• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 15, 2010

The NHL has long been a distant fourth to the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA when it comes to a national TV presence. But Larry Gelfand, senior VP for Media, for the NHL, said highlighted how the league is taking advantage of digital video across multiple platforms to broaden its distribution. "Video is central to everything we do," he said.

That includes building a "first-class' video player, being the first league to partner with YouTube, adding NHL video highlights to Yahoo's hockey fantasy league, creating a mobile video presence with Quattro Wireless, in addition to its programming on cable channel Versus, NBC and its own network, where it offers custom video ad deals.