Prime Video Unveils On-Air Talent For NHL Broadcasts, Trailer for Star-Studded Docuseries

Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier, play-by-play commentator John Forslund, Andi Petrillo and more are part of Prime Video's NHL coverage this season.

Prime Video unveiled its broadcast crew for Monday Night Hockey games and other on-air talent for NHL coverage in Canada.

Prime Video took over Monday night broadcasts in Canada from Sportsnet after Amazon and Rogers agreed on a two-year deal in April. It announced its talent at an event on Monday, where it also revealed the release date for its docuseries featuring NHL stars and a weekly Thursday show.

On play by play is John Forslund, who's done national NHL games for TNT in the United States during the playoffs and does regional broadcasts for the Seattle Kraken. Before that, he called national games for NBC and regional games for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier is a contributor who's expected to appear on the desk and with 10 segments to be shown throughout the season featuring stories from his NHL career. 

Prime Video's analysts include former NHL players Thomas Hickey, Jody Shelley and Shane Hnidey, and former women's hockey player Blake Bolden.

Monday Night Hockey's co-hosts are Andi Petrillo and Adnan Virk. Petrillo is a stalwart presence at CBC Sports, whether it's been at Hockey Night in Canada before Sportsnet took it over, six Olympic Games and more. Virk's worked for NHL Network, MLB Network and DAZN, winning an Emmy Award in 2024 for MLB Tonight.

Petrillo will also host Prime Video's other weekly show, NHL Coast to Coast. That show, which begins Oct. 10, includes rotating analysts and big names with live cut-ins to NHL action. Pagnotta reported the weekly show will include NHL Edge tracking and advanced stats. 

There's no exact cut-off time for that show, and depending on the number of games, it could last for more than five hours, according David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Pagnotta compared it to Red Zone on the NFL Network.

Prime Video is scheduled to broadcast 26 national games on Monday Night Hockey, beginning with the Pittsburgh Penguins facing the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 14.

Rogers had exclusive rights for national NHL games in Canada since negotiating a 12-year contract with the league in 2013. Rogers-owned Sportsnet tried a couple of different formats for its Monday-night broadcasts over the years. It first had Hometown Hockey, which toured communities across Canada, and more recently, Monday Night Hockey, which had a virtual studio with green screens and focused on technology and analytics.

While Rogers still has two years remaining on its deal, it offloaded the Monday shows to Prime Video, which is the NHL's first national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada. ESPN's digital streaming service, ESPN+, and Hulu have broadcast digital-only NHL games since 2021-22.

Prime Video is also producing an NHL docuseries featuring some of the league's top stars. It announced the series' scheduled launch date is Friday, Oct. 4, and is titled Faceoff: Inside The NHL.

"The series will give unprecedented access to the National Hockey League’s biggest teams and most compelling characters, all at different stages of their careers," the NHL said in a news release. 

The six-episode series goes behind the scenes with key players and those in their inner circle. Here's the list:

- Episode 1: Best of Rivals featuring William Nylander and David Pastrnak
- Episode 2: As Tough As It Gets featuring Jack Eichel and Filip Forsberg
- Episode 3: Learning to Win featuring Jeremy Swayman and Matthew Tkachuk
- Episode 4: The Captains featuring Quinn Hughes, Gabriel Landeskog and Jacob Trouba
- Episode 5: Cup or Bust Part I featuring Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman
- Episode 6: Cup or Bust Part II featuring Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk

The episodes will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.