One of the outdoor NHL games NBC will broadcast from Lake Tahoe will come with a bonus special on famed announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick, who retired in October after almost 50 years in broadcasting (including going full-time nationally with NBC from 2011-20) and 47 broadcasting professional hockey. This special, which will air ahead of pre-game coverage for the Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers game on Feb. 21, features interviews with 20 prominent hockey people about Emrick, including past players like Wayne Gretzky, current players like Sidney Crosby, tons of members of the media world, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Here’s more on that from NBC:
NBC Sports will premiere Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey, Presented by Discover – detailing the illustrious career of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and eight-time Sports Emmy Award winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick – on Sunday, February 21 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, leading into coverage of the NHL outdoor game at Lake Tahoe featuring the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.
Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey will feature interviews with 20 NHL players and broadcasting colleagues discussing Emrick’s long-lasting impact on the sport of hockey, including:
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
Players – Wayne Gretzky, Martin Brodeur, Sidney Crosby, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise and Blake Coleman
Commentators – Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire, Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Bill Clement, Chico Resch, John Davidson, A.J. Mleczko, Brendan Burke, Kathryn Tappen, and Evan Pivnick.
Here’s a preview clip featuring Gretzky:
One GOAT talking about another GOAT. Wayne Gretzky knows greatness, and he got to see first hand just how special Doc was.
Doc Emrick: The Voice of Hockey debuts on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. on NBC.
NBC Sports | Presented by: @Discover pic.twitter.com/Hv0r3oCacL
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) February 11, 2021
This could be quite an interesting special, and Emrick’s career (which also saw him win his fourth NSMA Sportscaster of the Year award in 2020) is certainly worthy of this kind of treatment. And this is a logical slot to put a feature like this in; it helps make this outdoor game feel more notable to have a unique special like this airing ahead of it, and some people may tune in for the special and then stick around for the game. (Conversely, some of those who might not have watched this special normally might tune in to it with it airing ahead of a prominent game.) We’ll see how this works out, but there’s definitely a good list of interviewees here, and people from many different eras.
