The Blackhawks have participated in behind-the-scenes shows before, but not of this magnitude.
The upcoming “Road to the Winter Classic” series will feature unprecedented volume in terms of its access and scope. And speaking of volume, cover your ears if you are sensitive to salty language because the shows will be uncensored.
The first of the four-part series, chronicling the Blackhawks and Capitals through their outdoor Jan. 1 game at Nationals Park, debuts at 9 p.m. Tuesday on EPIX. Previously, the highly-acclaimed series had aired on HBO. EPIX, a premium channel that debuted in 2009, is available in 50 million homes.
However, because EPIX isn’t offered by several carriers, including Comcast, the largest distributor in the Chicago area, the series also will air online on the NHL, Blackhawks and EPIX websites to reach a wider audience.
That means the G-rated Blackhawks.nhl.com will air some words not suitable for younger viewers. News flash: hockey players and coaches do swear.
Part of the popularity of “Road to the Winter Classic” has been microphones picking up the raw language that occurs during games and practices. Blackhawks President John McDonough realizes it is an important element in depicting the sport’s authenticity in the series.
“Listen, this is not ‘Lillies of the Field,'” McDonough said. “I feel confident in how our players are going to comport themselves. Yet I’d be concerned if anybody tried to over-sanitize these shows. It would take away from the authentic nature of what you’re trying to do.”
Ross Greenburg, the series’ executive producer, said the goal is to find a balance in using profanity. In 2011, “Road to” captured then Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau in an expletive-filled tirade that went viral. Greenburg thought the scene was too much, and noted subsequent behind-the-scenes series such as HBO’s “Hard Knocks” have “toned things down a bit.”
“There is the reality these words do fly out of the mouths of these players,” Greenburg said. “There will be some of that in the series, but we’re not going to bang people over the head with it.”
It might seem as if Greenburg’s crews will capture virtually every word the Blackhawks and Capitals utter during the five-week taping of the series. He has a staff of 12 assigned to the Blackhawks tailing the team 16 to 18 hours per day. Besides games, they record meetings in coach Joel Quenneville’s office; dinners with the players on the road; private moments in their homes, and much more.
Greenburg insists, “We’re going to be flies on the wall.”
Flies, though, don’t carry cameras and extensive sound equipment. How natural can players and coaches be in these conditions? Is it a distraction to the team to have extra company?
McDonough said Greenburg met with team executives and Quenneville to go over what to expect shortly after the Blackhawks were named to play in the Winter Classic.
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“We as a group had to completely buy into this,” McDonough said. “Fortunately, our players are accustomed (to having cameras around). It’s not like all of a sudden they are going to look at this as a distraction.”
McDonough also was eager to get involved because Greenburg is serving as producer of the series. He has won 51 Sports Emmy awards, many for developing memorable documentaries during his long run at HBO. In 2011, he left the network to form his own production company.
“Ross is the ultimate documentarian,” McDonough said.
Greenburg intends to follow a familiar formula for “Road to the Winter Classic”: develop compelling stories to get people interested in the players and coaches. From the Blackhawks perspective, possible storylines include Patrick Sharp’s return from injury; flushing out the relationship between Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane; and the birth of Brad Richards’ first child in October. Greenburg also said Quenneville get plenty of camera time because the coach always is a lead character in the series.
“The key is to find these storylines and give yourself a four-show arc to tell them,” Greenburg said. “It’s no different than what they do with a series like ‘Homeland.’ You take a good story by the throat and tell it in such a way that it sucks in the viewer emotionally.”
Greenburg also knows a major development such as a key injury can derail everything. The pace is frantic, as he and the editors will be working on finishing the show the same day it appears.
“Steve Sabol always said these shows are like building an airplane in mid-flight,” Greenburg recalled of his days working on “Hard Knocks” with the late head of NFL Films.
Ever the marketer, McDonough uses a key word to describe the benefit to the Blackhawks in doing the series: Exposure.
“This is an opportunity to enhance the exposure of our players,” McDonough said. “Fans are going to see these guys in real situations in the locker room and on the ice. It will make for interesting TV.”
Special contributor Ed Sherman writes about sports media at shermanreport.com. Follow him @Sherman_Report.