First, the Super Bowl had a "kids-only" SpongeBob SquarePants version on U.S. cable network Nickelodeon. Now the NHL is getting on board the cartoon express. 

The Disney Channel in the U.S. is going the same route, with a real-time animated version of an upcoming National Hockey League game. I'm not sure if this will be available in Canada on Disney Plus, but when the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Boston Bruins on March 9th, ABC and ESPN will show the real thing to hockey fans, while a special kid-friendly cartoon version will run on various Disney owned cable channels down south.

It's based on a show called "Big City Greens," which I confess I've never heard of. And apparently they tried this once before last year (Rangers vs. Capitals) and it was a big enough hit that they're doing it again. From the Hockey News:

"The NHL is once again joining forces with Disney and their television channels to broadcast a completely animated live hockey game. According to the NHL, the multi-cast will feature live virtual reality recreations of the game between the Penguins and Bruins."

I suppose it's a way to get kids interested in the game and only recently has the technology been developed to be able to do real time animation, which is fairly impressive. 

Curious what it looks like? You can see the highlights of last year's contest in the video below.