NBC to have 30 cameras for Winter Classic

NBC's mission at the NHL Winter Classic is clear, as articulated by producer Sam Flood last week: "We treat it as an event. It's not a hockey game. It's a hockey event.''

Hence gimmicks unique to an outdoor game such as overhead shots, which in the first Classic in 2008 provided what Flood called "the first replay of a goal from an airplane.''

Such shots, he said, are critical to driving home the specialness of the event. "We need to capture how cool it is to have a hockey game down there,'' he said.

NBC will have 30 cameras at its disposal Monday, including a CableCam like the one used for big NFL games.

The NBC team is stocked with hockey fans who have helped the event reflect well on the sport, from Flood (who played in college and is the son of a coach) to host Bob Costas, who in his early 20s called games for the semipro Syracuse Blazers.

But no one at NBC exceeds the level of enthusiasm for the sport and the Classic of play-by-play man Doc Emrick, who said, "I think this is a joyous occasion, and that's what we're celebrating.''