NHL Awards co-host plan inspired by players' connections to communities

LAS VEGAS -- The story of the 2017-18 NHL season is so compelling, there is no need for a professional host to walk fans through the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN).

Instead, the players will host the night designed to honor their peers and commemorate a season full of triumph and tragedy, handing out 16 awards in a celebration of the 2017-18 season.
The program will feature special commemorations of three tragedies that touched the hockey world and garnered immense support from the entire NHL community. Survivors and first responders from last October's Las Vegas shooting; members of the hockey team from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.; and surviving members of the Humboldt Broncos junior team will be recognized and honored at the event.
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"When we knew we were going to do these tributes in the show and we realized how vital the players were in trying to help these communities recover, we just felt like wouldn't it be cool and different to just make it a players-only show," said Steve Mayer, Chief Content Officer for the NHL. "We wanted to really highlight what the players have been doing all year and kind of finish up this particular year by having the players be the focus."
The finalists for the top awards will act as co-hosts and will be joined by NHL legends and celebrities.
Eric Lindros, Mark Messier, Willie O'Ree, Olympic gold medalists Meghan Duggan and Amanda Kessel of the United States 2018 women's hockey team; Marie-Philip Poulin and Brianne Jenner of the Canada 2018 women's hockey team and actors Jim Belushi, Lynda Carter and Colin Hanks are among the additional presenters.
"We love the way it is coming together," Mayer said. "We think it will be unique, different; it'll probably be a one-year only, but this is the year to do it just based on the events of this year that were completely unpredictable but the response of the players has led us to create what we are about to do."
There is no expectation that one of the players will steal the show, says Mayer.
"We're not trying to create someone to do that," Mayer said. "We are trying to give everyone an equal role and I think just out of the respect that the players have for each other and the way of hockey, I don't think anyone will sit there and try to be the star. I think there are some natural folks that are going to step up as they did during these tragedies. [Florida Panthers goalie] Roberto Luongo will have a pretty huge role when it comes to the Florida presentation. [Vegas Golden Knights defenseman] Deryk Engelland will have a big role when it comes to Vegas. I just think naturally, they will be the focus of those segments, but I think the rest of the players have pretty equal roles."
The tribute to the survivors of the Humboldt bus crash could be especially touching. This will mark the first time 10 of the surviving members of the Broncos hockey team will reunite since the April 6 crash.
"It will be a really special moment," Mayer said.
In the past, the awards show has been about laughs as much as anything else. There will be a place in the show this year for humor as well, Mayer says. He expects Stanley Cup champions Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom to be focal points in that effort.

"The Washington Capitals players will have a large role as well and we think they will bring the funny in the show," Mayer said. "We are not taking them too seriously, so I think there will be a moment or two in the show that people will comment about post-show that will involve Mr. Ovechkin and Mr. Backstrom."
The Capitals won the Stanley Cup on June 7 here in Vegas against the Golden Knights in five games.
"We are being respectful and I think they want to be the same, but they also just want to have some fun and continue what they have been doing, continuing the momentum of the last few weeks through the show," Mayer said.
Mayer has no idea how the no-host experiment will play out, but he likes what he has seen as the script has taken shape this week.
"I think we are going to have a lot of standing ovations," Mayer said. "Always on these shows, you go for those memorable, take-away moments. When we hand out awards, sometimes it tends to be a bit passé, but this year I think we have put into the show way more standing-ovation moments than we ever have had before."