NBC and the NHL will do its annual “Hockey Day in America” presentation Sunday, beginning at noon ET. It will feature three games on NBC and NBC Sports Network. The network then will will weave in features that document the game around the U.S.

Not a bad bit of marketing to show hockey’s growth, impact and relevance. Here are a preview of the features.

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Ice Hockey in Harlem

Ice Hockey in Harlem is a non-profit organization for youth that uses the sport of hockey to promote academic achievement, teamwork and character. Their motto is “Education is the Goal” and the organization has served the community for 25 years. The program is only open to those living north of 110th Street in Manhattan and there is a waiting list to enroll each fall. At the core of this non-profit organization are lessons that stick with the kids for life. Themes such as family, commitment, dedication and giving back are passed on to these local area children, which will help in creating a better future, leaders and role models.

Jack Jablonski’s Road To Recovery

Jack Jablonski was a promising ice hockey player for Benilde-St. Margaret’s high school in suburban Minneapolis. On December 30, 2011, a check from behind during a JV game left him paralyzed from the chest down. That same day, Jablonski’s boyhood idol, Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee. Jablonski and Peterson both faced grueling rehabilitation programs and seemingly insurmountable odds. Then something curious happened and they met during the summer. Jablonski naturally was inspired by Peterson and all the hard work he’d done to get back to the Vikings’ training camp. What’s surprising is that Peterson was deeply inspired by Jablonski as well and used him as motivation during his comeback, which resulted in one of the greatest years ever by a running back. Jablonski has also exceeded expectations, regaining some movement that his doctors never expected.

Hockey Hair

Skaters streaking down the ice with long, flowing hair trailing behind them has been a common sight at hockey games for decades. Unlike playoff beards, which are widely believed to have been popularized by Islanders teams of the early 1980s, the exact origins of hockey hair have never been adequately explained. Michelle Beadle and Jeremy Roenick will dive back into NHL history and explore the long legacy of Hockey Hair.

A Little Boys Winter Classic

During the NHL lockout this past December, eight-year old Christopher John thought of holding his own Winter Classic. Working with his parents and his teammates on the North Jersey Avalanche, John turned his dream in to a reality. The Avalanche took on the Long Island Royals at Central Park’s Lasker Rink on December 23rd. Along the way, John’s idea for a game took on greater meaning and served as a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Sandy. New York Rangers LW Carl Hagelin and D Ryan McDonagh heard about the game and showed up at 8 a.m. to cheer the kids on. To date, the campaign has generated $25,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief.

12:30 p.m. ET, Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo

Play by Play: Gord Miller

Inside the Glass: Joe Micheletti

3:30 p.m. ET, Los Angeles vs. Chicago

Play by Play: Mike Emrick

Color: Eddie Olczyk

Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire

6 p.m. ET, Washington vs. NY Rangers (NBC Sports Net)

Play by Play: Dave Strader

Inside the Glass: Brian Engblom

Last night, ESPNChicago.com’s Jon Greenberg sent out this tweet:

We need a Blackhawks-Pro Bowl Chicago ratings story tomorrow from @Sherman_Report.

I tweeted back that I thought football, even a lousy Pro Bowl game, still would top hockey in Chicago. Turns out I only was partially right.

The Blackhawks-Detroit game did a 6.31 local rating on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, shattering the regular-season mark set last Tuesday (see below). Meanwhile, the Pro Bowl had a slim edge with a 6.44 rating on WMAQ-Ch. 5.

However–a big however–the Hawks game peaked with a 8.09 local rating (282,000 homes) at the end of the Hawks’ thrilling 2-1 overtime victory. The Pro Bowl, meanwhile, only had a 7.79 peak early in the telecast. Obviously, a few of those bored football viewers in Chicago switched over to the more compelling Hawks game.

All in all, the hockey rating is astounding, considering just a few years ago the Hawks were celebrating if they did a 1.0 rating.

Here are the details from CSN Chicago:

Comcast SportsNet, the television home for the most games and most comprehensive coverage of the 6-0-0 Chicago Blackhawks, delivered its highest Blackhawks regular season rating ever last evening (January 27) — a 6.31 household rating for its live coverage of the Blackhawks home ice battle against the division rival Detroit Red Wings.

For last night’s thrilling 2-1 OT victory by the Blackhawks, Comcast SportsNet attracted approx. 220,000 households for the entire game and posted an 8.09 “peak” rating during the 8:15 PM quarter-hour (approx. 282,000 households).  The 6.31 single game regular season ratings record on Comcast SportsNet shatters the previous record set just five days earlier on January 22 for the Blackhawks home opener vs. St. Louis (5.40).  Source for all ratings information is provided by Nielsen Media Research overnights.

