Photo: Charles P. Grendys
With hockey season roughly two months away, promotional clips and commercials will be needed for any major broadcaster holding NHL rights. As the sole holder of national broadcasting rights of the NHL, NBC (whose contract expires after this season) is no exception, and this season, two Washington Capitals will be a part of NBC’s promotions this year, as both T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov are in Chicago shooting promos for NBC’s “Wednesday Night Hockey”.
In a recent Instagram post, set builder Charles P. Grendys posted photos and videos of both Capitals forwards posing and going through directed motions for various commercial clips, including standing in front of the Wednesday Night Hockey logo on a screen display, or skating closer to the camera. In one video, Kuznetsov performs his famous post-goal celebration, “The Bird” as he skates towards the camera, which appears to be one of multiple shots, as he asks “Same thing?”, while in another, he puck-handles as he skates towards the camera.
The promos are being filmed at Fifth Third Arena, the practice facility for the Chicago Blackhawks, and have been going on throughout the week, with both Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, and Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid also being filmed earlier in the week.
The Capitals are set to appear in 12 nationally-broadcast, NBC games this season, including seven times on Wednesday Night Hockey, as well as their traditional Super Bowl Sunday game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals appeared in 18 nationally-broadcast games last season.
By Michael Fleetwood
