'Doc Emrick - The Voice of Hockey' - premieres Feb. 21 on NBC, alongside NHL outdoor games at Lake Tahoe

UPDATE: The NHL has announced Sunday’s Honda NHL outdoors game at Lake Tahoe between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins on NBC will now begin at 2 p.m. ET.

Subsequently, the premiere of “Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey, Presented by Discover” – detailing the illustrious career of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and eight-time Sports Emmy Award winner Mike “Doc” Emrick – will now air at 5 p.m. on NBC, following coverage of Flyers-Bruins. For more on the 60-minute documentary, click here.

The Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche remains a start time of 3 p.m. on NBC.

Mike Tirico will call both games this weekend alongside Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Brian Boucher (“Inside-the-Glass” analyst). NBC Sports’ Rutledge Wood will serve as an on-site reporter in Lake Tahoe.

••••••••

Wayne Gretzky, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Eddie Olczyk, Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Martin Brodeur, Sidney Crosby among NHL players & broadcasters discuss Emrick’s impact on hockey

NBC Sports will premiere “Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey,” presented by Discover, detailing the illustrious career of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and eight-time Sports Emmy Award winner Mike “Doc” Emrick – on Sunday, Feb. 21 (2 p.m. ET), on NBC, leading into coverage of the NHL outdoor game at Lake Tahoe featuring the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. The special will feature interviews with 20 NHL players and broadcasting colleagues discussing Emrick’s long-lasting impact on the sport of hockey, including:

√ NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

√ Players – Wayne Gretzky, Martin Brodeur, Sidney Crosby, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise and Blake Coleman

√ Commentators – Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire, Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Bill Clement, Chico Resch, John Davidson, A.J. Mleczko, Brendan Burke, Kathryn Tappen and Evan Pivnick.

Click to watch preview clips featuring Gretzky, Crosby/Oshie, and Olczyk/Clement.

Following are some brief excerpts from “Doc Emrick – The Voice of Hockey”:

•Gretzky on Emrick’s legacy: “His impact – what he brought to the game – is going to go on for a lot longer. That’s a testament to what he brought to our sport. … People (at home) felt like he was probably talking one-on-one to them, and that’s an art in itself.”

•Michaels on Emrick’s descriptive abilities: “He just had the perfect description of something – never overdid it either. And once in a while he’d come up with something you never heard before that matched the moment perfectly.”

•Michaels on what he appreciates about Emrick: “He has a great little sense of humor, as well. You put Doc in the basement and say, ‘Go announce this cockroach race,’ he’d make it interesting and he’d make it funny.”

Emrick announced his retirement late in 2020 following a 47-year career broadcasting professional hockey, including the past 15 as the lead play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ NHL coverage. The 60-minute documentary will highlight Emrick’s journey calling college and minor league hockey in the 1970s, to calling games for the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, and eventually voicing the most important hockey games of the past three decades, including 22 Stanley Cup Finals, 45 Stanley Cup Playoffs/Final game 7s, six Olympics, NHL Winter Classics and all-star games.

NBC’s press release stated, “Synonymous with hockey in the United States, Emrick called an estimated 3,750-plus professional and Olympic hockey games, thrilling viewers with a combination of fevered excitement and an endless vocabulary, which resulted in his unmatched style and revered storytelling that fans grew to know and love.”