Including last night’s record-breaking rating on Comcast SportsNet, the Top 4 highest-rated Blackhawks regular season games in network history have all occurred over the past six days…note the following:

1)    6.31 –      Blackhawks vs. DET (January 27, 2013)

2)     5.40 –       Blackhawks vs. STL (January 22, 2013)

3)     5.13 –       Blackhawks at DAL (January 24, 2013)

4)     4.39 –       Blackhawks at CBJ (January 26, 2013)

5)     4.35 –       Blackhawks vs. VAN (March 5, 2010)

Comcast SportsNet was also the #1-highest rated television network in the Chicago market last night in the key advertising demos of Men 18-49, Men 25-54 & Adults 35-64 for the entire length of the game (6:00-8:45 PM).  The network was #2 overall in the market in the demo category of Adults 25-54.

Hey, maybe the NHL should consider more lockouts in the future. It could be their best marketing tool yet.

All the work stoppage did was make fans hungrier for hockey. For further evidence, look at the ratings in Chicago Tuesday night for the Blackhawks home opener against St. Louis.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago pulled its highest rating ever for a regular-season game. In fact, it shattered the record by more than a full ratings point.

Keep in mind, this is for a team that is coming off back-to-back first round losses in the playoffs. And it was for Game No. 3, not a key late-season showdown.

The Blackhawks rating comes on the heels of NBC pulling in huge ratings during the NHL’s opening weekend.

Who knew the lockout would be good for hockey?

Anyway, here are the details of Blackhawks rating from CSN Chicago:

Comcast SportsNet, the television home for the most games and most comprehensive coverage of the Chicago Blackhawks, delivered its highest Blackhawks regular season rating ever last evening (January 22) — a 5.40 household rating for its live coverage of the Blackhawks home opener against the division rival St. Louis Blues. 

For last night’s thrilling 3-2 victory by the Blackhawks, Comcast SportsNet attracted approx. 188,179 households for the entire game and posted a 6.28 “peak” rating during the 10:00 PM quarter-hour (218,845 households).  The 5.40 single game regular season ratings record on Comcast SportsNet shatters the previous record set on March 5, 2010 vs. Vancouver (4.35).  Source for all ratings information is provided by Nielsen Media Research overnights.

Comcast SportsNet was also the #1-highest rated television network in the Chicago market last night in all key advertising demos — including Adults 25-54 — for the entire length of the game (7:30-10:15 PM).  The network was also #1 in the market for six-straight hours (5:30-11:30 PM) in the following demo categories: Men 18-34, Men 18-49, Men 25-54 and Adults 18-34.

In addition, via data obtained through CSNChicago.com’s social media hub “Blackhawks Pulse,” last night’s Blackhawks-Blues match-up garnered a solid 38,400 game-related tweets, highlighting the growing movement of in-game social media engagement with fans.

First the big numbers and then some observations:

Saturday: The 2.0 overnight on NBC (regional coverage of Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, Chicago-Los Angeles)  was the best for any regular-season game on any network, excluding Winter Classics, since a 2.3 overnight for three-game regional on ABC (1/12/02), also making it the best on NBC since the network began broadcasting the NHL again in 2006.

The 2.0 overnight was up 67% compared to last year’s 2011-12 NHL on NBC regular-season average (1.2), which includes the 2012 Winter Classic, and up 82% vs. coverage during the comparable weekend last year, which featured Chicago-Detroit (1.1; 1/14/12; overtime).

Sunday: The NHL on NBC (12:30-3:15P; Phil-Buff) earned a 1.4 overnight rating, up 27% from the same Sunday last year (12:30-3:15P; Wash-Pitt/O.T.; 1.1).

Excluding Winter Classics, it tied last year’s Hockey Day in America early game on 02/19/12 (12:30P; 3-gm reg’l) as the best overnight delivery for a Sunday broadcast regular-season NHL game since 03/26/00 on ABC (1P; 3-gm reg’l; 1.5).

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So much for any backlash from the lockout. I had a feeling hockey fans, starving for their game, would forgive and forget quickly.

If anything, the high ratings show that the sport leagues can abuse us all they want with their labor disputes. At the end of the day, we’ll come crawling back because they still are the best games in town.

And one more thing: Opening last weekend was the perfect storm for the NHL. They started their season on the first Saturday since August that didn’t feature any college or pro football. As a result, the NHL had an ideal opportunity to lure viewers who wanted to watch sports of any sort.

Now let’s see if the NHL can keep it up.

