Nbc Sports play-by-play man Mike “Doc” Emrick talks about what he did during the lockout, what to expect from the shortened season and the Rangers’ addition of Rick Nash with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: You kept busy during the lockout?
A: We went to Troy in Michigan … it was under-12 girl’s hockey and they are doing a piece for it on Rock Center. It was really interesting to be around girls of that age and to hear all about their ambitions in life and watch them go out and play a game. I got to do figure skating and am assigned to do more. The college game is fun just because of the atmosphere.
Q: What will make the strike-shortened season interesting?
A: There’s not going to be any dog days this season. With a 48-game schedule, winning two is like winning four and losing two is like losing four. It puts so much importance on every game. The coaches will have some pressure on them and the players will have even more, because you can get out of the running pretty fast.
Q: Any team get an advantage from the lockout?
A: Los Angeles. The Stanley Cup hangover is gone. Normally you go into October and you are still thinking about bringing the Cup to your parents’ home or whatever. That isn’t the case this year. They have all their guys back. There’s no reason they can’t pick up where they were at the final third of last season.
Q: How much will the addition of Rick Nash help the Rangers?
A: It’s going to make them so much more exciting to watch. This was a team that was 11th in offense, and they are going to be so much better. You can add 30-35 goals to his overall production. And think how Nash is going to be when he has somebody to play with. … The defense is fine, the goaltending is first-rate, so there’s no reason they wouldn’t be in the Top 8.
Q: With such a young team, could the Islanders take advantage of so many games being played in a short period?
A: The downside is that Lubomir Visnovsky decided to stay back in the KHL, and Mark Streit is coming off (shoulder) surgery. Up front they are going to be fine, and I think their depth on the team is better than it has been before. But they lose the experience Visnovsky was bringing and that will hurt them.