TSN welcomes a new recruit to its roster with NHL coach Craig MacTavish joining the NHL ON TSN broadcast team as a guest analyst for the 2009-10 season.
MacTavish will have 25 appearances in studio, making his broadcast debut on Monday, Sept. 21 during the pre-season game featuring Pittsburgh @ Montreal at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN2. MacTavish, a former NHL player and head coach, will also contribute regularly to SPORTSCENTRE and be a part of the studio panel for the network's two-hour NHL ON TSN SEASON PREVIEW SHOW on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET (encore at 11 p.m. ET on TSN2).
MacTavish, who once pulled Calgary Flames' mascot Harvey the Hound's tongue from his mouth, has a reputation for being outspoken and not holding his own tongue.
"I'm happy to finally be among the experts where the issues are many and solutions obvious," said MacTavish, a native of London, ON. "I appreciate TSN providing a safe haven for unemployed coaches, as we rehabilitate ourselves towards future employability."
Over his 19-year career as an NHL player, MacTavish was a member of the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues, winning three Stanley Cups with the Oilers and one with the Rangers. As the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers for the past eight seasons, MacTavish guided the team to 301 wins and one berth in the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, when the Oilers lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes. Among those MacTavish will work with in studio is Peter Laviolette, who was behind the bench for the Hurricanes in 2006.
MacTavish joins the NHL ON TSN team as TSN/TSN2 prepares to showcase more regular season games than ever before with its combined 123-game NHL broadcast schedule for the 2009-10 regular season. A total of 87 regular season games will air on TSN, with 70 games featuring at least one Canadian team. TSN2's regular season schedule has 36 live NHL games featuring non-Canadian teams.
In addition, TSN and TSN2 will produce and televise a total of six pre-season games, beginning with Boston @ Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. ET on TSN2. All pre-season and regular season games are available nationally in High Definition.