Fox Sports begins its fourth season of NHL coverage
Sunday with the 48th NHL All-Star Game from Vancouver at
4:00pm ET. Mike Emrick and John Davidson return as Fox's
No. 1 team, with analysts Joe Micheletti and Craig Simpson
serving as reporters. James Brown and Dave Maloney will do
the studio show from Vancouver during pre-game, intermission
and post-game coverage. Fox's Saturday NHL regular season
coverage begins next week (Fox Sports).
TECH-TALK: Fox Sports Exec Producer Ed Goren said that
"technical advances will be noticed" during Sunday's game.
Goren: "We're testing a helmet cam on a linesman for face-
offs, and we plan on as many as five robotic cameras around
the rink to bring the viewer more of the excitement you feel
at a hockey game in person" (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 1/16).
ESPN will debut the "MaskCam," a 16-ounce lipstick-sized
camera affixed to Sabres G Dominik Hasek's mask, during its
coverage of "NHL All-Star Saturday" at 9:00pm ET. He will
wear the camera throughout the skills competition. ESPN's
Brian Engblom will wear a version of MaskCam on his helmet
and a microphone for commentary. Gary Thorne and Barry
Melrose will host ESPN's coverage, with Bill Clement and
Darren Pang serving as ice-level reporters. Steve Levy will
host ESPN's weekend-long coverage (ESPN).