from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

The NHL won’t use cutouts of fans to fill seats that will be left vacant because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will try to enhance the atmosphere for Stanley Cup playoff games at its hubs in Edmonton and Toronto by using LED screens, teams’ goal songs and play lists and other technology, league executives said during a webinar Friday and in a video released Thursday night on NHL.com.

Crowd noise will be piped in from EA Sports’ recordings of fans made during previous games at the participating teams’ arenas, and telecasts will be on a five-second delay to allow for editing of profanity that will be easier to hear because of the absence of the usual chants and cheers from fans. TV viewers will be able to see more angles than are available on standard telecasts because 32 cameras will be used instead of 20. Sportsnet will produce the feed of games involving the 12 Western Conference teams in the bubble in Edmonton and NBC will produce the games involving the 12 Eastern teams in the bubble in Toronto.

“We want to educate, entertain, and visually excite them,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s senior executive vice president of events and entertainment, said of fans watching at home. “We’re going to bring these arenas to life through the art of video, audio and lighting.”

Frontline healthcare workers and social justice advocates will be honored at games, Mayer said, and videos that feature fans will be displayed in an effort to bring them “into” a game they will have to watch from afar.

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