[Trudel]

USA's win at World Junior Championship to be televised


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- USA Hockey today announced that the 2004 United States National Junior Team's historic gold-medal victory at the 2004 International Ice Hockey World Junior Championship in Helsinki will be televised on a tape-delay basis starting this weekend. Monday the U.S. won its first gold medal in the 28-year history of the event, as it defeated Canada in dramatic fashion, including three unanswered goals in the third period, to earn a thrilling 4-3 victory.

Two regional sports networks, the New England Sports Network (NESN) and Fox Sports Net North (FSNN) will both air the gold-medal game on a tape-delay basis. NESN will air the game on Sun., Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. EST, while FSNN will air the game at 1 p.m. CST on Mon., Jan 12. FSNN will also air Team USA's 2-1 down-to-the-wire semifinal victory against tournament host, Finland, on Sat., Jan. 10. Minnesota network viewers (Minn., N.D., S.D. and Iowa) will see the game at 1 p.m. CST, and the game will be aired at 5 p.m. CST for Wisconsin network viewers.

In addition, CSTV: College Sports Television will air Team USA's semifinal game on Mon., Jan 12. at 8 p.m. EST and the gold-medal game at 9 p.m. EST on Tues., Jan. 13.

ESPN Classic will air the gold-medal game as part of the network's 2004 NHL All-Star Game Weekend coverage on Sat., Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. EST.

"The first-ever gold medal by the U.S. National Junior Team marked a thrilling and momentous occasion in the history of USA Hockey," said USA Hockey Executive Director Doug Palazzari (Colorado Springs, Colo.). "We are excited to offer fans the opportunity to watch Team USA's semifinal and gold-medal game victories from the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship through this television programming announcement."

Jim Rich (Buffalo, Minn.) will provide play-by-play coverage and Andy Brickley (Hingham, Mass.) will add color commentary. Rich is a sports broadcaster for KMSP, a Fox television affiliate in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and produces and hosts college hockey's only weekly conference radio show, This Week In The WCHA. This is Rich's fourth stint in the broadcast booth at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Brickley, who spent 11 seasons as a forward in the National Hockey League, has delivered television color commentary for the Boston Bruins on NESN since 2000. Brickley played for Team USA at the 1981 IIHF World Junior Championship.

NESN, home to the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, is delivered to over 3.8 million homes throughout the New England region (Mass., R.I., Conn., Vt., N.H. and Maine). NESN also delivers coverage of Hockey East conference action and the annual Beanpot tournament.

FSNN reaches more than three million homes throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota and telecasts nearly 2,500 hours of locally produced programming per year.

CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network, is available to more than 15 million homes nationally on cable and satellite. The network is available on Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610).

ESPN Classic is a 24-hour, all-sports network franchise devoted to telecasting the greatest games, stories, heroes and memories in the history of sports, while adding a current perspective. Reaching more than 50 million homes, ESPN Classic is for sports fans of all ages. It's for those who were there for the classic moments and want to re-live the big events. And it's for those who have only heard about the triumphs and defeats and wish they were there.

Team USA's games from the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship can also be heard via archived audiocast on USAHockey.com.

Team USA Tape-Delay Television Schedule
Date Time Game Carrier
Sat., Jan. 10 1 p.m. CST USA vs. Finland (semifinal) FSNN (MN, ND, SD, IA)
Sat., Jan. 10 5 p.m. CST USA vs. Finland (semifinal) FSNN (WI)
Sun., Jan. 11 2 p.m. EST USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) NESN
Mon., Jan. 12 1 p.m. CST USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) FSNN
Mon., Jan. 12 8 p.m. EST USA vs. Finland (semifinal) CSTV
Tues., Jan. 13 9 p.m. EST USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) CSTV
Sat., Feb. 7 6 p.m. EST USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) ESPN Classic