nylander said. “You go up and you go down. You win one game, you lose the next game. You just got to stay even throughout the entire process.
“There’s always a roller coaster of emotions and you just try to keep it even.”
Needless to say, if there was another opportunity to create another series like this, Martin wouldn’t hesitate at the opportunity. “I love the world. I love the characters. I think there’s a ton more stories to tell. We’d love to go again.”
From a new broadcast on a top streaming service, to an inside look of the players lives on and off the ice, the NHL and Prime Video are going above and beyond to give fans a whole new experience into the game of hockey. It’s got something for everyone and it’s going to go more in-depth that we’ve seen with the technology that’s already been implemented.
It won’t be long before fans get to enjoy the product.