Hockey returns Saturday. Battered and bruised, for sure, but I think we live in an age where people forget fairly quickly.

Bottom line: There’s only one NHL, and fans still want to see the best players in the world do their thing. If you need to be reminded, check out this “Hockey is Back” video below.

Maybe I’m naive at underestimating the fans’ anger, but I don’t think so. All I know is that I have a 17-year-old Blackhawks fan who is counting down the minutes to Saturday’s opening game against the Los Angeles Kings.

NBC and NBC Sports Network definitely are excited to have the NHL back. They have a full slate of games scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, next week and beyond.

The NHL built considerable momentum during last year’s Stanley Cup, when games were shown on several platforms. Obviously, the lockout derailed things. During a conference call this week, I asked NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood about the possible fallout.

Flood said: “We’re in uncharted territory because our job is obviously to showcase as good of a game as we can and take advantage of the stars. The core fans are going to come back… Once the puck is dropped, they want to see their teams, and the fastest game and the greatest game on ice.

“All we can do is cover the games as best as we can and hope that the passion for hockey bubbles that to surface very quickly… The hockey fan is a passionate group and we’re cautiously optimistic they’ll come back. It won’t be instant. You’ve got to regain the trust, regain the passion, but we think we’ve got some good games out there.”

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I know Mike Emrick is glad the NHL is back. I joked last week that he had so many varied assignments during the lockout he soon would be doing play-by-play on Mah Jong.

Emrick told me, “I want to let you know I’m learning Mah Jong.”

Perhaps Emrick’s most unusual assignment was covering figure skating in Skate America in October. As usual, Doc had a wonderful take on the sport.

He said: “I would compare it to being in the province of maybe 40 goaltenders at once because it’s such an individual sport, (ice skating and figure skating). You have to have your whole mental game together before you go out and compete and I think that’s what I saw in the hallways with these really talented young people who are warming up. The last thing you want to do is break the concentration because it’s so important during those 3, 4 or 5 minutes that they’re going to be out there.”

It’s a good thing the NHL season is starting. Otherwise, Mike Emrick might be reduced to doing play-by-play for Mahjong matches.

Anyway, this piece aired on NBC’s Rock Center Thursday. Give “Doc” credit: He doesn’t short-change the young girls.

Here are the details:

NBC News’ Brian Williams is a fan of NBC Sports hockey play-by-play voice Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick.

Because Doc hasn’t been heard as often these past few months, Brian asked if Doc would call a game to air on his show Rock Center with Brian Williams. Doc agreed and called a Girls 12U league game near his home in Troy, Michigan.

The St. Clair Shores Saints (away, red) took on the Troy Lady Sting (home, white and yellow) on Wednesday, December 12, 2012.  Doc provided the call from the Troy Sports Center in Troy, Michigan. Both teams play in the Girls 12U league. The Lady Sting won the game, 5-2.

That sigh of relief comes from NBC Sports Network. I mean, how many times can you air Rudy?

NBC Sports Network needs the NHL. It needs Rangers vs. Penguins. The network didn’t get into the business to air college hockey.

Also, the new deal is huge for the regional sports networks, such as Comcast SportsNet in Chicago, where the Blackhawks do solid numbers. There’s been a lot of lost revenue on all fronts.

As for the fans, they will be angry, but they’ll be back. There’s only one NHL, and the league was trending up with strong ratings during last year’s playoffs. Maybe, we’re just a bunch of saps, but the fans always forgive and forget.

Best part of this deal: It will last for at least eight years with opt-out clauses, and possibly 10 years. It will be a long time before we have to go through this nonsense again.

Knocking around college hockey arenas isn’t exactly what Mike Emrick had in mind during this point of his career. However, the 64-year old play-by-play man is trying to make the best of it while waiting for the NHL dispute to be resolved.

Emrick has called several college hockey games for NBC Sports Network. As I’ve written before, it’s like Vin Scully working UCLA-San Diego State baseball.

From Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News:

“I’ve enjoyed the college experience a lot – I just like any kind of hockey,” said Emrick, a 64-year-old waiting to call his 30 th season of NHL play after receiving a Ph.D. in communications from Bowling Green in 1976, thus earning the nickname “Doc.”

“I’m waiting like everyone else on the NHL, but in the meantime you get to see some players who down the road that I expect I’ll get to see someday in the NHL.”

Emrick said he has learned a thing or two by being on campus.

A Boston College-Boston University game this year led him to learn “that Alexander Graham Bell received a one-year salary advance from the Boston College to do research, and during that year, he developed the telephone,” Emrick said.

“I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t been researching some of the college games.”

Now that’s being positive.