Disney to air special Rangers-Capitals 'Inside Out' broadcast
From left: Anger, a major character in the 2015 Disney Pixar animated film, Inside Out, and the Rangers' Mika Zibanejad. Credit: Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez; Carmen Mandato
The Rangers are going Inside Out.
The NHL announced on Thursday that the Rangers-Capitals game on April 5 will include an alternate live telecast that will be completely animated and will be called the "Inside Out Classic" after the popular animated movie franchise.
The regular telecast of the 7 p.m. game will appear on ESPN. The animated one will appear on ESPN+, Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney XD.
The Inside Out Classic "will feature virtually created real-time animation of the action between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers modeled after characters on Pixar’s award-winning franchise Inside Out," the NHL said in a news release. "Inside Out characters will skate alongside animated versions of the NHL players.”
ESPN broadcasters Drew Carter, Kevin Weekes and Arda Öcal will call the animated action.
There have been two “Inside Out” movies. They revolve around the inner workings of a 11- and then 13-year-old girl named Riley who plays hockey and deals with her emotions with the help of characters with names such as Joy, Sadness, Fear and Anger who live in a control center in her mind.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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