Television viewers will have two choices on how to watch Tuesday鈥檚 Winter Classic, the NHL outdoor game between the Blues and Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley Field. And those who have the Max streaming service will have three options:
- Traditional coverage, the one on which former Blues broadcaster Darren Pang is set to appear, , and there will be plenty of pregame hoopla before faceoff time 鈥 which is listed for 4 p.m. but likely will be later.
The final installment of the 鈥淩oad to the NHL Winter Classic鈥 series, which focuses on the teams heading into the event, is set for 2:30 p.m. The pregame show begins at 3 o鈥檆lock, with Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter and Liam McHugh setting the stage while broadcasting from a fan festival near the ballpark. Scheduled to be included is a performance by country music artist Jon Pardi.
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Kenny Albert has the play-by-play assignment. Commentary will be provided by Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher will add analysis from the ice level. In addition to Pang鈥檚 interviews, Jackie Redmond will provide reports from throughout Wrigley Field.
- An analytics-centric version of the telecast will be available on truTV and also streamed on Max, which producers are touting as a show that will 鈥減rovide deeper context and understanding of how statistics are utilized by players, coaches and front offices across the National Hockey League.鈥
John Forslund will do the play-by-play of that one, with commentary from former NHL player Colby Armstrong as well as NHL Network analyst Mike Kelly, who also is the director of analytics and insights for Sportlogiq, a firm that used technology to evaluate sports performances.
TruTV also will carry the pregame programming that starts at 2:30 p.m.
- There will be a third version geared to deaf viewers, using American Sign Language. That will be streamed on Max.
Radio report
There also will be extensive coverage of the event on Blues radio network flagship station WXOS (101.1 FM).
Alex Ferrario, co-host of the station鈥檚 midday show as well as hosting Blues studio programming, is set to broadcast from Wrigley Field from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday. That leads into a one-hour show centering on the Classic and players who have participated in the event. Then regular pregame programming begins at 3 o鈥檆lock.
Chris Kerber (play-by-play) and Joey Vitale (analysis) then call the game.
