This question is for Doc. There was a piece in Newsday recently about the changes to your home setup where the delay was minimized between the video you were watching and what was actually being shown on the screen. I was wondering if you could go into the detail on how your setup has improved since the restart began, and I was also wondering if you think that maybe down the line, who knows when we’ll be able to get back to a normal situation, what kind of changes can be done in the future to minimize the difference between doing it remotely and doing it in the arena?
MIKE EMRICK: I’m afraid that’s out of my technical knowledge. I will say this, that there was a considerable equipment adjustment made at our truck in Edmonton, because I was routed through Stamford for the earlier games, and then for the Conference Final. And for the Stanley Cup Final, it was done directly to the truck in Edmonton because they were all going to be there.
But I am not a technically aware person, so I’m afraid I can’t answer the question for you that way.
When I was calling a game at home, not only in the first couple of rounds but also in these, I was calling off a screen, and as far as I knew there was no delay for me whatsoever. What was happening elsewhere, I did not know. It was going fine for me at my end, and if there were other issues elsewhere at the time that I was doing it, I was not aware of it.
Sam, I’m sorry that I have to toss this to you to an extent because you knew something about the adjustment in equipment for the later rounds, and I did not know the specifics of that. But in gratitude to you for making adjustments, maybe this is also out of your technical knowledge, but it certainly is out of mine.
SAM FLOOD: It was two tin cans, we stretched the string between it, and that sped up the process. Alexander Graham Bell was an analyst for us and helped us through, and Mr. Bell said if you go a shorter distance, which is from where you are outside Detroit to Edmonton, the sound and pictures will travel quicker, and that’s what we did and miraculously it worked. So the shorter distance sped us up.
MIKE EMRICK: Well, the bottom line is it seemed to work much better, and I’m not sure exactly how it all came about because I am able to operate a cell phone and I am able to text, but there’s not a whole lot more technologically that I know.
SAM FLOOD: Big shout out to our tech team and how they executed and looked for solutions to make us better, led by the head of the whole group, David Mazza. It’s just a remarkable group that puts on all the Olympics and all the events for us, and for them to focus on making this the best possible execution for Doc is just another tip of the cap to that group.
Sam, will this be more of an NBC independent production for the Cup versus CBC’s world feed? And then for Pierre and Brian, you’ve spent a lot of time in the bubble; can you talk about life the past two months? Was that life what you anticipated? And how do you reflect on those sacrifices you made as we approach the end of this run?
SAM FLOOD: Well, we shifted essentially to our own production by Game 2 of the Conference Finals, so we wheeled our own truck in there. The production that was creating the world feed in Toronto moved on up to Edmonton, and they are executing — obviously sharing cameras and equipment with our friends at Rogers, but we’re producing an entirely independent feed with our own replays, everything is executed within that truck with Matt Marvin, Chuck Dammeyer, Jenny Glazer, and Steve Greenberg, the four production people are in the house making it happen. And that’s how it’s working.
PIERRE McGUIRE: First of all, this has been an amazing opportunity to learn a lot about a lot of different people in the National Hockey League, whether it be referees, coaches, players. The Edmonton bubble has been really cool to be a part of because you get to see people away from the rink, not just at the rink all the time, so I’ve enjoyed that part of it. Really grateful for the healthcare professionals and the hotel staffing in particular. They’ve gone the extra mile. The bedside manner of the healthcare professionals every day you go for your COVID test, nobody is sullen, nobody is sour, everybody is smiling, they’re all saying ‘hey, good morning or good afternoon to you,’ and it just makes the whole process a lot easier.
But I think the biggest thing when I think about this experience more than anything else is that it shows that the league came together to do something right, and this has gone unbelievably right. The players, the coaches, the trainers, the upper management of all these teams and in particular the upper management of the National Hockey League and the people at NBC, it’s been an amazing endeavor and I’m really proud to say that I was part of it.
BRIAN BOUCHER: Ditto to what Pierre said. Well said. On my end, I’ve been fortunate to be a part of three bubbles. I started at Royal York, moved to the Hotel X, and now to Edmonton. So I’ve had the unique opportunity to see three different spots. I agree with Pierre, the staff at every single hotel has been fantastic.
You know, I said that this whole thing was like being at the greatest youth hockey tournament you could ever imagine, minus the parents, and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been great to see the players away from the rink and how professional they’ve been and how polite they’ve been just with guys like us.
They don’t always want to see media types around, but they’ve been great to deal with, and on a personal level they’ve been great.
The whole thing has been — I know it sounds crazy to say — but it’s been a lot of fun. Just being around the game, seeing the game and the quality of play that we’ve had, I just can’t say enough for everybody that’s made this a reality, and it’s been a unique experience, and I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.
2020 STANLEY CUP FINAL CONFERENCE CALL - TRANSCRIPT - NBC Sports Pressbox
