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Sioux Falls, SD: Midco Sports Network® is dropping the puck on 40 National Collegiate Hockey Conference games in 20 days, starting December 1. For the health and safety of their eight partner universities, the NCHC will implement a pod structure. MidcoSN® will broadcast the games from the University of Nebraska Omaha’s Baxter Arena.
“This is such an exciting opportunity to partner with the NCHC in a unique and safe way. What a thrill it will be to bring MidcoSN fans top-tier college hockey day after day, including the number one team in the country – North Dakota,” said VP of MidcoSN Mark Powell.
“We are thrilled to partner with MidcoSN to provide fans the opportunity to watch all NCHC games in the Pod from the comfort of home or anywhere in the world on NCHC.tv. With MidcoSN producing all 40 games, fans will be able to enjoy a high-quality broadcast for each game in the Pod on their TV or mobile device,” NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton said. “The array of broadcasters announcing the games are names NCHC fans are familiar with and will provide great passion and insight during the 20 days. We can’t wait to drop the puck!”
Headlining MidcoSN’s live coverage are two of the most celebrated broadcasters working in college hockey today: Ben Holden and Dave Starman. The pair have served as CBS Sports Network’s lead college hockey announcing team since 2013 and are the voices of CBS Sports Network’s NCHC Game of the Week and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.
A two-time Emmy winner, Holden has done college and professional hockey play-by-play since 2004 – including a nine-year stint calling the NCAA Men’s National Tournament. Currently, he can be seen on CBS’s national coverage of college football, college basketball and a variety of other sports.
Since beginning his media career as a radio analyst for the NHL’s Rangers and Islanders, Starman has gone on to annually work the IIHF World Junior Championships for NHL Network since 2008 and the NCAA Men’s National Tournament for ESPN since 2012. The former goaltender also serves as an NHL scout and was named the 2020 recipient of the NCHC’s Media Excellence Award.
Alongside Holden and Starman, MidcoSN’s telecasts from Omaha will feature Alex Heinert and Jake Brandt, the lead announcing team for the network’s live coverage of University of North Dakota Hockey since 2016. A 2020 Emmy nominee for Outstanding Play-By-Play, Heinert is entering his fifth year as MidcoSN’s lead voice for UND Athletics, while Brandt is a former MacNaughton Cup-winning goaltender for North Dakota and is set to begin his sixth season in the MidcoSN booth.
Veteran play-by-play man Donny Baarns and former University of Nebraska Omaha Hockey captain David Brisson will also be featured on MidcoSN’s broadcasts inside the NCHC Pod. The current radio voice of UNO Hockey, Baarns has called a variety of Summit League events on MidcoSN in recent seasons and has also served as the lead radio voice of Oakland A’s Spring Training baseball since 2014. Brisson was the first Mavericks hockey player to be inducted into the UNO Athletics Hall of Fame, after finishing his playing career as the program leader in plus/minus while sitting third all-time in career points and goals.
MidcoSN will broadcast two games daily Tuesdays through Fridays, save for one game each on Friday, Dec. 11 and Thursday, Dec. 17, and three games on Saturdays and Sundays.