The NBC Sports crew works in the production truck outside the Calumet Colosseum on Thursday in Calumet. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — When James Stuart, NBC’s senior director of NHL remote operations, came to visit the Calumet Colosseum in July, he noticed a big problem.

His network was preparing to broadcast a prime-time hockey game at an ice arena that had enough power to keep the lights on and running the public-address system and the skate sharpener.

In short, he quickly realized that he was in the world’s oldest in-use indoor area — an event space that was built in 1913 before television was even invented.

However, it was not going to be a problem. He had seen this before in the world of sport’s venues. He and his crew would put a whole in the middle of the exterior wall of the Colosseum and run all their power cables through there and that would solve that issue.

“This was a remote (broadcast) that our crew actually really enjoys as its a non-traditional one,” Staurt said. “When we go to the Joe Louis Arena, for instance, it is wired and ready to go. This place however has never had a live national broadcast and our crew was to that challenge.”

NBC overcame the challenge with three gigantic white trucks which they parked on the side of the arena. One was the generator with a bird’s nest f cables and wires thick and thin running from it. The second truck was a production truck with a myriad of screens, keyboards and buttons, and the last truck carried the satellite dish to send the game from Calumet to the globe.

“We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and set everything up, ran our cables into the empty arena and were able to check our cameras,” Stuart said. “Our talent gets on site and runs through the scripts and pre-produced packages we’ve put together.”

He added that the community has been very welcoming and their setup has gone off without a hitch.

“Everybody has been so appreciative that we are up here,” he said. “But we didn’t chose this they did, and we are happy to be here. We aim to put out a quality broadcast.”

He added that the remote shoot included a crew of 45 people — everyone from make-up and editors to technicians. As well the broadcast used for large cameras and two hand held cameras.

“The people involved love this stuff,” he said. “This is ‘Field of Dreams’ for hockey.”