There have been some unusual crossovers between NBC’s various sports properties in the past, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. appearing on NHL coverage last year (and being criticized by Keith Olbermann) and Mike Tirico calling Wednesday night’s first game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. And that’s set to continue in the back half of Wednesday night’s NBCSN doubleheader, with NASCAR driver Kurt Busch appearing both on the pregame show and then on the bench with Pierre McGuire during the Boston Bruins-Vegas Golden Knights game. Ron Kantowski of The Las Vegas Review-Journal has more on that:
NASCAR star Kurt Busch of Las Vegas will go “Inside the Glass” during NBCSN’s coverage of Wednesday night’s Golden Knights game against the Boston Bruins at T-Mobile Arena.
…Busch, who was involved in a crash during the first half of Sunday’s Daytona 500, will participate in the “Wednesday Night Hockey” pregame show before joining NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire inside the glass at ice level for part of the second period.
“I’m looking forward to it, to experiencing the game from that perspective, to meet some of the players and to root on my hometown team, the Vegas G0lden Knights,” the 2004 Cup Series champion said.
It’s been previously established that Busch is a Golden Knights fan, as he was one of the celebrities sounding the team’s siren during last year’s Stanley Cup Final (where they lost in five games to the Washington Capitals):
.@KurtBusch is FIRED UP to be on @NHLonNBCSports' #WNH game tonight on @NBCSN!
Flashback to the time he sounded the @GoldenKnights' siren at Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. pic.twitter.com/THI41czmqv
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 20, 2019
But it’s still notable to see him show up on a NBCSN hockey broadcast, and it will be interesting to see how that’s received. As mentioned before, the Earnhardt appearances last year took some criticism as blatant cross-promotion of another network property. Maybe this will go the same way. Or maybe having Busch involved will actually be a benefit; after all, that means less talking from McGuire, and that has some value for viewers. (We’ll see if McGuire tries to mansplain hockey to Busch the way he did with Kendall Coyne.) At any rate, we know this crossover from NBC Sports properties will only truly be complete when we see Arlo White and Lee Dixon calling hockey, and Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk calling a Premier League match.
[The Las Vegas Review-Journal]
