VERSUS Announces 2007-08 Schedule

August 15, 2007   ·   Joe McDonald   ·   Jump to comments

VERSUS RELEASES NHL SCHEDULE FOR 2007-08 REGULAR SEASON
Schedule Features 57 Exclusive Games Including Game of the Week

Network Also Announces Addition of Bill Patrick as New Studio Host for “Hockey Central”

STAMFORD, Conn. (August 15, 2007)—VERSUS, the national cable television home of the NHL, today announced the television schedule for the 2007-08 regular season and the addition of Bill Patrick as the new studio host of “Hockey Central.” The network opens its coverage with a southern California showdown between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings in London on September 30 at 12 p.m. ET. Then, on October 3, VERSUS’ coverage returns to the U.S. with a double-header featuring a match-up between Anaheim and Detroit at 7 p.m. ET and Dallas and Colorado at 9:30 p.m. ET. Bill Patrick will be making his “Hockey Central” debut on October 3. All of the network’s regular-season games are exclusive and VERSUS’ regular-season schedule features an exclusive Game of the Week wherein VERSUS will be the only place on television to watch the NHL game in the U.S. at that time. Every NHL game on VERSUS will be produced and shown in hi def where available.

VERSUS’ 2007-08 NHL schedule highlights some of the most exciting hockey games of the season and every U.S.-based team will be featured on VERSUS at least once during the regular season, with teams like the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers making a season-high eight appearances each. In total, VERSUS will present 57 regular season games, All-Star weekend, wall-to-wall playoff action and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final. Mike “Doc” Emrick will return as the network’s lead play-by-play announcer. He will be joined all season long by the best NHL announcers in the game today, including Eddie Olczyk, Joe Beninati, and Darren Eliot. Additions to the network’s hockey commentating team will be released as details become available.

“In the network’s third year as the exclusive cable television home of the NHL, we worked closely with the league to deliver a schedule that features the best match-ups and most exciting games to continue building off the momentum of last year’s 31-percent increase in viewership during the regular season,” said Marc Fein, Senior Vice President of Programming and Production for VERSUS. “With our superior production quality, all games produced and available in hi def, along with first-rate announce teams and the addition of veteran sports broadcaster Bill Patrick as the host of ‘Hockey Central,’ VERSUS’ coverage this season will be the best viewers have ever seen.”

As always, the network will wrap up the evening with its stellar NHL studio show, “Hockey Central,” with new host Bill Patrick and returning analysts Keith Jones and Brian Engblom. A veteran broadcaster, Patrick currently serves as an anchor for NBC’s Sports Desk and recently completed his fifth year as play-by-play host of USA Network’s PGA Tour coverage. Patrick, who first attained national prominence as a SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, has covered world-class sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NASCAR, Stanley Cup Final games, U.S. Open Golf and Tennis among other high-profile events during his 30-year broadcasting career.

The network’s full schedule follows (subject to change):
*Denotes exclusive Game of the Week

DATE GAMES TIME (ET)
Sun. Sept. 30 Anaheim at Los Angeles 12:00 PM
Wed. Oct. 3* Anaheim at Detroit 7:00 PM
Wed. Oct. 3* Dallas at Colorado 9:30 PM
Tue. Oct. 9* Carolina at Toronto 7:00 PM
Wed. Oct. 10 N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Mon. Oct. 15 Toronto at Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue. Oct. 16* Atlanta at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Mon. Oct. 22 Boston at Montreal 7:30 PM
Tue. Oct. 23* N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Mon. Oct. 29 San Jose at Dallas 8:00 PM
Tue. Oct. 30* Pittsburgh at Minnesota 7:00 PM
Mon. Nov. 5 Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers 7:00 PM
Tue. Nov. 6* N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Mon. Nov. 12 Carolina at Florida 7:30 PM
Tue. Nov. 13* Detroit at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Mon. Nov. 19 Tampa Bay at Atlanta 7:00 PM
Tue. Nov. 20* Boston at Toronto 7:00 PM
Mon. Nov. 26 Buffalo at Washington 7:00 PM
Tue. Nov. 27* Calgary at Detroit 7:00 PM
Mon. Dec. 3 Dallas at Columbus 7:00 PM
Tue. Dec. 4* Detroit at Montreal 7:30 PM
Mon. Dec. 10 Boston at Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue. Dec. 11* Pittsburgh at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Mon. Dec. 17* Washington at Detroit 7:00 PM
Tue. Dec. 18 Ottawa at Boston 7:00 PM
Mon. Dec. 31* St. Louis at Detroit 7:00 PM
Wed. Jan. 2 Atlanta at Carolina 7:00 PM
Tue. Jan. 8 Colorado at Detroit 7:30 PM
Mon. Jan. 14* N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Tue. Jan. 15 Montreal at N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Mon. Jan. 21* Washington at Pittsburgh 7:30 PM
Tue. Jan. 22 Boston at Montreal 7:30 PM
Sat. Jan. 26 All-Star Skills 7:00 PM
Sun. Jan. 27 All-Star Game 7:00 PM
Tue. Jan. 29 Buffalo at Tampa Bay 7:00 PM
Tue. Jan. 29 San Jose at Edmonton 9:30 PM
Wed. Jan. 30 Anaheim at Minnesota 7:00 PM
Wed. Jan. 30 Chicago at Colorado 9:30 PM
Mon. Feb. 4* Pittsburgh at New Jersey 7:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 5 Carolina at Nashville 8:00 PM
Mon. Feb. 11* Phoenix at Dallas 7:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 12 Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 12 Anaheim at Colorado 9:30 PM
Mon. Feb. 18* Detroit at Colorado 8:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 19 Chicago at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Mon. Feb. 25* Philadelphia at Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 26 New Jersey at Carolina 7:00 PM
Mon. March 03* Boston at Washington 7:00 PM
Tue. March 4 Buffalo at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Tue. March 4 Vancouver at Colorado 9:30 PM
Mon. March 10* N.Y. Rangers at Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue. March 11 New Jersey at Montreal 7:30 PM
Mon. March 17* Colorado at Minnesota 7:00 PM
Tue. March 18 Atlanta at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Mon. March 24* Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Tue. March 25 Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers 7:00 PM
Mon. March 31* Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers 7:00 PM
Tue. April 1 TBD
Tue. April 1 Colorado at Vancouver 10:00 PM

VERSUS (VERSUS.com) celebrates real competition in all its forms. Now in more than 72 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events like The Tour de France, the America’s Cup, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Professional Boxing, the Boston Marathon and Davis Cup. The network also offers collegiate sports from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.