MSG to air second season of 'Beyond Blue & Gold'

Award-winning series will again be shown in 30-minute episodes starting today

The Buffalo Sabres have announced MSG will again air "Beyond Blue & Gold," an award-winning video series that takes fans behind the scenes of the Sabres organization, with a new episode premiering tonight 6 p.m. The half-hour program will premiere directly before MSG's coverage of the Sabres' game against the Colorado Avalanche, which begins at 6:30 p.m. with the "Tops Game Night" pregame show, followed by the game broadcast at 7 p.m. The program will then be re-aired after the game, at 10:30 p.m.

"Beyond Blue & Gold" is an in-depth look at the Buffalo Sabres that includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the team's players, coaches and front office personnel. Cameras have been following the team since last season and have captured everything from offseason workouts, the NHL Entry Draft, rookie development camp and the buildup to the 2013-14 NHL season. The first season of "Beyond Blue & Gold," which contained 13 episodes spanning the duration of the 2012-13 NHL season, took home three Telly Awards in July 2013.

"The objective of the series has always been to provide fans high-quality, well-produced original stories about the Buffalo Sabres organization - perspectives of the team they haven't been exposed to," said Mark Blaszak, the show's producer and lead videographer. "We were really proud of the work we did in our first season, and the response from fans about the series has been very, very positive. We're really excited to delve even deeper into new storylines for the 2013-14 season."

Three episodes from the second season of the series, which encompass a time period of July to late August, were melded together for Saturday's 30-minute program on MSG. The program is hosted by Sabres broadcaster Brian Duff and will largely cover the team's activity throughout the offseason and summer of 2013. Events included in the episode are: the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in New Jersey, the team's rookie development camp, and a trip to the 2013 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Mich.

"The first part of our second season of 'Beyond Blue & Gold' is all about the talent in the Sabres' pipeline," Blaszak said. "The show starts with the draft and goes on through the Traverse City Prospect Tournament, where the Sabres once again had a great showing. We have a young team and we hope to feature some more of our newer players throughout this season's episodes."

New episodes of "Beyond Blue & Gold" will premiere every few weeks on www.Sabres.com and the Buffalo Sabres' official YouTube channel.

MSG will continue to air the packages of "Beyond Blue & Gold" episodes throughout the season and as the series progresses. Viewers in the Buffalo and Rochester markets will have many chances to catch the first run of "Beyond Blue & Gold" on MSG. After Saturday's initial airings before and after the Sabres-Avalanche game, MSG is scheduled to re-air the program 12 times throughout the month. Fans are encouraged to check their local listings for future airtimes.