New, Weird NHL Broadcast Will Finally Let Bugs Bunny Body-Check Velma

Later this month the National Hockey League, WB Games, and TNT Sports are coming together to hold the first-ever “MultiVersus NHL Face-Off” game. What’s that? Well, apparently it’s going to give us all the chance to watch beloved WB characters—like Bugs Bunny and Batman—play ice hockey together on TruTV.

So let me try to explain what the hell this MulitiVersus NHL thing actually is. On April 14 at 3:30 p.m. ET, the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights (currently second and third in their respective divisions as we near the end of the regular season) will duke it out in a real-life hockey match with actual players in a real arena. Meanwhile, over on the Impractical Jokers network aka TruTV and Max (via B/R Sports), you’ll be able to watch a special broadcast of that same Avalanche/Golden Knights game. This version will use the NHL’s “innovative EDGE tracking technology” to recreate the action on the ice in real-time using digital avatars of popular WB characters and hockey players who will be superimposed over the real-life hockey players as they play. Here’s a taste of what that will look like.

Get ready to experience hockey like you’ve never seen it before …

The MultiVersus NHL Face-Off is going to be unreal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mYLzrD1G51

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 3, 2024

According to an April 3 press release from WB and the NHL, this upcoming hockey showdown will feature Bugs Bunny, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Velma, Shaggy, Steven Universe, and Finn the Human. Oddly, the Tasmanian Devil will officiate the game, which seems risky to me, but maybe he’s mellowed out in his later years. Also on the virtual ice will be digital avatars of NHL stars like Nathan MacKinnon (the Av’s center) and Jack Eichel (the Golden Knights’ center).

This alternate version of the game will be played on a digital and “dynamic” ice rink that will feature various locations from the Smash Bros-like game MultiVersus, including the court from Space Jam and the Adventure Time Tree Fort.

Meanwhile, WB’s MultiVersus is set to return to consoles and PC on May 28 after a strange, extended early access trial that a lot of people assumed was just the game’s actual launch back in 2022. But nope! It was yanked offline in 2023, and finally returns next month. Will it include a hockey mode based on this odd promotional event? Probably not.

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