They’re giving it a shot.
A primary-of-its-kind animated NHL telecast is following Tuesday’s game between the Recent York Rangers and Washington Capitals.
The “NHL Big City Greens Classic” broadcast uses NHL Edge positioning data (puck and player tracking) to recreate the actual on-ice motion unfolding at Madison Square Garden.
Airing on ESPN+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney+, the telecast also features characters from Disney’s comedy series “Big City Greens” skating alongside animated versions of the NHL players.
ESPN commentators Kevin Weekes and Drew Carter are calling the virtual game wearing motion-capture suits that allow full-body animations of themselves to look within the Big City.
Facial recognition technology is getting used to mimic the reactions of Chris Houghton, the animated series’ co-creator/executive producer, and actor Marieve Herington, who voices Tilly.
“I actually need my curiosity to be deep, my excitement for it,” Weekes, a former NHL goalie, told NHL.com.
“Hopefully that finally ends up translating into the printed itself because we’re being transported, definitely for me, I’ll be transported into a distinct world. And more importantly, we wish to find a way to move the viewer, the listener, into a distinct world.”
“Not only are the players the artists, but so too are the characters, and now we’re going to form of merge and integrate those two within the storytelling via the animation and via that technology,” Weekes added.
The special broadcast is a collaboration between ESPN, Disney Channel, and the NHL. The true-time animation is produced in association with ESPN Edge Innovation Center and NHL EDGE Innovation partners Verizon, Beyond Sports, and Silver Spoon.
A conventional telecast between the Rangers and Capitals is obtainable on ESPN and ESPN+.