HBO's first sports broadcast was of a New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks NHL game, transmitted to a Service Electric cable system in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on November 8, 1972.
Win Eliot called the Rangers games on WPIX-11 as part of The Saturday Night Sports Special.
In the early 1960s, the Rangers played Saturday afternoon games, which were tape delayed[1] for evening re-broadcast on Channel 11.
When the Rangers weren't scheduled on Saturday nights, Channel 11 would run events such as track and field and ECAC Basketball.
Pete Stemkowski, Dave Maloney, Ron Greschner, Pierre Larouche, Emile Francis, Chris Nilan, and Ulf Nilsson filled in for Messina.