ESPN, Disney Channel and the National Hockey League (NHL) are teaming up to bring fans the NHL Big City Greens Classic, the first live, animated NHL game telecast, featuring the Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers, on March 14 at 7 p.m. EDT ©espnpre

ESPN, Disney Channel and the National Hockey League are teaming up to bring fans the NHL Big City Greens Classic, the first live, animated NHL game telecast, featuring the Washington Capitals against New York Rangers, on March 14 at 7PM EDT.

This alternate presentation of the Capitals-Rangers game will feature live, real-time volumetric animation of players and teams modelled after characters on Disney Branded Television's Emmy® Award-winning animated comedy Big City Greens.

ESPN+, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney+ will present the live, animated telecast, while the main telecast will be available on ESPN and ESPN+.

"Working with Disney Channel and the NHL, we are producing a telecast that will reach a new and different audience and help to grow hockey fandom even more," said Ilan Ben-Hanan, senior vice president of Programming and Acquisitions, ESPN.

"Big City Greens has a huge following in a younger audience that we are excited to tap into, offering a fun and creative way to enjoy the game across Disney platforms."

Dave Lehanski, NHL's executive vice-president of business development and innovation, added: "We’ve said from day one that our partnership with The Walt Disney Company is a big win for our fans and our League.

NHL team New York Rangers will feature in animated form in a match against Washington Capitals being co-hosted buy ESPN and Disney Channel ©Getty Images
NHL team New York Rangers will feature in animated form in a match against Washington Capitals being co-hosted buy ESPN and Disney Channel ©Getty Images

"We’ve spent years investing in a fast and accurate puck and player tracking system to help us grow the game.

"The NHL Big City Greens Classic will demonstrate how we can leverage data from NHL EDGE - our puck and player tracking system - to create entirely new fan experiences for a younger audience in collaboration with incredible partners like The Walt Disney Company, ESPN and Beyond Sports.

"What a testament - to have the greatest animation company of all time leverage its incomparable creativity and IP to promote and grow our game."

The first-of-its-kind alternate presentation will leverage NHL Edge positioning data (puck and player tracking) to recreate the action on the ice as it is happening while featuring Big City Greens characters skating alongside animated versions of the NHL players.

The real-time animation will be produced in association with ESPN Edge Innovation Center and NHL EDGE Innovation partners Verizon, Beyond Sports and Silver Spoon.

ESPN commentators will call the action for the NHL Big City Greens Classic and Big City Greens talent.

More details regarding the first-of-its-kind production will be announced closer to the game.